We plan to take a field trip there later in the year and try to bring some other vet students to see how things could be done. Less industrialization and less mass-production lead to much happier, healthier animals. The farmers (a married couple) are still relatively new to farming, but they are selling as much as they produce (with waiting lists), so hopefully they will be successful and more farmers will see the beauty in the way they do things.
Enjoy the beautiful, free-ranging, happy animal pictures below.
-Shirin
Some happy pigs greeted us as we drove in.
So did their neighbors, the sheep.
The other club officers listening to the pig details.
Turkeys! It was amazing; every time we came up to a new area of animals, they all came running towards us in excitement. It was really cute.
The turkeys from the other side.
Penny, the pet chicken. She is sort of puny and doesn't lay eggs much, but she's really friendly so she gets to stick around and enjoy life.
Where the chickens lay their eggs and roost at night (an old cotton trailer, I think).
Moving the cattle to their new field for the day and placing their shade truck there.
The piglet neighbors came running to see us too.
Checking out the piglets. The chickens followed us.
Their cattle were beautiful.
They LOVED the new grass. The farmers practice rotational grazing so the cows are never in the same place in two consecutive days. This allows them to prevent parasite transfer, as well as to keep their grass growing tall. The tall grass (their favorite food) eventually overtakes the weeds they won't eat and keeps growing for them to eat the next time around. Ergo--> sustainable!!
These little 4 1/2 week old chickens are also moved to a new grass patch each day.
They are still kept in their little huts, because they are quite little and vulnerable at this age.
5 comments:
I think the turkeys ran towards you because they thought you were going to feed them. The wheeled apparatus the little chicks were in is called a chicken tractor. Lots of different ways to build them, but the one thing in common is that you can move them every day to a new patch of ground. RB
You know, I would've thought that too, but they followed us all the way around the fence and continued to watch us as we walked away. They were genuinely friendly (I'm sure food helps).
However, the pigs and chickens did the exact same thing and they basically live off the land and don't always get fed by the humans every day...they were just social!
-Shirin
What an incredible difference between their behavior and that of the factory farmed animals. Perhaps part 2 of this welfare club field trip should be (on another day) to a factory farm for comparison. I think veterinarians should be advocates for animals; who better to represent the science behind the practice?
Interesting! What do they sell? The meat or just the dairy?
No, there's no dairy. It's all meat production animals.
-Shirin
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