Happy Animals + Happy Soil = Happy Farm
cows
100% Grass Fed
NO Pesticides / Hormones / Antibiotics
Our cows are raised on pasture 9 months of the year. They are rotated daily to new or expanded paddocks to access fresh forage each day. The milking cows receive a fermented alfalfa silage (Chaffhaye) as a treat during milking and sometimes we add alfalfa pellets as well. No grain is ever fed to our cows, lactating or not. During the other 3 months of the year, when the fields are too soggy for animals, we feed them hay that has been harvested from fields in our care during the summer months and stacked away in the barn.
We vaccinate once each year with the 2 treatments listed below which are documented safe on pregnant cows, calves, and lactating cows (dairy for human consumption). And, we also test each year for Brucellosis, BLV, and Johnnes.
Vira Shield 6 + L5 HB - Prevents infectious bovine rhinotracheitis and three other respiratory viruses that are extremely common in cattle.
Covexin 8 - Prevents black leg (we let our cows go into thickets in the wood lines and if their hooves or legs get punctured by thorns, black leg can enter the body this way. It is a lethal disease that is incurable once contracted.)
The cows are bred naturally with a bull and allowed to calve independently as well. They stay with their calves for the first 3 weeks unhindered. We milk the cows once a day, filter their milk directly after milking, and immediately refrigerate the milk to keep it at peak freshness. The milk is then kept refrigerated and used the following morning to prep the day's orders.
Pigs
Our 4 sows - Ruby, Willa, Elsie, & Pearl - only farrow twice a year. We aim to have their farrow dates at the beginning of March and again at the beginning of July, so that the ladies get a break from August through November. When it’s time, the sows will be paired back with our boar - Rip. The mothers farrow without any restrictions and are able to make their nests prior to the piglets’ birth, allowing for freedom of movement and less stress for the sows. Each set of piglets stays with their mother for the first 3 weeks, so the piglets and the sow have plenty of bonding time and lots of good milk. The boar is penned right beside them to allow bonding between them as well.
Once the piglets are separated from each mother, they are given a mixture of our cows’ milk and organic pig ration until they are 3 months old. After 3 months, they are fully weaned from milk and rotationally grazed, given organic vegetable scraps, and an organic pig ration until butchering at around 8 months. They are raised in small groups, regularly moved to new paddocks, and allowed to fully be pigs!
