The drama and decisions of farming naturally

When raising pigs "all natural" on pasture sometimes things don't go as planned...

The Dream

Look a pretty farm rainbow...

"Farming naturally", sure  sounds really romantic.  Very rewarding too.  You get to enjoy the fruits of your labor without applying chemicals or resorting to "conventional" methods.  No hormones, no antibiotics, nothing artificial...  Just farming naturally.  Sun, rain and soil.  That's farming naturally.

And then - suddenly and without warning, one morning your female breeder pig is so sick she can't even stand on her own.  The pig you had bonded with because she was expected to around for years.  So sick in fact her time left with you is now abruptly counted in hours.

Suddenly all your bucolic wonderment comes crashing down around your muddy boots.  She's sick and clearly getting worse with her every passing breath.  In the nearby weeds her littermate comes to investigate and through misty eyes you see he's not well either.  As you rise to a stand over her sickly and unconscious body, across the 7 acre paddock for 6 pigs, you see a third hog faltering in its stride.  Within hours of the first onset of symptoms over half the herd is heading down at a pace thats less than hopeful.  Have we failed?  Where did we go wrong "farming naturally" I wonder as a lone tear falls to the muddy pasture.  Farming naturally can suck.

The Reality

Of course there's a juxtaposition here, really - symptoms, remedies, treatment options, phone calls to the knowledgable, discussion groups, internet forums, Facebook updates and Tweets all from the sick pigs bedside via the iPhone.  Is that farming naturally or is that community farming in 2011 via 3G?  When treatment options and diagnose confirmations come in from Australia and the UK as opposed to the empty farms that now are scattered across the local landscape am I still farming naturally?  Is this sustainable?

Then there's the defining moments.  The recognition that Olivanders cough from day one was likely a sub-clinical inflammation of his tonsils.  That even though we practiced good decontamination procedures for him before his introduction to the herd, the Erysipelas causing organism (Erysipelothrix rhusiopathiae) was still present and he passed it along.  THAT'S why he hadn't been gaining weight the way he should have been!  That's a risk from a factory farm animal.  Painful lessons learned.  Now - the boar we brought to the farm to breed generations for us is the source of an infection that may plague us for years because it lives in the soil for so long...  and the outbreak now threatened all our pigs.

The Decision

Good night little Hermione and Harry

Then comes the moment you need to make a decision.  The fork in the road that determines your future path.  Our "hands on" daily interaction with our pigs allowed us to catch the Erysipelas before we lost any and it's highly treatable... with a couple of injections of penicillin.  Is that farming naturally?  Sustainable?  Our only gilt (girl who can breed) is so sick she can't lift her head, can't (won't) drink, there's no alternative - it's either an intramuscular injection of an antibiotic or death.  If we were certified organic our only choice would have been taken from us already and the backhoe would have been out digging a large hole. Others were clearly falling ill too - pigs that won't eat are sick pigs - to inject or not to inject.  Is a natural antibiotic like penicillin when used to treat an acute infection and hopefully save pigs that would otherwise die NOT farming naturally?  Is saving the life of an animal that we have done everything we could to provide it the best life we could - fostered an environment where a pig can be a pig as well best we could...  does that animal deserve to NOT live because the solution to the aliment is an injection?  If it was me or Kelli or your family member - would your moral high ground and abhorrence of antibiotics in "conventional" farming prevent you from administering a simple injection that would save a life?  Hand me the syringe, I'm going in...  maybe I care too much or maybe the moral high-ground is over rated.

The Impact

Antibiotics were referred to as the "wonder drug" when they were discovered.  Then over time they have become so overused their potency is limited by resistance.  Somewhere in the "modernization" of the food industry someone decided that keeping low doses on antibiotics in overcrowded animal pens was a good idea too.  The result is rising antibiotic resistance in bacteria all over the world - resistance that can make a simple surgery life threatening.  People get a sniffle, claim its a sinus infection and demand pills from their doctor.  All this made me wonder as I withdrew the needle from her shoulder, will this even work?

As I walked to the house in the dark the mud on my boots weighed heavier than you can imagine.  Behind me was a gilt I didn't expect to see the light of another day.  In front of me was a future where antibiotics aren't a "wonder drug" anymore.  In my cold hand was a vial of penicillin and a used syringe.  I was stumbling in the dark across a pristine pasture... farming naturally... to what end?  In a year that has challenged me in ways I never expected, my mettle was being tested again and I felt it's brittleness cracking under the strain.  Was the decision I had made right or wrong?  Was that the last brush of my hand across her head?  "I'll miss you little Hermione, you were a great pig" I said as I put the bottle of penicillin back into the refrigerator like so many other farms across America.

