Chicks

Heifer helps many hungry families with a starter flock of 10 to 50 chicks. A good hen can lay up to 200 eggs a year – plenty to eat, share or sell. With Heifer recipients’ commitment to pass on the offspring and training, the exponential impact of adding chickens to communities in poverty is truly a model that helps end hunger and foster self-reliance.

Because chickens require little space and can thrive on readily available food scraps, families can make money from the birds without spending much. And chickens help control insects and fertilize gardens.

Honeybees

One of Heifer’s most important commitments is to care for the Earth. We believe development must be sustainable- that projects should be long-term investments in the future of people and the planet.

As bees search for nectar they pollinate plants. Placed strategically, beehives can as much as double some fruit and vegetable production. Although most Heifer partners keep bees as a supplement to family income, beekeeping can be a family’s livelihood. Your gift can help Heifer provide a family with a package of bees, the box and hive plus training in beekeeping- and this unique gift will be passed on to another family in need.

Trio of Rabbits

What better way to tell that “some-bunny” special how much you care than with a trio of rabbits from Heifer International!

Rabbits are raised by farming families all over the world because they require only simple foods, and produce manure that can immediately boost crop productivity in an organic and sustainable way.

Plus, because rabbits can have up to six litters a year, families can quickly Pass on the Gift and begin helping family after family boost their income and nutrition.

Goat

The gift of a dairy goat represents a lasting, meaningful way for you to help a hungry little boy or girl somewhere in the world.

Goats can thrive in extreme climates and on poor, dry land by eating grass and leaves. The gift of a dairy goat can supply a family with up to several quarts of nutritious milk a day – a ton of milk a year. Extra milk can be sold or used to make cheese, butter or yogurt. Families learn to use goat manure to fertilize gardens.

Goats often have two or three kids a year, making it easy for Heifer recipients to "Pass on the Gift" of a goat to another family in need. This great gift allows recipients to lift themselves out of poverty by starting small dairy businesses that earn money for food, health care and education.

Pig

Heifer animals are like "living savings accounts" for struggling families, and the pig may well be the most interest-bearing.

Each gift can give a valuable source of protein, income from the sale of offspring and manure to nourish crops and soil and increase crop yields.

Pigs need little land and can thrive on crop and garden by-product scraps. An average sow can provide a family with up to 16 piglets a year. Pigs usually double their three-pound birth weight in their first week and can grow to more than 200 pounds in six months! This fast-growing gift means communities can be quickly transformed as offspring and training are passed on and on.

Sheep

Entire communities depend on wool and meat from sheep. Struggling families use sheep's wool to make clothes, or sell it for extra income. Sheep often give birth to twins or triplets and can graze even the hilliest, rockiest pastures unsuitable for other livestock.

Some Heifer families use managed grazing techniques or zero-grazing pens to protect the environment and collect manure for fertilizer, which improves soil and pasture land.

Warm in winter, cool in summer, waterproof and durable - wool is a valuable product that struggling families can use for clothing or sell for extra income.

All over the world, Heifer partners are raising sheep to advance the cause against hunger and poverty. And, through the act of Pass on the Gift, they are also sharing training and animals with other families in need. Help a family with the gift of a sheep.

Llamas

A llama is a unique gift that everyone is sure to love, because it will provide a struggling family with a lifetime of opportunities.

Heifer International provides llamas and their close cousins, the alpaca, to families living at high altitudes in the Andes Mountains of South America where no other animals can withstand the harsh conditions.

Their wool is prized around the world for being denser, warmer and softer than sheep wool — making it possible for our partner families to earn a steady living by either selling the wool or making clothes and blankets. Help a family with the gift of a llama.

Heifer

When a family has a cow, every morning there’s a glass of rich milk for their children to drink before heading off to school.

A good dairy cow can produce four gallons of milk a day – enough for a family to drink and have surplus to sell to neighbors. Milk protein transforms sick, malnourished children into healthy boys and girls. The sale of surplus milk earns money for school fees, medicine, clothing and home improvements.

Better still, every gift multiplies as the animal’s first offspring is passed on to another family, then another, and so on. Since a healthy cow can produce a calf every year, your gift expands exponentially and an entire community can move from poverty to self-reliance.

Water Buffalo

A water buffalo is an extremely valuable gift for a hungry family, a gift that can lead them out of poverty and give them a chance for a bright future filled with hope and free from hunger.

Water buffalo provide draft power for planting rice and potatoes. A farmer can plant four times more rice with a buffalo than by hand. They also provide milk for protein and manure for fertilizer and fuel.

Water buffalo haul heavy loads to the market, where the sale of extra produce brings in vital income for clothing, medicine and school. Recipients also rent their buffalo to neighbors, producing even more valuable income to sustain the family. One day, those same neighbors might receive a water buffalo of their own as recipients "Pass on the Gift" of livestock and training.

Protein-rich milk, strength to till soil, manure to enrich the land … so many benefits. And, in turn, water buffalo are happy just to graze on coarse grasses and other plants not suitable for harvesting.