What are our feeding methods?

I know how imperative it is to know about what food goes in to the animals that you are eating. That is why finding a farmer that you trust is crucial. Whether or not the farmer is local to you or it is a farmer that is capable of shipping their products to your doorstep, building that relationship is important. It may seem daunting having to search for a farmer, and then once you find one, what questions are you supposed to ask?

I think most importantly it is to find out what they are feeding and how they treat their animals while also caring for the land they raise their animals on. We are proud to be able to raise the majority of the feed that we feed to our animals, including our laying hens. And I wouldn’t feed anything that I wouldn’t let my family eat.

So, what do we feed our animals?

Chickens:

Laying Hens:

Our laying hens have full access to our ranch. That means, they meander through the hay stacks of grain, grass, and alfalfa hay. The scratch through the broken hay bales that we have set out for our cows. They also have the ability and take full advantage of the pasture that we had planted last year. But they do get supplemental feed. They also have access to non-gmo barley. During the summertime I also really like to ferment their feed. It helps to make the nutrients more bioavailable and even extends your feed. Fermentation is something that I usually only do in the warmer months-or at least when it isn’t freezing outside. The last part of our hens diet, that is extremely nutrient dense that I like to add, is milk or milk products. Any excess milk that we have after milking our cow goes to the chicken. But another milk product, whey, is also packed full of healthy components. Whey is a by-product of cheese making and apparently delicious. The girls go crazy over this treat.

Meat Birds & Turkeys:

Meat birds and turkeys have a little different nutrient requirements. In the past we have raised the meat birds in their own fenced pen with access to a barn. Meat birds are not known for foraging unless you’re raising a heritage breed. But by allowing them full access to their own pasture, they have the opportunity to eat bugs and grass etc. This year we shifted gears. We house the birds in moveable tractors and rotate them through our irrigated pasture and anywhere around the farm that they could graze. I am excited for the new setup and to allow fresh pasture daily to our birds while being supplemented with homegrown grains as well as a non-gmo ration.

Beef:

We are proud now to be offering two different types of beef and we are able to do this because we have two different herds of cattle. We offer grain finished, Angus beef and will soon have meat available from grass finished Highland cattle.

Grain Finished

Our grain finished beef is on grain for the last 180-200 days of the finishing process. They are raised with their mothers on native grasses, irrigated pasture, and alfalfa fields and ultimately raised on grasses for the entirety of their lives. They are fed a ration of home raised barley and non gmo corn to supplement. They also have free choice alfalfa, grain, and grass hay that we raise here on the farm without any harmful fertilizers or pesticides and with organic principles.

Grass Finished

We are offering something new this coming year. We have a herd of Highland cattle that we will be grass finishing for a grass finished option. These steers will never eat any grain. They are raised on the native grasses here in Modoc County. To make sure that we do not over graze our meadows we rotate also to an irrigated pasture. When there is snow on the ground and these cows and steers need supplemental feed, they are offered alfalfa and grass hay that is raised here on the farm.

Lamb:

Our lamb is raised on the native grasses of the farm and irrigated pasture. They have two wonderful guard dogs that travel with them around eating down grass and weeds when we move them around the farm. We do this by setting up electric fence and moving it to areas that have overgrowth or grass. During the last 5-7 months the lambs are finished on alfalfa and non gmo corn and barley.

Pork:

We are proud to say that our pork is also raised on pasture with a nice creek and shaded trees. They are free to roam with plenty of space for each one. They are supplemented with non gmo corn and barley and offered alfalfa as well. Most days we have extra milk on hand from our cows and the pigs love it as well as extra eggs from our chickens.

Lane is filling his bucket full of locally sourced non-gmo corn to feed our group of grain finished steers.