The Results

6 days of treatment later the herd is healthy again, Hermione and Ollie had become friends, hell, he was even gaining weight!  The pigs had all stopped coughing and were more than happy to run from the far end of their 7 acre pasture to meet me when I came with apples and pumpkins for them to enjoy.  6 days of measured and orally administered tetracycline for all the pigs brought them all back from their fall into illness, or back from the precipice of illness.  6 days of treatment ensured that the organism was beaten back and the pigs imune systems could clean up anything that was left.  It ensured that there would not be resistance developing, at least ensured that as much as any CORRECT usage of antibiotics can ensure.

The Road Ahead

Weeks later we consider ourselves out of the woods for now.  We know there's Erysipelas here and that all our pigs are susceptible to it.  We know we will be vaccinating Hermione and Ollie come breeding time.  We know how to jam a massive 16 gauge  syringe into a pig and administer the correct dosage of antibiotics.  We know how to orally administer dosed antibiotics with a big syringe and lots of molasses.  We know the risks of brining animals from outside the farm here too.

Our first broad sweeping disease outbreak and we have no losses.  For that we are thankful.  We are pretty confident we did the right thing for our pigs and our belief structure...  but are we completely sure, I don't know - are you ever?  We are hopeful we can eradicate the disease from our farm with rotations and immunizations going forward.  As for the bottle of penicillin in the farm refrigerator... we struggle with that.  Have you ever watched happy pigs running in the morning sun?

Happy pigs at breakfast

Understanding immunity in farming (and life)

Likely you have heard of a vaccine.  Perhaps you have even heard they are "bad" and "cause autism" (which is absolutely not true).  What is almost always lacking is a clear and correct definition about the functionality of a vaccine - what it actually does.  And if you are in the camp who thinks that vaccines are categorically bad and are inherently evil - but at the same time believes that natural food production is the answer to all the world's woes...  get ready to confront some serious cognitive dissonance.  Since natural and organic farms don't use antibiotics - they typically more likely to vaccinate their herds and flocks against potential maladies (gasp).

What is immunity (not Survivor Island related)?

Before we can talk about a vaccine we need to understand immunity.  Basically there are two types of immunity that an animal (you included) can "have" or experience; active and passive.  Active immunity means the immune system is active and working to fight a pathogen (germ, bug, badness...  something that's "not self" - not part of the animal mounting the immune response) and build memory against that pathogen.  This can be induced by actually getting the disease, where then the body must fight off the invading pathogen, like you getting a cold and then getting better.  This can also be induced by vaccination where a non-disease causing version of the pathogen (or only a part of it) is introduced to the body, which makes the immune system actively respond and fight off the pathogen, like you getting a flu shot so you don't get the flu.  Both of these scenarios produce an active immunity and the immune system has worked itself to build that immunity.  Also important is that there is memory for how this fight was conducted - so this active immunity is long term and can even last a lifetime!  A great example is chickenpox - if you got it as a child your immune system remembers the virus it and you won't get it again.

Passive immunity is a little different.  It does not involve the immune system actively doing anything (hence the name passive - creative huh?).  The immunity, in this case, is simply received - via breast milk or through the placenta, for example.  Since the immune system of the animal is not involved in building this immunity, no memory of the act can be built and this type of immunity is not long term.  It also means that the immune system did not get the practice or the "workout" involved in building an immune response down the road.  Passive immunity is only temporary.

Is an antibiotic immunity or does it make immunity?

Not even close.  Antibiotics are chemicals that disrupt the ability for bacteria (not viruses - they are completely different) from growing...  but antibiotics don't "cure you".  If you have a bacterial infection antibiotics hopefully slow or stop the spread of the infection and actually let your own active immunity take over and clean the mess up.  If your immune system had been primed against the pathogen before you were exposed, the infection might never have gotten established and you might never have needed to take the antibiotic in the first place.  Ohh, and taking an antibiotic for every little cold you get - all that does (since colds are viral) is make the bacteria that live in the world around us more resistant to the antibiotic chemical...  which means, should you ever NEED an antibiotic it may not be effective in stopping the bacteria and letting your immune system finish the job...  that's bad.

So what does immunity have to do with local food production?

