Gleaning translates to “gather after the harvest: transitive and intransitive verb to go over a field or area that has just been harvested and gather by hand any usable parts of the crop that remain” and in a way that is what we are doing with some of the ways we are choosing to incorporate sustainability into our feed program.
We go through a hierarchy of criteria when choosing feed for our livestock and poultry. The dialogue goes something like this:
Nutritionally dense and well balanced food (and healthy animals) is accomplished by providing them the most natural diet as possible. Natural to me means in its unadulterated, fresh state. By doing this diligently our aim is to eliminate the need for mineral supplements and minimize processed feed.
Second step is how to procure this feed in a sustainable manner. I try to define “sustainable” as feed that is either already on the island for another purpose and is now “unwanted” or grown within a 100 miles. I’m trying to make a small carbon footprint by using surplus or stuff produced locally.
When I have the feed – the marriage of the two above- I then ask myself “is this something the animal would eat in its natural state? Is it varied enough to provide a wide range of nutrients? Is the source consistent?” And sometimes I need to be creative. Especially in the realm of sourcing protein for the hogs.
Pigs are omnivores and in the wild would get their protein in plant AND meat form. We don’t as a practice feed much meat to the pigs, but we do get the opportunity to occasionally get milk by products (whey, old milk) which they really love. As a point of reference, the average hog needs about 1 ½ gallons of milk a day to get their protein requirement filled on a daily basis.
So, what does this all mean? Here’s what the feed intake looked like this week for the pigs and chickens.
Chickens
Daily a mixed box (about 15-20 pounds)of veggies and fruit like bok choy, romaine and mixed salad greens, melons, grapes, mangos, cauliflower and broccoli. This was all procured from our local grocery store produce department as unsellable.
Free choice commercial grain.
Pigs
Free choice trough feed of apples from our orchard, celery and some mixed fruit from the above grocery store and too-old-to-sell bread from our local bakery.
Free choice commercial grain.
With this approach our animals are well fed, healthy and producing great meat and eggs while allowing us to feed them within our principles. So far so good!
