About Us

Thank you for your interest in Taylor Ridge Farm.

Taylor Ridge Farm is located about 35 miles south of Chicago. Our farm exists as a model for small-scale agricultural producers in our area. Agriculture is an important part of our nation’s history and future and needs to be preserved. Preservation of this heritage, we feel is of vital importance. As the topography around major cities changes, the use of small agricultural plots becomes more and more important in the stewardship of our land, so we don’t waste our natural resources with land that goes fallow from non-use. In the areas around Chicago, many of the larger farms have been sold and divided into 10 to 20 acre parcels for the purpose of developing individual home sites. The majority of theses parcels lay fallow and lost to agriculture as the homeowner uses only a small portion of the land for a homestead and the rest of the land lies unproductive or wasted. We feel it is important to utilize these small parcels of land for continual agricultural production as the demand rises for fresh, locally grown agricultural products in the urban and suburban areas. Approximately three-fourths of our property is dedicated to production agriculture. We use sustainable practices on our farm through composting and the land application of manure/bedding from our animals. We support all aspects of goat production, whether as show stock, or breeding stock for production.

In 1999, we established the Taylor Ridge herd with our first goats. Our purpose was to breed and show high quality dairy goats. We registered our herd name with the American Dairy Goat Association and started with two purchased goats. Over the years our herd has developed and changed in overall composition based upon our personal tastes, preferences, and breeding success. Our dairy goat herd is comprised primarily of Lamanchas, with some Toggenburgs and a few grades. Our oldest daughter is in 4-H and working with the goats as one of her projects and maintains the Toggenburgs and grades.

In the spring of 2010, we formally entered into the meat goat industry with the establishment of our meat goat herd. Our meat goat herd is made up of Kiko and Kiko-cross goats, chosen for their hardiness and growth rates. We are hoping to contribute to meeting the demand for goat meat in our area as well as developing a high quality goat. Our plan is to incorporate some Lamancha genetics into our meat herd. We are members of the International Kiko Goat Association and the Illinois Meat Goat Producers. David is one of five Certified Meat Goat Quality Producers in the state of Illinois.

Our goats are maintained with quality hay, a 16% custom grain ration, and free choice minerals. We deworm only as necessary using FAMACHA technique to avoid the development of resistance issues. They are vaccinated for CD-T using Covexin-8 annually, and boosted with Bo-Se as necessary.

In 2011, we added sheep to the operation. Using Southdown ewes as our base, we plan to cross with other breeds to produce quality carcass lambs.

For more information about our herds, please browse our site using the Navigation bar to the left or the one below.

In addition to our sheep and goats, we offer a few hogs for sale each year on a contract basis to finance our daughter’s 4-H swine project. We also have flock of free-ranging chickens to produce brown eggs.

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