Hello from The High Desert!

Our little hatchery is nestled between Ontario and the rural town of Vale, Oregon. 

 My sister and I grew up living the 'Rural' lifestyle. We understand hard work, innovation and dedication are the key to success!

 Our family has handled and raised poultry for several generations. We are the 6th generation (that we know of) to keep chickens, so you could say it's become a family tradition! We are members of the APA, The Marans Club and Ameraucana Breeders Club. 

We appreciate growing our own vegetable garden every summer, canning the fruits of our labor and raising quality poultry for our family and customers. Growing up we were homeschooled and spent many hours on our grandpa's 40+ acre farm in Florida. We learned so much about animal behavior, animal welfare/husbandry and responsibility. Our grandpa is definitely our biggest influence for raising chickens, he shared years of his knowledge and experiences with us. When we relocated to Eastern Oregon in 2016, we purchased chickens the second the opportunity presented itself. Our flock was a mixed variety of egg layers, all chicks we bought from the local feed store and TSC. We found the quality of the birds far from perfect, most of the adults we raised presented health issues common with hatchery stock and the advertised egg color was a disappointment. We decided we would purchase our stock directly from dedicated breeders, but finding them in the high desert proved tricky, especially being birds of prey country! After connecting with several local breeders, we quickly realized the gene pool was limited out here and the need to introduce new blood to our area. At the same time, we also found there was a growing demand for heritage chickens that lay unique colored eggs. In the fall of 2019, High Desert Hatchery was born after an approving nod and smile from grandpa. 

Valerie became very involved with our local FFA chapter during high school, she served as an officer for several years, she became Vice President, she showed a lamb (due to chickens not being accepted at fair), she was one of the High School Yearbook Editors, all while helping manage and grow our small poultry business! We shipped in proven quality bloodlines over the years, from as far as Tennessee! We've been working within carefully selected bloodlines since 2019-2022 to establish the breeding flocks we have today. We're several generations into our breeding program and we're proud to publicly offer our heritage birds bred towards the standard. We carefully selected most all of our breeding stock from chicks we hatched and raised here on the farm. Temperament is often overlooked in breeding programs, it is important to us that ALL of our birds are docile and easy to handle. Customers are often amazed how calm our birds are compared to the typical 'mail-order chicks' they raise.

Our goal is to provide outstanding birds, bred towards the APA Standard of Perfection (SOP), while encouraging youth and others to continue  heritage poultry preservation. We are contributing our passion for chickens by preserving rare and heritage breeds for future generations to enjoy.

Thank you for your support! Blessings from our farm to yours!

-Rebecca W. and Valerie T. Owners & Operators of High Desert Hatchery