Actually quite a lot!  Since natural and organic farms don't rely on antibiotics to help fight off nasty bacterial infections in our animals we need to do things that allow our animals to be healthy enough to mount the correct immune response should the need arise.  For instance - we COULD overcrowd our chickens, have them live in stressful and dirty conditions and "prevent" infections from getting going in the flock by feeding them an antibiotic medicated feed every day - all day....  OR we could give them very clean spaces, extra room and lots of natural relaxation so their own immune system can take care of the low number of bad "bugs" they encounter just by running around in nature.  The fact is many CAFO operations rely on a constant low dose level of antibiotics all the time in their animals since they are perceived as a quick and easy way to deal with or prevent potential infections.   However, antibiotic use relies on the chemical antibiotics to destroy or control a pathogen, rather than giving the immune system a workout (and those organisms can and do develop a resistance to the antibiotic making it ineffective).  Vaccines induce the natural actions of the immune system to kick in and then build an immune response.  And this building of active immunity also means that memory is built, so this is not a one time thing - the immune system is now trained to effectively fight off this pathogen again and again.   This  might explain why many natural and organic farmers turn to  vaccinations to avoid use of antibiotics in their animal feed - since antibiotics use in animals has been shown to develop that bacterial resistance that in turn negatively effects human health.  The simple and cost effective vaccinations give the animals immune system the ability to build memory and protect themselves from infections throughout their lives - without ever needing antibiotics (just like in people)!

The reality is a vaccination applied correctly to any animal can impart a totally natural defense against the pathogens that are known to cause disease in that species.  For farming operations where those pathogens can become concentrated enough where the animal is at risk for acquiring the disease a farmer must make a choice in prevention - do nothing, vaccinate or apply antibiotics.  When it comes to vaccinations you need to look past the fear inspired bad statistics, big money payouts and super helpful "medical science" narratives by former Playboy bunnies from the most un-notable corners of the internet and stick with the scientific facts.

So - with a basic understanding of immunity it's your turn to make a decision that small sustainable farmers make every day.

Would you vaccinate your chickens?

So how would you tackle this in the role of a local farmer.  Let's say you have really clean conditions for brooding and lots of pasture.  You are raising a bunch of broiler chickens over the course of the summer in several different batches back to back.  Now, the summer is supposed to be damper than normal and you know that adds an element of stress to the chickens you can't control.  You also know that there's a particular bug that lives naturally in the soil young chicks can consume resulting in a disease called coccidiosis that can wipe out an entire flock in 24 hours.  So let's look at your options and see where your principles for healthy local food meet economics and science fact:

The economic cost of a coccidiosis outbreak is usually considered a total loss.  Your investment in the flock of 150 birds is $200 + time and feed...  and boy do they eat a lot.  Depending on when an outbreak occurs (usually around week 4) you could have $200 dollars in feed already consumed.  You can prevent a total flock loss with an immediate application of medicine when the outbreak starts - cost is $20 and at that point 40-60% flock loss.  Should there be an outbreak - the subsequent risk to any other chickens living on the farm becomes VERY high and can have farther economic impacts.  Also, you should then notify your customers you had to medicate the chickens...  and they are thusly no longer organic.

So what would you do?

Option 1) Do nothing special and let nature run it's course.  Do your best to create conditions where the chickens will be minimally exposed (as best you can tell) to coccidia which exists in the soil, on plants in the soil and other bird droppings.  Hope that the weather will be on your side. Probability of an outbreak is maybe 20% or less using good flock management techniques.  An outbreak would reduce your gross profits to a level where that flock would not generate any profit, potentially a loss, and you would have many customers loose their deposit and receive no bird.  There should be no impact on bird weight gain using this approach.  Prevention Cost = $0 / $150 birds

Option 2) Have your chicks vaccinated before they arrive on your farm.  This means before they are shipped that are sprayed with a killed version of coccidia.  This allows their young immune systems to learn what the nasty pathogen looks like and be primed to fight it off should it encounter it.  Basically generate active immunity (see above).  Then, still provide the best conditions you can to the birds so their stress levels stay low and their primed immune systems can respond naturally if needed.  Probability of an outbreak is less than 3%, since the chickens are immunized already, providing you are using good flock management techniques.   Should there be an outbreak it's likely to spread much slower because of natural immunity so the losses would be much smaller.  There should be no impact on bird weight gain using this approach. Cost = $25 / 150 birds

Option 3) Offer your chicks a medicated feed over the first 6 weeks of their life.  Since broilers are processed around 7 weeks of age, you stop with the medicated feed 7-10 days before processing and allow for a washout period.  Since they are always being "protected" by the medication in the feed the conditions they are raised in are not super important, the medication deals with any coccidia the birds encounter.  Some people can be allergic to the medication in the bird meat - but the washout period should take care of that.  Probability of an outbreak is less than 10% assuming the flock is not maintained in utterly inhumane conditions BUT you can have more chickens per unit of space so overall you can have a flock that generates more revenue for the same amount of space... so let's a dd a few more birds, if that stresses all of them, the medication will still protect them.  If the birds do contract coccidia during the washout period they will likely not be symptomatic but their last week of weight gain may be slightly less.  Cost = $20 / 200 birds

Share YOUR answer here!

(And since you are likely wondering what we do - after you give you answer you can follow this link here)

Animal, vegetable or both?

