Food or Feed?

We've had some bumps along the way, as we try to figure things out. We find that the biggest hurdles are the mental ones. We have been taught all our lives that there are things that you HAVE to do. I think most people can understand what I mean if they just step back and clear their mind for a minute. For example, what we feed our pet dogs. We have always been told that you feed them kibble, or if you really want to spoil them, canned food. It's just what you do. Oh, and don't change the brand/type or you risk upsetting their stomachs. Then a friend of ours mentioned they were feeding their animals raw meat. We were shocked and worried that these animals just wouldn't have their needs met or be at greater risk of disease. As we followed our friend's progress though we saw the dogs thrive. We made ourselves step back and realize - would we really want to eat the same thing for every meal? Would we really want to eat only processed meals (IE canned pasta)? Would that really be good for us, even if we took a multi vitamin every day? Seemed pretty clear and so we started to think outside the box.

It was that new way of thinking that made me explore alternative methods of farming. Well, they aren't exactly alternative because many of the methods really are 'old' ways of doing things. For instance, many 'old' farmers will talk about a plot of land that wasn't good for crops (hilly, damp, etc) so they would throw the pigs there for the summer. This is a common practice around the world and makes for less feed inputs while producing good pork.

We know this but it is still really hard for us to not 'feed' the pigs. We know they have an extensive amount of food, even in the relatively small 3-5 acre plot they are on, yet we feel the need to give them food as if they were in a barn. We see them rooting and eating through the forest, see them getting plump, yet are reluctant to cut back on the commercial feed. Well, after a good assessment of our two plump little porkers, we have decided to cut out the commercial feed and see how it goes. They will still get about two to two and a half litres of goat's milk a day, plus an egg or two per day, plus the grains we broadcast across the forest floor for the poultry, but we won't give them the commercial chop everyday. We will keep a close eye on their condition but already know they will do great.

We had the same thing come up with the goats. We've been told they NEED grain to produce milk. So, we have given them grain everyday. Today we noticed how FAT these goats are getting. They are eating all these great plants all day, I really don't think they NEED grain. First we decided to cut out all the minerals, vitamins etc. we were told they need. That stuff may be necessary when they are confined but why would they need it with all that available naturally? Next, we stopped giving the two kids any grain. Are we ever happy we did. Even without the grain these two are plump and happy, with nice shiny coats. So only the milkers get grain, while they are milked. I cut down their grain to about half and they are still doing great. Now I'm a little worried they are looking too fat. I looked into other food that I could give them while milking and discovered sunflower seeds (oil seeds). The goats LOVE them and so do the sheep. So I think I will try milking with just a handful of seeds. Hopefully the girls will stand for me.

This will reduce our feed bill tremendously. It will leave us with only feeding the poultry. The geese don't need grain and it can be bad for them to actually get too much, they really do thrive on grass. I was worried that if I stopped feeding the turkeys and chickens they would fly away. Well, they were doing this anyway so we've clipped their wings. We missed two turkeys when we did it and I think they kept leading the flock over the fence. We've clipped them too and put everyone into a pen with a nice high fence (6 ft). We're hoping if we wait a week they will forget about going over. These are strictly the mixed breed turkeys we bought for meat, the Bourbon Reds and chickens are staying in the pen. We've clipped them for good measure anyway though. We have been trying to wean everything off the grain though. We don't have bowls of food for them to come get whenever they want. We broadcast the grains across the forest floor so they have to scratch and dig for it. In this way we were hoping they would discover other goodies and eat that too. So far it is working and they like to scratch and peck all day, even when the grain is gone. We'll keep cutting back and hope to be poultry feed free too.

The sheep have no added inputs. We do give them a bit of sunflower seeds each day, so we can pet them and get them use to greeting us when we come. When we first put them in the big pen they would be deep in the forest and we would have to search them out. Now they come close when we arrive. This is important because we do need to at least do a visual inspection of them everyday to be sure they aren't injured or ill. Two of the kids have been working with them and are able to pet them each day.

Each time James and I have hesitated and wondered if we should do something outside the box, like putting the turkeys in with the pigs, I've just reminded us that this is all an experiment and if the turkeys fly away, or the pigs eat them, then we've learned a good lesson. So far though, we still have the turkeys and the pigs haven't decided to eat any of the other animals...