Welcome to our page for Opuntia Ranch!
Located to the Northwest of Trinidad, Colorado
What is "Opuntia"?
Opuntia is the genus of the prickly pear cactus, which is a welcome natural food, fodder and fuel resource across this region. In Southern Colorado, we have many species from the Opuntia genus, most of which have a great deal of spines, but this does not stop the plant from being a remarkable source of nutrition for humans and livestock, as well as offering a wealth of other high-value products. Prickly pear harvests for human and livestock consumption are just one of the many sustainable forestry and agricultural practices we implement on the Ranch.
Our Ranch Philosophy
-
Sustainable forestry practices
-
Regenerative agriculture
-
Healthy organic livestock
-
Environmental stewardship
At Opuntia Ranch LLC we’re dedicated to preserving and raising heritage breeds, and all of our poultry are recognized as at-risk livestock breeds by The Livestock Conservancy. Opuntia Ranch proudly raises several heritage breeds of animals, including:
-
Ducks: Opuntia Ranch proudly raises heritage Buff Orpington ducks, helping to conserve this threatened livestock breed, and sharing the benefits of the breeds excellence for egg production, meat, feathers, and fertilizer, and breeding for optimal health, good temperament, eggcellent egglaying and good body form. Learn more about our flock here. Learn more about this excellent duck breed on the Livestock Conservancy website.
-
Geese: Pomeranian geese, as helper duck flock guardians alongside their dedicated guard dog.
-
Goats: Excellently suited to the rugged terrain of the southern Colorado hills, cashmere goats provide not only high quality fiber, but also brush control to mitigate wildfire risk, and can play an important role in regenerative forest management.
Forest Products
Local organic mulch
Local organic pinon pine mulch, offered by the truck-bed load (45 cubic feet), including local delivery to downtown Trinidad, Colorado, or additional delivery for longer distances.
Local pinon firewood, 1/2 cord split and delivered
Local pinon pine firewood, 1/2 cord of split wood, including delivery and unloading to downtown Trinidad, CO. Inquire for delivery costs to other locations.
Piñon pine nuts
Approximately every 7 years, Opuntia Ranch produces a wealth of piñón pine nuts, when the trees coordinate a bumper crop. Fall 2025 was the most recent harvest year, and we have a stock of pine nuts for sale.
We also offer the opportunity for pick-your-own pine nuts, where we will guide you through sections of the forest when the trees are next producing, and teach you how to identify good pine cones and seeds for harvesting, how to extract the seeds from the cones and shells, and share reciipes
Meet the Orpingtons
Meet our egg-layers and duckie royalty of Opuntia Ranch! Our Buff Orpington ducks are a heritage breed that are excellent multipurpose poultry, for eggs, feathers, meat, and of course fertilizer for gardens! We raise them free-range and organic -- never treated with antibiotics, but instead focus on the extra efforts to keep them thriving in a healthy, clean coop and offer a large safe foraging area protected from predators by their ranch guard dog, Kaira. Read more about our ducks here: The Orpington Duckies.
The Duckie Profiles
Products from our Feathered Friends
Duck eggs - $8/dozen, $5/half-dozen
Feathers
Down
Feather and/or down pillows
Adult birds
Hatching eggs ($50/dozen)
Day-old ducklings ($12/ea unsexed)
* Please contact us for additional pricing and delivery information. *
Opuntia Ranch proudly raises heritage Buff Orpington ducks, helping to conserve this threatened livestock breed, and sharing the benefits of the breeds excellence for egg production, meat, feathers, and fertilizer. Read more about our ducks and heritage breeds here: The Orpington Duckies.
Visit our Instagram page for more duckie photos and videos:
https://www.instagram.com/opuntiaranch/
** For the safety of our birds, we do not offer tours or practice agritourism, and instead apply strict biosecurity measures to protect our flock from potential exposure to Avian Influenza and other pathogens. We offer product deliveries to Trinidad, Colorado, shipping options for our products, or to meet for pickups at our gate.**
Cashmere goats of Opuntia Ranch
Our herd of quality cashmere goats -- working on fire mitigation in this semi-arid region of Colorado, alongside producing high quality ethical American cashmere fiber. Our herd is growing, as is our cashmere production, so keep an eye out for our cashmere creations soon!
Proud to be a member of Clean Cashmere as of 2026!
Combing Topaz's cashmere
Combing Frank's cashmere
Combing Topaz's cashmere
Memberships held by Opuntia Ranch LLC
We are proud members of the following associations:
-
American Cheese Society (2025, 2026)
-
The OQuA (The Opuntia Querencia Alliance)