About Us
The youngest daughter on the redstead, some years ago!
Welcome!
We’re a small family-run homestead committed to food and ferments and daily practices that keep our hands busy and our faces to Ohio’s changing seasons. We joined the National Poultry Improvement Plan (NPIP) in 2021 so we can share our rare breeds and heritage crosses with you. in 2025, we’re building out new-to-us land to achieve our pastured poultry breeding goals, and even embarking on remodeling the school house next door!
Please read our policies page for details on how we run our annual waitlist, as well as each breed listing which has lots of detail on our breed stock and breeding program!
Our Story
Brooke established ‘the redstead’ in 2012 in an 1842 homestead nested alongside a woods and river corridor, where she could raise her three kids amidst creeks and native grapevine and all the chickens, dogs, rabbits, and parrots they could manage. Over almost 15 years of chicken keeping, the kids have grown up and colorful eggs have become a beloved part of our foodways, leading to more serious breeding aspirations and a few fine lines of rare breeds and heritage crosses. We’re particularly committed to our Black Copper Marans. We breed for SOP and pigmentation in our pure lines, egg color in our experimental crosses, and cull for temperament (even when it’s hard!). We’re mad for speckles and heavy blooms.
Hatching Eggs
Crosshatch Farm Rainbow Hatching eggs include all of our breeds and are our primary offering in Spring of 2025. We can ship 14 (a dozen plus 2) or 26 (two dozen + 2) with one flat rate shipping charge. Choose single boxed Express or double boxed Priority at checkout.
Day Old Chicks
Our main offerings for 2025 are our ‘Purple Coppers’ (our closed line of Black Copper Marans bred for intense pigmentation and a chance of bloom) , Ermine Ameraucana (can hatch ermine, black, dom white), and backcrossed Olive Eggers (you can choose backcrossed to Marans or Backcrossed to blue egg shell gene).
Juveniles
Across our 8 main coops and our many grow out pens, we often have juvenile breeding stock cockerels and pullets near the point of lay. In 2025 we will offer later season Purple Copper pullets, Ermine, Black and Dom White Ameraucana pullets, and Backcrossed Olive Egger pullets.
