Welcome!
Thank you for stopping by to see our farms located on the Tennessee / Kentucky state line…. up on the Highland Rim where the air is clear and pure water is in abundance.
We specialize in organic and non-GMO fed rare breed and purebred livestock. Our chickens are pure French Black Copper Marans, our turkeys are Bourbon Red, our dairy goats are Nigerian Dwarf, and our sheep are “Olde English” Southdown Babydoll.
Please come in, sit a spell, explore the site and let us know if you have questions about our operation! We’d be happy to hear from you….
Our Farm
Ballylara Farms was established in Westmoreland, TN in 2010 and in the neighboring Adolphus, KY in 2015. Both farms are located on the Highland Rim and are within a mile or so of the South Central Kentucky/Middle Tennessee state lines in Macon County TN and Allen County KY. We are within the Nashville, TN and Bowling Green, KY MSAs.
Our Environment
Our goal is to be as organic and sustainable as possible. After an exhaustive search, we located our first farm of 22 acres of pasture and woodland rolling hills which has not been chemically treated or farmed for as long as anyone can remember. It is at the top of the Barren River Watershed, and has a spring as well as 2 spring-fed year-round creeks that provide pristine water for both us and our livestock. Our 10 acre KY farm also has a spring.
The air is exceptionally clear here, and it jarring to drive to Nashville on a hot summer day and see the difference in the air quality. In addition to studying air quality maps before locating our farm, we also studied historical tornado maps… just to be safe! After personally experiencing a tornado, this was a prudent move.
Our Livestock
We decided to build our livestock up based on the highest standards. We limit our chickens to just one breed – the rare French Black Copper Marans heritage breed – so there is no possibility of interbreeding. We drove 2 hours each way just to get a rooster with the bloodline we wanted!
Our turkeys – the rare Bourbon Red heritage breed – are tractored / pastured with netting on top of their enclosure so no wild turkeys can get amorous with our girls.
Our Nigerian Dwarf dairy goats were selected from different lines with excellent milking characteristics and are all registered with the most exclusive registry – the AGS (American Goat Society) – and thus can be triple registered.
Our Southdown Babydoll sheep are also from the finest registry – the Robert Mock Olde English “Babydoll” Miniature Southdown Sheep registry.
We do not believe in inbreeding or line breeding, and practice intensive herd management for breeding.
Our goats and sheep all have procedures such as disbudding and tail docking done only by a veterinarian under sedation or anesthesia. We also opt for microchipping instead of tattooing. We do not feed medicated feed and do not believe in vaccinations or giving any of our animals antibiotics (we instead practice good pasture management which negates sickness in most instances). Our “table” turkeys are humanely processed by an organic processing facility in Bowling Green.
It has been quite a challenge developing a livestock farm from scratch!
Our Wildlife
Our wildlife includes deer, wild turkeys, coyotes, opossums, raccoons, fox, hummingbirds, hawks, owls, and the occasional unruly neighbor!
Ballylara Farms 
How do you keep your wildlife and unruly neighbors from inbreeding?
Just kidding.
Iam interested in getting some of your Marans.
This isn’t the time and I live an hour west of Nashville.
i will be wanting to get two pullets. Is that possible? Pickup/delivery may be a logistical challenge.
I will be in touch.
Thanks,
Mike
LikeLike