Like heirloom seeds, heritage poultry and beef are the predecessors of the mainstream livestock we know today. Heritage Breeds are the original livestock that thrived naturally on pasture before the creation of industrial farming in the 1950s. Sadly, heritage breeds these days are rare and some breeds are in danger of going extinct! This is a threat to our Food Security, leaving us to depend on the "big company" industrial farms.
Todays mainstream livestock is made up of highly specialized animals to produce the maximum amount of “protein” in the least amount of time, effort and space. Animal welfare and food security are not at the forefront of industrial farming. Producing meat at a low cost for a greater profit is the goal here. Well, you get what you pay for.
Heritage Breeds have a lot to offer - that was lost with industrial farming breeds. Heritage breeds have strong immune systems and the ability to thrive on pasture, basic maternal and survival instincts, and reproduce naturally. They are intelligent and live happier and healthier lives. The results are apparent in the superior quality, taste and nutritional profile of the meat and eggs that are produced.
Heritage Poultry and Beef Breeds at King Creek Farms
Heritage Beef
Aberdeen Angus
Heritage Chicken
Freedom Rangers
Heritage Turkey
Broad Breasted Bronze
Heritage Eggs
Ameraucana
Rhode Island Red
Barred Rock
Easter Egger
Blue Plymouth Rock
Buff Orpington
Why choose heritage poultry and beef breeds?
Biodiversity
The rare and valuable genetic traits that have been lost with industrial agriculture breeds are preserved for the future when you support the conservation of purebred heritage breeds.
Healthier
Strong immune systems are passed from mother to young in local born or hatched animals making them naturally resistant to disease.
Ethical
Heritage breed conservation follows the traditional production cycle where many animals born became parents for the next generation and only selected animals are harvested for the plate.
Humane
Self-sufficient and hardy for many generations, heritage breeds thrive in small-scale pasture based production. They eat normally, reproduce naturally, are lively and active, and free of painful skeletal problems unlike industrial animals created to gorge on food, requiring artificial insemination to reproduce, who grow at accelerated speed and are born to die at a certain age are prone to suffer.
Improved Flavor
Slow growth and wide range of harvest ages allows for a rich depth and unique range of flavors you cannot find in find the commodity consistency of fast growing industrial animals and plants. The flavors and textures are what chefs like Julia Child raved about missing when our agricultural methods changed to fast and specialized production in the 1950’s.
Truly Local
You strengthen local food security by supporting truly local farms raising livestock & poultry from birth to harvest and plants whose seeds can be saved for the next season. Preservation
When you buy products created from pure heritage breeds, you become an important contributor to the work of preserving these old fashioned endangered animals and the time-tested genes that make them unique and beautiful. Conservation of their proven genetic traits is critically important to the future of animal welfare, agriculture and food security.