A Guide to Feeding Animals On Your Farm
One of the most essential parts of raising livestock is feeding your animals the right foods to keep them healthy and productive. Here are some tips for feeding animals on your farm to make it a bit easier!
The following is an excerpt from Barefoot Biodynamics by Jeff Poppen. It has been adapted for the web.
Feeding Animals: A Guide
Agricultural expert Rudolf Steiner’s first guiding line for feeding animals was that they should be outside, giving them the opportunity to come into relationship with the surrounding world by sense perception in the finding and taking of their food.
Then there is the guiding line that the head needs substances from the earth and the body needs substances from the air, which it receives in homeopathic doses.
So he recommended feeding roots and hay to growing stock, such as carrots for the head and grass to assist it in passing through the body.
For milk production we need to stimulate the middle of the animal, and a plant strong in foliage like clover is best.
How to Fatten An Animal
To fatten an animal we use seeds, fruits, and feed with what Steiner called the “fruiting process” enhanced, done by cooking, steaming, or drying.
Even cultivation, which makes things like turnips and beets grow bigger than in the wild, he called a fruiting process.
Quality salt is important, too, and we make sea salt available for all our farm animals. It contains many trace elements, which afterward are spread over the pastures in a more readily available form after passing through the cattle.
Feeding Animals: What Do They Eat?
Our cows eat grass, clover, and whatever else they can find in the pastures.
The more we rotate pastures, the better the cattle and the pastures look, but the more they complain if they don’t get moved to better forage.
I can barely grow enough carrots for the CSA, let alone for stock feed.
Twice we have taken the effort to cook food for the pig, and it made an unbelievable difference. Cooking makes food more digestible.
We just boiled discarded sweet potatoes, Irish potatoes, and butternuts until soft, as these are what we have a lot of.
We process hogs with the neighbors, and everyone was duly impressed when we split ours open. Instead of a uniform, light pink, the insides were bursting with colors.
They hadn’t seen that since their families raised pigs back in the old days, when preparing hog slop was a daily chore. Salted, smoked, and hung for five years, it made for the best of meats.
Recommended Reads
Naturally Feeding Your Flock: Feed Poultry With Fresh Greens
Recent Articles
Garlic mustard: while known as “invasive,” this plant can be consumed in its entirety and has great nutritional value. Plus, the garlic-flavor is a perfect addition to any recipe that calls for mustard! The following are excerpts from Beyond the War on Invasive Species by Tao Orion and The Wild Wisdom of Weeds by Katrina…
Read MoreEveryone loves a refreshing, fermented, nutritious drink…even your garden! Take your fermentation skills out of the kitchen and into the garden by brewing fermented plant juice. The following is an excerpt from The Regenerative Grower’s Guide to Garden Amendments by Nigel Palmer. It has been adapted for the web. How to Make Fermented Plant Juice Fermented…
Read MoreWant to see your crops thrive this upcoming growing season? The key is in soil fertility and health. Spend time maintaining your soil’s health to guarantee bigger and better crops come harvest time! The following is an excerpt from No-Till Intensive Vegetable Culture by Bryan O’Hara. It has been adapted for the web. What Is Soil Fertility?…
Read MoreMany know the effects of catnip on our feline friends, but few realize that catnip has medicinal effects for humans. From stomach aches to reducing fevers, catnip is a versatile herb with many benefits. The next time you grow this plant for your cat you may end up taking a few cuttings for yourself! The…
Read MoreIt’s time to take control of your seeds and become a plant breeder! Saving your seed allows you to grow and best traditional & regional varieties, and develop more of your own. The following excerpt is from Breed Your Own Vegetable Varieties by Carol Deppe. It has been adapted for the web. Becoming A Plant…
Read More