Moving our Animals inside for Winter
Here in Nova Scotia we sometimes have up to six feet of snow and temperatures as low as -25°C or 13°F. Actually colder in some Northern parts of the Province! So, that means our animals need shelter for Winter.
To be honest, it actually saves us time, once we get them all moved in. For most of the year, from Spring to Fall, sometimes even into Winter, all our critters get moved on a pretty regular basis. Usually every week, or so, they get moved to a new pasture. The rule of thumb is to move Goats at least every 30 days, Pigs at least every two weeks, and SHEEP!!! Sheep need to be moved every 4 Days! Ok! Why all this moving!?
Here Briden Farm we keep everything natural and we don’t use antibiotics, chemical dewormers, or other drugs to medicate our critters unless they absolutely need it! In fact we haven’t used any since we began over four years ago!
That’s because by moving everyone on a regular basis, Goats at least every 30 days, Pigs biweekly, and Sheep every 4 Days, we stay ahead of the parasite cycle! See, with Sheep, their worms become infective on day 5. So we move them every four days, and they are on their new pasture, before their parasites get a chance to infect them!
That’s just part of the system though! The other part is that once we move them, nothing gets back on the same piece of ground for at least 90 Days! That way the parasites have no Host to infect because they’ve moved before the parasites can infect them, and by not returning for at least 90 days, the parasites not only have nothing to live on, but die before our animals return to that area. Thus chemicals are not needed! Thus, all our critters live as natural as possible!
The only time we give our animals anything other than fresh water and their grains is when they have a cut, or something like that. Up until recently we used Watkins Medicated Ointment and Petro Carbo Salve. However, Watkins recently decided to stop selling all their Non-Food items!
So, now, we’ll be using Rawleigh Medicated Ointment and Rawleigh Antiseptic Salve.
Both of these good ole companies have produced these wonderful products for over 135 Years!
Anyway, I digress, let’s get back to getting our livestock back inside for Winter!
Imagine, how laborious it is to move sheep every four days, pigs at least every couple weeks, and goats at least every month! Compound that by the number of pastures. Sometimes we have a half dozen pastures on the go at a time! All needing to be rotated on a regular basis!
Very tiring and time consuming! Sort of makes one think about why naturally raised, ethically treated, rotationally pastured pork, poultry, and other meat costs so much! Right? Usually our meat birds get moved at least once, or twice, a day!
So, once we get everyone moved inside for the Winter we sort of get a chance to rest!
Now You know the Rest of the Story!
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