What our farm animals eat, why they're fenced, your questions answered.

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I've had a few people question me lately on what our farm animals eat and why they're fenced in.  So much news & media these days focuses on the pitfalls of feeding grain to farm animals, but let's remember that it's only the ruminant animals who can thrive solely on grass / pasture.

There is a certain category of animal, Ruminants, whose stomachs & digestive systems are designed to eat only plants.  I'll borrow an answer I found online here:

A ruminant is a mammal that digests plant-based food by initially softening it within the animal's first stomach, known as the rumen, then brings back the semi-digested mass, now known as cud, and chews it again. The process of again chewing the cud to further break down plant matter and stimulate digestion is called "ruminating".  Ruminating mammals include cattle, goats, sheep, giraffes, bison, yaks, buffalo, deer, camels, gazelles, dik diks, mouse deer, hartebeests, wildebeests, etc. 

So, the only ruminant animals we currently raise on our farm are goats.  I say currently, because who knows what animals we're raise in the future!?  Our goats are not fed grain, they graze & prefer the really scrubby stuff... leaves, brush, and they get hay in the winter.  (Except when they steal the chicken's feed, which they love to do... so much so that we've had to move the bags of chicken feed into metal trash cans to keep the goats out!).  So, given the chance, goats love grain.  I try my best to keep them out of it.

Currently, here is how our goats are raised.  We have a large fenced-in area, and I hope to expand that area as we increase the size of our herd.  Ideally, I'd love to have the portions of our farm fenced-in that are really scrubby & overgrown (the goats would LOVE that).  Since we're new to goats, and have just recently fenced in a large area for the 2 of them (I'd say it's about 1/4 acre), there is no shelter within their fence.  We're working on that.  But for now, what we do for shelter is very high-tech.  It involves opening the fence and leading the goats back into their shelter.... a very nice horse stall inside our barn.  I do this every night.... lead the goats back inside, usually by attaching a leash to their collar, but sometimes they'll simply follow me.  And then, each morning, I lead them back outside and into their fence.  If it rains, or we have bad weather, the goats stay in the barn and have access to the attached outdoor barn area (fenced in as well).  The goats are fenced because they would eat our vegetable crops.  A bite here & there, poop in the gardens.  Plus they would leave our farm & wander off down the road.

We raise chickens.  Meat chickens as well as laying hens.  Chickens are omnivores.  They are not ruminants.  They eat plant and animal.  Crazy carnivores!  Given half a chance, I think they'd eat each other.  No, don't get any ideas, the chickens here at our farm don't eat each other, it's just a joke, no need to call the animal rights groups.  Our chickens are fed primarily chicken feed, which is grain-based and perfectly balanced with the amount of protein they need.  When I give them freshly-ground grain, they also need grit & oyster shell.  Grit is fine rock or cherry pit, which chickens store in their gizzards and it allows them to grind their food before digestion.  Chickens don't have teeth.... so this is how they grind their food.  Oyster shell is a source of calcium, which they need for the egg shells (the shells of eggs have a lot of calcium, and producing those eggs can sap a chicken's calcium supply).  Our chickens are also supplemented with some farm veggies, occasional weeds (when I hand weed the farm fields, which isn't too often), and they adore kitchen scraps.  This applies to the egg layers.  We raised a couple hundred meat chickens (yes, they are totally different, meat chickens & egg layers), and the meat chickens would barely touch anything besides chicken feed.  Some of them would forage around, but mostly they wanted to simply eat the grain.  They're bred for this. 

Our chickens are not allowed unrestricted access to our farm because they would destroy our farm gardens.  They would eat all the vegetable crops, scratch the vegetable plants to death, and poop right there on our crops (No way!  Huge no-no, fresh manure on the vegetables.  Not only would their high-nitrogen manure kill the vegetable plants they would poop on, but really fresh manure on food could lead to sickness.).  Thus, our chickens are fenced-in.  They have a very large chicken run (fenced in area), which is attached to their coop.  So, chickens are not grazing animals.... yes, they adore eating grass & weeds & seeds, but can't thrive on it alone.... if allowed to range unrestricted they would also eat things like bugs, snakes, & even small rodents (I have heard stories of chicken catching a mice or two, but I've never seen it myself).

We also raised a handful of pigs this summer.  Pigs are mammals, but not ruminants.  They are another example of an omnivore.  They root around, foraging for food, and tear up the ground with their strong snouts.  Ours are raised outdoors, with a shelter from the elements.  They are fenced.  Why?  They would tear up our gardens... literally.  And then run away to the neighbors yards, and tear up their gardens.  Then they would poop all over our vegetable crops, and then run to the neighbors houses and poop on their gardens. And trying to catch a runaway pig is a horrible experience (ask me how I know!!!). You get the picture.  They look cute & innocent, but that snout is like a small bulldozer!  And of course, our farm animals are not potty-trained!  :-)  So, what will pigs eat?  Just about anything.  Grain. Ours loved any farm vegetables we gave them.  Kitchen scraps are a great treat.  Small children (kidding, just making sure you're paying attention).  Again, they're kind of like a chicken this way, eating just about anything.

