Rare Breed Livestock for sale

My love of rare breeds goes back to my teenage years spent working on a rare breeds farm on the outskirts of Leeds. So many strong, productive and beautiful breeds have disappeared over the years in favor of commercial hybrids or continental performance breeds which excel in mass production and large scale farming systems.

But for those of us who farm on a modest scale the rare and minority breeds have a tremendous advantage over their commercial cousins in terms of their manageability and flavour. Not to mention their biddable natures and characterful personalities.So when I was lucky enough to move to our beautiful holding at the foot of the Yorkshire Wolds. I got the opportunity to play my part in the conservation of my favorite livestock breeds.

Florence the Ryeland Lamb - Friendly sheep that produce a beautiful fleece and meat that's lean and full of flavour

Ryelands were originally bred for their fleece as much as their meat and in the days when wool was king, Queen Victoria was reported to wear undergarments woven from soft Ryeland wool.Their compact size and gentle nature makes them easy to handle for routine tasks and their calm inquisitive nature makes them easy to train.The ewes make great mothers and raise twins easily producing big healthy lambs who mature well on milk and pasture without requiring artificial feeds. Our lambs are separated from their mums briefly at around  4 months old as the ewes milk naturally starts to dry up at this time. The lambs remain within touching distance of the ewes to reduce the stress of separation and are reunited as soon as the ewes milk has dried up. 

Lucy and her twins. Ryeland ewes make great mothers

Charlie the Blue Croad Langshan bantam. Rare and beautiful.

The beautiful, friendly and bright Croad Langshan bantam is a joy to own. Its large fowl version is an excellent egg and table bird which sustained so many back yard keepers through the second world war along with the Plymouth rock. Sadly the commercial egg laying ability of the hybrid battery hens introduced by the Americans after the war along with commercial broilers like the Hubbard resulted in the decline of the Croad.The bantam version is not a true bantam but rather a scaled down version of the original breed. Although this scaling down comes at the expense of its suitability as a table bird its egg production is excellent and the size and number of the eggs that the birds produce in relation to their size and what they consume makes them excellent value egg producers.All our hens lead a low stress free range life all year round and enjoy full access to the farm yard. Their  varied, natural diet is supplemented with corn, natural pellets, fresh greens and shell grit. This results in a high number of beautiful quality eggs and strong healthy chicks.

Spotty the Kune Kune - Small friendly pigs producing gorgeous piglets and succulent slow grown pork

The Kune Kune pig is a rare breed which is relatively new to the UK. Originally kept by Maories in Newzealand the Kune Kunes are the smallest domesticated breed of pig in the world at around 24 to 30 inches tall. These placid friendly pigs with their colourful hairy coats thrive on grazing good pasture and love human contact. Our Kunes graze outdoors all year round with access to woodland and pasture to produce big healthy piglets and beautiful rare breed pork.




We produce a small number of high quality registered stock for sale each year along with quality butchered meat and fertilized eggs to order. All our livestock are kept to the highest welfare standards in a low stress, natural environment and receive the best nutrition and health care. Please email any enquiries to sue.doherty@tiscali.co.uk.