Our Farm Animals
Fund-A-Friend
Fund-A-Friend donations are used strictly for the care of our farm
animals. For your
donation you will receive a certificate, magnet and the satisfaction of
knowing you have
helped our Farm Animals. Your name will be displayed on our
Fund-A-Friend
Donation wall. Fund-A-Friend makes a rewarding gift and is a meaningful
project for a
club or organization to take part in together.
Click here to find out more [in Adobe Acrobat format].
What are Heritage Breeds?
In addition to standard breeds we raise many heritage breeds of livestock on the farm. Heritage breeds are animals with a history. They
are the
animals that settlers needed to survive in the early years of
our
country. These animals are healthier and heartier than many
of
their modern counterparts and thrive in more natural environments.
Many heritage breeds of livestock are in danger of
disappearing
and our goal as a farm is to conserve these wonderful animals for
future generations by buying and breeding only pure heritage stock.
Cotswold Sheep
We
are starting a new fiber program at Queens County Farm Museum. The goal is to produce lustrous wool from healthy sheep and
to
sell it here at the farm. For this program, we have chosen
the
Cotswold breed. This white sheep is one of the oldest wool
breeds
in the world. They are hearty animals who prefer to live on
the
pasture and don't need much more than salt, water and grass to be
happy. Their fleece is very fine and grows so quickly that it
needs to be sheared twice each year.
The farm sells a limited quantity of unprocessed fleece. Please email us at info@queensfarm.org to check availability.
Heritage Pigs
We raise heritage breed pigs here at the farm for sale from our farmstand. Our hogs are mix of three breeds-- Large Black, Tamworth, and Gloucester Old Spots. These hogs prefer to live in the woods where they can dig up roots for food. The Gloucester Old Spot is known as the "orchard pig" because it will eat fallen orchard fruit without digging up and killing the roots of the fruit trees. Our pigs receive part of their feed from the wild and part of the feed from spent brew grains from a local Brooklyn brewery.
The farm sells a limited quantity of pork. Please email us at info@queensfarm.org to check availability.
Laying Hens
We
have two hundred Rhode Island Red laying hens at the farm. The flock lays
about 10 dozen brown eggs each day. Our laying hens are on
grass
all day and are fed oyster shells and alfalfa for their health and for the production of high
quality eggs.
Eggs are sold daily from the gift shop.
Dairy
Cows
Franny is our dairy cow; she is a Brown Swiss, purchased from Hawthorne Valley Farm.
Goats
Our goats are happy, healthy and extremely friendly. You may buy feed for the goats from the gift shop. We look forward to establishing a goat dairy in the near future.
Bees
The Queens County Farm Museum is home to Italian honey bees. Our raw wildflower honey is available for purchase in the giftshop or at the Union Square Farmer's Market.