When I was a kid I used to love to play the animal, vegetable, mineral game with my family.  We used to get REALLY difficulty and try our hardest to stump each other.  I even remember using encyclopedias to get super difficult examples to use.  It was a good game and really made us all think.

Well now Kelli and I play that - only it's a game of long term farm planning...  do we focus on animals or vegetables?  There's pros and cons to both sides and they are oft debated around the dinner table here (as we are eating them - of course).

As you can see with some of the recent announcements both sides of the debate seem to have won this year - the veggie CSA is bigger than before and in not too short order the farm will be bustling with chickens, turkeys, pigs (and anything else Andy can sneak in).  We are looking forward to a very busy season ahead but think the rewards will be well worth the work.

Aside from the intrinsic rewards in all these different enterprises we will be closely chronically the financial side of the equation and looking at the pros and cons of each enterprise from that perspective as well.  Factor into that questions about ACTUAL consumer demand vs STATED consumer demand (some might say the "put up or shut up" equation of money) and, well, about the only thing we are sure of is that there will be one heck of an interesting year ahead!

For starters, we have to get some sort of greenhouse going...  but after the big winds in mid-February I'm concerned the "build your own hoops" solution might not withstand our environment...  so we are back to looking at possibly purchasing something (money there!).  The pigs have a shelter but there's a lot more to do - not the least of which is buy a bunch of fencing equipment (money there!).  Then there's a roost for the turkeys to live in / around.  There's gardens to get going.  There's brooders to build for the meat chickens (and turkeys - but separate).  There's a water diversion project long overdue.  And then there's the business as usual...  the unknowns...  like the fact the frost free yard hydrant I installed under the lean-to...  is now frozen.  Heaven only knows what project THAT could spawn when things finally thaw out.  Yes - things will start to get busy in just a few short weeks.

Is farming bugging you?

Maybe it just might get under your skin.  Bug you.  Some.  Farming.  A little.  Bug.

huh?

Since January is the time of the year on the farm where we review activites from last year, assess our successes and failures, and chart a course for the new years endeavors we often consider new enterprises.  One such item we did not discuss is the raising of insects for meat.

Yes - you read that right...  but let me clarify - we are not going to be raising insects for meat... cricket leg CSA anyone?

Before you grow concerned that perhaps we have been inside too long without our hands in the garden let me assure you we are still sane. Actually, the idea of raising insects for meat has recently been "studied" in depth and apparently they are better for the environment (qualified).  These top notch researchers at Wageningen University in the Netherlands looked at mealworms, house crickets, migratory locusts, sun beetles, and Dubia cockroaches, and for the first time quantified the amounts of methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) released per kilogram of insect meat.

From the study they found that the amounts of gases released by insects to be much smaller than those released by cattle and pigs. For instance, mealworms produce between ten and a hundred times less greenhouse gas emissions per kilogram than do pigs. Ammonia levels also declined significantly.  They attributed the decrease in emissions to the insects' more efficient use of food. Because they aren't warm-blooded, what insects eat is aimed directly at body growth rather than maintaining a stable body temperature.

So - sure - we could grow some of those yummy Dubia cockroaches...  of course we would then need a source of external energy to HEAT the facilites so they could continue to grow.  Something here doesn't make sense...  it's bugging me.

I guess I have to look at the natural model of the food chain - maybe if we all ate LESS meat and were more responsible in how we RAISED the meat that we DO eat...  we wouldn't have researchers off considering mealworm burgers or locust confit.

Source:

http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0014445

Watch the season unfold - What's Growing On

This week's only post...  here that is...

We know there's a lot of readership here on the site - and that's exciting... BUT - as the days grow longer and there's more and more to do with veggies and chickens it becomes more and more difficult to keep timely updates on the site here.

SO - I just wanted to let you know there are lots of ways to stay up to date with happenings (what's growing on).  We will continue to update the site with larger thoughts to consider, news related topics and recipes, but the day to day happenings and discoveries, at least for the growing season, will be moving almost exclusively to Facebook and twitter.  The good news is - even if you don't "use" those social platforms you can still see all our updates...  so there's no excuse to not click on over!

Facebook

twitter

The links are big and in the upper right of all the pages - AND our twitter feed is always up to date on the left side of all pages!  There really is NO EXCUSE to not know if the zucchini is coming (and when it starts - it does NOT stop!) or how the chickens are doing (including the new egg laying chickens that make their debut on the farm May 26th!)

It's the easy way for us to share the sights (some sounds) and simple short thoughts as we are in the field and pasture.  So if you can't make it out - you can still visit all the time.  This is our effort to always have an open door as to what goes on here all the time!

It's pretty easy for you to know what's growin on here at our little farm!