Small Birds, Big Heart: Inside Cavendish Game Birds
To find one of the largest quail farms in New England, begin your ascent from downtown Springfield, Vermont, winding your way up Woodbury Road until you reach one family’s little slice of heaven. You’ll know you’ve arrived when the sky opens up, the air tinges with the sweet scent of manure, and an old German Shepherd ambles up to greet you at your car door.
This is Cavendish Game Birds, a quail and duck farm built through more than 30 years of hard work by brothers Rick and Bill Thompson.
Raised in the food industry, the Thompson brothers first recognized a growing need among local restaurants for game birds in the late 1980s. Their initial focus on pheasants soon shifted when they discovered that quail, with their year-round production capability and high demand among gourmet chefs, would offer more stability and growth potential.
From this realization, the family set out to build a farming legacy centered around these charming 4-ounce birds.
Finding a niche in a niche market
As charming as quail may be, securing a steady market for their meat proved challenging for the Thompsons, especially when faced with competition from well-established, large-scale producers able to offer impossibly low prices. Yet, Rick was clear-eyed about the path ahead, knowing from the start this wasn't a get-rich-quick venture.
They experimented extensively—tapping into new markets, innovating with different products, and carefully finding ways to utilize every part of the bird—to build a truly sustainable business that could support their growing families.
Rick recalls these early struggles: "Trying to compete with a lot of other producers out there that have much stronger economies of scale, producing a lot more birds than we were—we found that pretty difficult."
Ultimately, the brothers discovered that bigger wasn't necessarily better.
Instead, their flexibility and willingness to diversify led them to the sweet spot. Egg production, which now makes up nearly 50% of their business, opened doors to previously untapped markets and new value-added products. Among these innovations are balut eggs—a fertilized, partially incubated delicacy popular in Southeast Asian cuisine—and "Pips," convenient hardboiled quail eggs packaged as snack packs.
Not only do quail eggs provide more protein than traditional chicken eggs, but they're also allergy-friendly for many who can't consume regular eggs.
Even byproducts from their processing operation have found valuable markets: bones from their birds are sold to Oma's Pride, a raw pet food company in Connecticut, and retired layers are donated as food for rehabilitated birds of prey at the VINS Raptor Center—ensuring every part of the process is utilized while minimizing waste.
Yet, Rick will freely admit he was never in it for the money.
Building what money can’t buy
Instead, his drive came from the desire for freedom—the freedom to build a livelihood steeped in family values and honest hard work. Reflecting, Rick explains, "You don't get into this business to get rich—not doing what we're doing. Plus, we've always had two families we've been trying to support. But it's a good income. It let us stay here and raise my kids here."
Thinking back on his own childhood—where he moved five times before high school—Rick was determined to offer his children the stability he had missed. He wanted them to grow up able to walk to visit their grandparents.
And that’s precisely what happened.
With both Rick’s parents and his wife’s parents building homes just up the hill from the farmhouse, their picturesque homestead became a rare haven, reflecting the family values that seem increasingly scarce in today’s fast-paced world.
In Vermont, this traditional agricultural lifestyle is increasingly under threat.
Recent figures from the Vermont Agency of Agriculture highlight this concerning trend: since 2014, the state has lost roughly half its dairy farms—approximately 440 in just the last decade. Yet, this dramatic decline is about far more than economics; it signals the erosion of Vermont's agricultural heritage, threatening the community values tied to its rural landscape.
Rick recognizes what's at stake. "Something's got to replace it—it can't all be houses," he notes. "They want to keep the land open, and you have to do something with it. Not everyone can afford just to have a pretty piece of property. It's got to generate some kind of income."
This conviction explains why Cavendish Game Birds have worked so tirelessly. Despite significant setbacks—including a devastating fire that destroyed their production barn in 2013—they’ve met every challenge with persistence, flexibility, and a deep commitment to their local community.
For the love of it
The Thompsons regularly host tours for local schools and generously donate fertilized eggs, allowing students the excitement of incubating eggs and watching chicks hatch right before their eyes in the classroom.
Rick's enthusiasm is clear: "The hatching thing in the classroom—that kind of stuff is great. It keeps kids interested in where their food comes from."
The care and concern Rick and the Thompson family extend to their community is simply part of what it means to run a small family farm. Or perhaps that's precisely what drew them to farming in the first place—it's hard to know which came first, the proverbial quail or the egg.
Either way, the result remains the same: a thriving farm deeply rooted in community and tradition.
Ever attentive to his flocks, Rick pauses to secure a fence as he leads me around the farm. Reflecting on a lifetime dedicated to farming, he notes, "I think most people who farm will tell you: you do it because you love doing it. You love being outside; you love working with animals."
He smiles, gazing out across the land he's worked tirelessly, "I wouldn't trade it."
Written by Devan Monette
You can find Cavendish Game Birds products at the following retailers in Vermont: Londonderry Village Market, Natures Market, Newport Village Market, Putney Food Co-op, Richmond Market & Beverage, Singleton’s General Store, Smitty’s Market, Woodstock Farmers Market, The Brownsville Butcher, The Vermont Butcher, 5th Quarter Butche. For more information visit their website at cavendishgamebirds.com