So, now you have it.  This is what our farm animals eat, and how they are housed.  If you have any complaints, please contact me first with questions before reporting us to animal rights groups (joking, sort of... I've had a bad summer with people out here, and that's all I'll say about that).  Thank you. 

Goodbye pigs

We said goodbye to our 4 girls today. Girl pigs, that is!

This was our first year raising hogs, we started with 4 weaned heritage-breed pigs purchased from a nearby farmer friend way back in early May.

They turned out to surprise us all. After a fiasco their first weekend here (the great escape, we'll call it), they were easy-mannered & easy to care for.

In 2 weeks time, they will be returned to our farm in the form of frozen cuts of pork. They're being processed at my favorite small, family-owned meat processor just 5 miles down the road. They do a great job of ethical processing & awesome award-winning methods of making sausage, bratwurst, chops, roasts, and bacon.

Those interested in purchasing some Berkshire pork, watch our blog for detains soon.

We look forward to raising a few pigs again next year. And we look forward to meals of our own farm-raised pork this fall & winter.
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Hog heaven!

Our Berkshire pigs are raised outdoors on pasture. This gives them the ability to do what they love. In hot weather, that's mud baths!
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We'll be selling this heritage-variety pork by the cut beginning this fall in our Farm Store.
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www.wishfulacresfarm.com

Pigs + Wishful Acres Farm's spinach = blissful happiness

Our Berkshire pigs love snacking on the Wishful Acres Farm spinach! Wow, I can't even imagine how wonderful the pork from these pastured pigs will taste, when they are supplemented with vegetables like ours! :-)
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www.wishfulacresfarm.com
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What a face!

These Berkshire piglets sure are cute!
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Heritage-breed pigs arrive at Wishful Acres Farm!

We had a long day today! We brought 4 heritage-breed piglets to our farm. Then had to build their fenced-in area when we got them home (procrastination is a bad thing on a farm). The piglets will be raised on pasture, and we should have the most delicious pork available for our customers to purchase this fall.
www.WishfulAcresFarm.com

Raising pigs!

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I decided a couple of months ago that we are going to raise pigs this year.  Just a handful, enough to feed our family and a bit extra to sell to our farm's customers.

Almost all pork is now raised in confinement barns.... another CAFO (confined animal feedlot operation) scenario, just like the caged chickens & confined cows.  I would guess 99% of pork is raised this way, and definitely 100% of regular grocery-store pork.

We'll be raising our pigs differently - outdoors, with access to the fresh air & sunshine, allowed to live a good life and act like the piggies they are. 

So, once I decided to raise pigs, I began researching - reading lots of books.  I decided we'll start with feeder pigs - basically these are weaned baby pigs (about 2 months old), purchased from another farm, and "fed out" on our farm until they reach market weight.

No problem, right?  Wrong.  I had a heck of a time finding feeder pigs!  It turns out that most farmers aren't raising hogs anymore... it's all gone the industrial farm route (huge confinement operations).  Now, I was put in contact with a few of these farmers and spoke with them.  They're neighbors, farmers trying to make a living, and of course I respect that.  However, a hybrid pig bred for confinement just wasn't what I was looking for.

So I contacted a farmer about 1 hour away.  I had visited his farm last fall to view his pastured chickens & turkeys, he's in line with the same type of farming we do here at Wishful Acres.  I knew he also raised cows & hogs, I had purchased some of his pork when I was there and it was the best pork I'd ever had.

I knew the breed of pig I wanted: English heritage Berkshire!  If you're unfamiliar, Berkshire is to pork what Angus is to beef.  The highest quality, most delicious pork... it even looks different from traditional pork - the fat is marbled throughout the meat like a good beef steak.  And the taste... delicious!  Especially the pork raised in good, humane, outdoor conditions.  What a difference!

Turns out this farm is raising a Berkshire breed crossed with another couple of heritage breeds.  And... we'll be buying a handful of feeder pigs from him!  The lovely heritage Berkshire / Duroc / White Chester crossed pigs will make their appearance here on our farm in early May!

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Anyone raising pigs?

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We're expanding the livestock area of our farm in 2012.  A lot!  We'll be raising meat chickens & turkeys, in addition to our current flock of laying chickens.

So... one area I'm starting to think of, and read about.... pastured pork.  Anyone out there raising hogs?  From what I'm reading, they'll fit well with our current farm operation.  And I know one thing... we all love pork in this house!  And lard...  :-)

We'll be raising them outdoors, on pasture if possible, but definitely outdoors with a shelter.  No confinement on this farm!!!  :-)

I had begun my research actually thinking of raising goats.  But, the more I read & learned, the more I realized goats just aren't a good fit for us right now.  Pigs, however, just may be....