Where Our Products Come From
You should know what's going into your dog's bowl.
At H&N Homestead, we believe sourcing should be personal, transparent, and intentional. Most of our products come from Wisconsin, including our own homestead, local families, small farms, and family-run agricultural businesses.
We know the people we source from, visit farms whenever possible, and hold every source to the same standard we use for our own animals.
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Raised Here
We raise rabbits, quail, chickens, and ducks on our homestead. We also occasionally raise livestock to help feed our own family.
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Raised Nearby
We work with Wisconsin families and agricultural producers who raise animals for their own families and communities.
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Support Small Agriculture
We believe our dollars are better spent supporting neighbors, friends, and small farms whenever possible.
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Nothing Goes To Waste
We give unused animal parts another purpose as treats and chews. Even our processing scraps have a purpose.
Most of Our Sourcing Starts in Wisconsin
We intentionally keep our sourcing close whenever we can. We travel throughout Wisconsin to collect products directly from families and farms, and we work with local businesses we know and trust.
Most of what we offer comes from Wisconsin. Our only exception is the quail chicks we source from a family-run farm in Florida.
We Don't Raise Everything Ourselves. We Know Who Does.
We don't believe every ingredient has to come from our own backyard.
Instead, we believe in knowing the people who raise the animals.
We personally visit the farms we source from whenever possible. We see the animals, learn how they're raised, and build relationships with the families behind them.
When you purchase from H&N Homestead, you're not just supporting our small business. You're also helping us support the small families and agricultural producers we work with.
That's what “Farm to Dog Bowl” means to us.
How We Choose Who We Work With
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We Know Them
We know the people we source from and build personal relationships with the families behind our products.
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We Visit
We visit the farms we source from and see firsthand how their animals are raised and cared for.
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We Look Closely
We pay attention to the animals and their parts, including their hides, ears, feet, cleanliness, and overall condition.
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We Ask Questions
We learn how animals are raised, what they eat, and how their farms care for both animals and land.
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We Give Back
We choose sources that allow us to support small families, local agriculture, and the communities around us.
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We Walk Away
If we see signs that animals aren't properly cared for, we won't continue sourcing from that operation.
Our standards don't change just because a product is hard to find.
Where Our Ingredients Come From
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Rabbit
We raise rabbits ourselves and also source from Wisconsin families who raise them for their own food. We collect directly from families throughout the state and also work with an Amish family-run butcher that processes rabbits for local producers.
Housing varies between responsible producers, but many of the rabbits we source are raised outdoors on grass. Others are raised in large cages by families involved in the show rabbit community.
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Lamb
Our lamb comes from a family-run operation in Delavan, Wisconsin. The family raises sheep and also processes sheep for local families.
Their lamb is raised primarily on grass with supplemental feed when needed. Their operation is USDA certified, and we personally visit for pickups.
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Quail
Our own quail are hatched and raised right here on our homestead. They live in a large outdoor run with an indoor area, fresh grass, room to fly, and opportunities to forage.
We originally raised quail for our dogs' raw diet. Today, they still provide food for our own dogs while allowing us to create treats from parts that might otherwise go unused.
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Pheasant
Our pheasant products come from a farm in Belleville, Wisconsin that raises pheasants for meat. The birds are raised from hatchlings to processing age with room to roam as they grow.
We purchase their heads and feet as byproducts of their meat production, giving these parts another purpose instead of letting them go to waste.
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Beef
Our beef hides come from cattle raised in Wisconsin.
We raise a steer annually ourselves and also collect hides from neighbors who raise cattle for their own families. These hides are a byproduct of providing beef for the family, giving us an opportunity to put another part of the animal to good use.
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Naturally Shed Antlers
Our antlers aren't purchased from a supplier.
We find them ourselves.
We hike hundreds of miles each year, primarily in Wisconsin, Illinois, Wyoming, and South Dakota, with Ellie helping us search for naturally shed antlers.
Every Piece Has a Purpose
When a family raises an animal for food, there are often parts they have no use for.
That's where we come in.
We purchase those parts and turn them into natural treats and chews instead of letting them go to waste.
And our own processing doesn't create unnecessary waste either.
It Started With Our Own Animals
Before H&N Homestead ever sold a treat, we were raising animals to feed our own family and dogs.
We raise rabbits, quail, chickens, and ducks, along with the occasional steer or pig.
Our own dogs are part of that system, too.
Our quail and rabbits are raised with their raw diet in mind. Our dogs regularly eat whole-animal foods, including whole quail and rabbit heads.
That experience shapes what we sell.
We don't offer products simply because they're popular. We offer products we believe in and feel good giving to our own dogs.
Neighbors Feeding Neighbors
We believe small agriculture matters.
Many of the families we work with raise animals primarily to feed their own families. They aren't trying to build a massive operation. They're simply raising good food for the people around them.
We want to support that.
When we purchase unused animal parts from these families, we're able to give those parts another purpose while bringing extra income back to the people who raised the animals.
To us, that's what community should look like.
Neighbors helping neighbors.
Families feeding families.
And nothing good going to waste.
Why Your Treat May Come From a Different Family Than Your Last One
Small farms don't operate like large supply chains.
A family may raise enough rabbits to fill their freezer for the year and have no reason to continue breeding once they've met their needs.
That's okay.
We don't want families raising more animals just to keep us supplied.
Instead, we'll work with another trusted family.
The source may change from one batch to another, but our standards don't.
We still want to know who we're supporting, how the animals were cared for, and where the product came from.
From Our Hands to Your Dog's Bowl
We don't send our products off to a giant processing facility and wait for them to come back.
We prepare, preserve, package, label, and ship our products right here at H&N Homestead.
What “Ethically Sourced” Means to Us
For us, ethical sourcing isn't a label.
It's a standard.
We believe animals should be properly cared for, given appropriate space and care, and allowed to live in an environment suited to their needs.
We look for producers who care about their animals and their land. Many of the farms we work with use pasture, rotational grazing, manure to improve soil, and locally sourced feed when supplemental feed is needed.
We don't expect every farm to look exactly like our homestead.
We do expect the animals to be cared for properly.
And if we don't believe they are, we don't buy from that source.
Ellie's Favorite Job
Some dogs get to chase balls.
Ellie gets to hunt antlers.
We spend hundreds of miles hiking every year looking for naturally shed antlers. She has learned to help us find them, and she absolutely loves it.
We never buy our antlers. We collect them ourselves, wipe them down with water, let them dry naturally, and send them on to their next purpose.
We Believe in Knowing Where It Comes From.
We may not raise every animal ourselves.
But we believe in knowing the people who do.
We believe in supporting small families, caring for animals properly, using what would otherwise be wasted, and creating products we are proud to give our own dogs.
That's the standard behind every H&N Homestead treat and chew.