Welcome, welcome! We are so happy to have you visit our web site!
Take a look around and please feel free to contact us with any questions.
We
are centrally located outside Richmond, Indiana, an hour east of Indianapolis
and an hour west of Dayton, Ohio. We have a 95 acre farm that has been in
the Hopkins Family since the
1940's. Our home is a Civil War era brick home, built from
1864-1866. All the bricks were made here at the farm and each of our walls
is four bricks thick! Our home is an Indiana historic site, registered
with the Historic Landmarks Foundation of Indiana.
In addition to the various
livestock that we have on the
farm, peafowl, rhea, llamas, Cape Barren Geese, East African crowned cranes, and miniature black angus cattle, we also have a thriving purple martin
colony, and classified forests. We are very
concerned about conservation and over the years,
we have planted literally thousands of trees on our land. We also enjoy
our flowers and ornamental grasses. We have several hundred day lily
clumps, of various colors and types. We also love ornamental grasses and
we are always looking for a new type to plant!
Craig grew up here on the farm
with cattle, sheep, and the obligatory canine, but he possessed an entrepreneurial
spirit and started raising and selling Dutch rabbits when he was 9 years
old! He raised them and then took them to the Southern Ohio Poultry
Association Swap at Lucasville, OH to sell. They sold so well, Hopkins'
Alternative Livestock was born!! He got his first pair of peafowl when he
was 12, not to sell, but because he thought they were beautiful to have
around. However, people frequently pulled in the driveway and asked to
purchase the birds. Again, the entrepreneurial spirit kicked in and he
started raising and selling peafowl. Rheas and llamas were soon to
follow. And, now, we also have East African crowned cranes, and miniature black angus cattle. Even though he ended up
marrying
a city girl, he has managed to turn her into a full fledged farm girl!
Though we are both engineers, we thoroughly enjoy raising and selling our
animals, whether over the internet or in person at the various swaps and sales
we regularly attend.
