Urban Animals

WARNING: The following contains educational information about raising animals for meat.

If inquiring on an animal, please make sure to read and understand the sales policy.

Raising livestock has always been a priority for our family but living in an urban community has come with its challenges. Each county and state has its own regulations for what you are allowed to raise without permits.

Aside from local regulations we had to take into consideration important factors like cost, space, and time. We began by first raising rabbits for show. If you have been around since the beginning you will know we used to be Sassy Lops & Hops. After a short time we quickly fell in love with raising rabbits and realized they would become an integral part of our urban farm.

Our rabbits are raised with care for both show, meat, and pelts. They also provide nutrient dense manure for our garden. Once we were comfortable raising rabbits we decided to expand by introducing quail into our homestead. Our quail are raised both for meat and eggs. While chickens tend to be harder to raise in urban environments because of the noise they produce, quail are a quieter option.

Both rabbits and quail are excellent alternatives to larger livestock raised for meat. Both are very cost and space effective which make them a natural choice for an urban setting. Other benefits include a shorter turn around time between birth and butcher, the time involved in raising them is also less making them an ideal choice for a family that works full-time. In most counties rabbits and quail are not considered livestock, therefore there won't be extra hoops to jump through obtaining permits. Both are prolific producers meaning you will get more bang for your buck. When it comes to processing the meat both rabbits and quail do not require any special equipment and the skills needed to learn are readily available online if you do not know any farmers personally.

Start up costs for both animals are very minimal and both require much less feed and water compare larger animals. Although there tends to be a debate whether it is ethical to raise animals for both show and meat. We personally believe that knowing where your meat comes from is important. By raising our own meat we not only reduce monthly costs but we provide sustainably raised meat to our growing family without any the antibiotics, preservatives, and chemicals you will find in the commercial meat market. Our animals are also raised with care and gratitude for the gifts they provide for our family.

The newest edition to our urban family is our Guinea Pigs. After falling in love with raising and showing rabbits, In 2023 we dove in head first to raising Guinea Pigs to show (not to eat, don't worry). Our first Cavy show was a success and we cannot wait to see what these little guys have in store for us.

If you are interested in learning more about our Guinea Pigs or find out information on showing, you can check out our Groovy Guineas Page!

The fluffiest chaos coordinators in our family: Dolly and Piper! These two Goldendoodle girls wiggled their way into our lives in 2025, and life hasn’t been the same since. They may not be related, but they’re partners-in-crime when it comes to zoomies, cuddles, and general mischief. Our home is louder, messier, and about a million times happier with them in it.

Our animals are an integral part of our homestead, and we are grateful for the gifts of abundance, love, and nourishment they each bring to our home. If you are interested in learning more about each animal, click the dropdown menu under "Urban Animals" in the menu above.