We love all of our animals, they are the heart of Sweet Briar Farm. All our animals get plenty of sunshine, fresh green pasture, high-quality hay, and all the extra fruits and veggies we can get our hands-on. We do offer our cattle, goats, and sheep grain from the local farm co-op but only enough to meet their reproductive needs and for training (a cow on walkabout is much easier to bribe back inside the fence with a bucket of tasty grain if she knows what it is).

You’ll see our hogs turning up the soil in our gardens and pastures, we also offer them a ration made from local grain and molasses. Our four children are a huge help on the farm and do a lot of petting and loving on our animals, which helps a great deal to make the livestock happier and more manageable.  

Our goats, shetland sheep, and dexter cattle are all registered, clean tested and vaccinated.  We also vaccinate our pigs against common respiratory viruses including swing flu (H1N1).  We’ve carefully chosen all our animals to be healthy, hardy, and friendly additions to our farm (and yours)!

Hereford Hogs

These rare American hogs are known for their docile temperament and quick growth rates.  This makes them an excellent choice for 4-H projects and young swineherds.  Their meat is lean but nicely marbled. 

We hope to have Hereford Cross piglets available in late 2021 and pork in 2022.

Tamworth Hogs

Who doesn’t love bacon? Tamworths are the original “bacon breed” and have been selected for centuries for thriving outdoors in colder climates.

Their long and lean bodies produce lots of bacon and finely grained meat. Our brood Sow “Tammy” is 600lbs of well mannered docile hog who loves a good belly rub. We can hardly wait to meet her adorable little red piglets in 2021. Tamworth pork should be available in 2022.

Mangalitsa Hogs

Our Mangalitsas are some of our most special livestock. These are a heritage breed of pig from Hungry. They are excellent foragers well adapted to cold climates. 

Their meat is among the most delicious and hardest to find. Their fat is high in Omega-3 fatty acids and contributes to their incredible flavor and succulence. Mangalitsa meat is considered the Kobe beef of pork.

We hope to have Mangalitsa X Tamworth piglets available in late 2021 and pork in 2022.

KuneKune Pigs

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Dexter Cattle

Friendly, small-statured, and thrifty Dexters are perfect dual-purpose cows for our small acreage farm. These mighty little cows produce more premium beef on less feed than common big beef breeds.

The cuts are smaller and have better marbling and flavor than anything you’re likely to find in a grocer’s case. Dexters also make fine family milk cows. They produce more than 2 gallons of milk daily with more butterfat and protein than Holstein milk from the store.

We will have Dexter beef available in late 2021-early 2022.

Jersey Cows

Our Jersey heifer Greta will be our family milk cow. She’s our herd queen, gorgeous and incredibly curious. She’s likely to photobomb most of our YouTube videos (which you can watch here). When you stop by the farm stand she may bring the Dexters with her to watch you from the pasture fence.

Goats

We have a growing herd of goats. They are such characters! Playful and affectionate, with tasty milk; they’ve become my personal favorites.

We have Nubian, Fainting, and Nigerian Dwarf does all purebred, registered, and tested clean for CAE, CL, and Johnnes. 

We are expecting Mini Nubian kid(s) in late March and plan to breed for Fainters and Nigerian Dwarf kids in late 2021.

We’ve worked hard to put together a farmstead of family-friendly livestock that will provide us with healthful and high-quality foods to feed our family and yours.

We want to be the place where people know they’re getting something that’s good and special and won’t break the bank.

If you’re going to spring for half a beef for the freezer or feeder pigs for your family, shouldn’t it be something better than you can find in a store?

KuneKune Pig 1

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Download “Big Momma’s” pedigree information here.