Animal Welfare
As organic farmers, producing organic food with respect for livestock and with minimal impact on the environment is at the heart of what we do. We only work with small-scale producers who can offer a level of care for their animals that intensive farming systems cannot.
cows
Organic cows aren't fed and managed in ways that attempt to push them into producing more milk than they would naturally produce.
60% of their diet has to be grass, whereas conventional farmers can feed their cows grain. At the Riverford Dairy, the cows spend 9 months of the year out in the fields eating grass. Their natural fertiliser goes onto our fields, helping us to grow veg. When they are in the barn (for 3 months) they eat some of the veg we don't sell, as well as hay and silage.
Calf diets are different in organic herds too. When dairy calves are born, the mothers go into the milking herd and the calves themselves are weaned onto solid food. There are no restrictions on non-organic weaning and calves are typically taken away from their mothers at birth. In the organic system the calves stay with their mothers for 12-24 hours to feed on colostrum, the rich first milk which is filled with nutrients and antibodies, before being fully weaned by 12 weeks. During this time at least half of their diet is fresh, whole milk, whereas non-organic farmers largely use a milk replacement powder, often containing synthetic vitamins.
Organic cows are outside as much as possible but most dairy herds are brought in during the winter (when the grass stops growing). When they are inside, they are housed in covered yards or cubicles with clean, comfortable bedding. This isn't required for non-organic cows.
They have to have 0.66 acres to graze when they are outside (more than most non-organic cows). When inside in the winter months, they have to have a minimum of 10.5 m2 per cow.
chickens
There has been a lot of talk in the media about the differences between battery and free range eggs. In this article, Guy Watson from Riverford Farm in Devon explains that there are many differences between free range and organic too.
When I was an agriculture student in the 80s, we visited an intensive poultry farm. As we left the building, half the students were in tears, much to the irritation of the farmer. To witness, at close quarters, the routine abuse of animals in the pursuit of cheap food was more than most of us could bear. I like to think that any sentient human being, having witnessed the reality behind producing a £3 discounted supermarket chicken or a bucket of KFC, could never stomach it again, but most of us never confront it.
Cheap meat and eggs are not a right. Nor is it elitist to suggest that we should be prepared to pay for chickens to have a reasonable level of welfare. Most of us eat more meat than is good for us and the planet, so the simple answer could be to eat less rather than cheaper. Use all of it, including the carcass, and enjoy it with a clear conscience.
It is no coincidence that a chicken tastes better after a longer and more natural life. Most of the chickens we sell are bred by Ross Gardiner and raised by Andy Hayllor, one of our co-op members, before being killed, plucked, slowly chilled and dressed in Ross’ small abattoir. The entire process is audited by the Soil Association. This is how Ross and Andy go about it:
- Rather than the ubiquitous Ross Cobb breed, which don’t tend to roam, Andy’s birds are Hubbards and Sassos, which spend most of their time outdoors grazing a mixture of grass, red clover and chicory; scratching and making dust baths, searching for bugs and exhibiting their natural behaviours. Shelters are provided to draw them away from the house, the flocks are never larger than 500 and the houses are moved between each flock. All these things add cost, but chickens are timid creatures and without encouragement will stay indoors and never learn to roam and scratch. Many birds labelled ‘free range’ are kept in houses of many thousands, which are never moved and as a result are surrounded by mud. In theory the birds have the option to go out, but very few actually do.
- Andy’s birds mature in 70 to 84 days, compared to the 41 days typical of an intensive broiler. They take exercise, forage for a more varied diet and are not as intensively bred for rapid weight gain. The result is a healthier, happier, less fatty and ultimately tastier chicken. The distinctive yellow colour of the meat is not from maize, but is as a result of their natural outdoor diet and lifestyle; it is proof that they really do ‘range free’. Our chickens are slower growing than many and I would encourage you to accept this both as a way of making them more flavoursome and out of respect for the chicken.
- Andy never trims his birds’ beaks. Some ‘free range’ and non-organic birds have their beaks trimmed to prevent them pecking each other (normally the result of boredom and stress). As well as being painful, this inhibits the birds from naturally scratching and searching for food in the pastures.
Andy’s chickens are fed only organically grown grain, are never fed growth promoters, receive no routine antibiotics and have more space per bird, inside and out, than virtually all non-organic ‘free range’ birds. Their houses are filled with plenty of straw to enourage their natural scratching instinct and so they can nest easily. Short of raising them in your garden yourself, it would be hard to better them for flavour and welfare. That has to make for a happier meal on your plate.
Guy Watson
clucking in the clover
If you can't see the video, click here.
Watch our organic chickens getting into the free range spirit with a little help from Guy and some wiggly worms.
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pigs
Most of our pigs come from Tom Browne of Smallbrook Farm near Exeter. Watch this slideshow to hear Tom chatting to Ben Watson, who set up the Riverford Meatbox scheme, about rearing organic pigs.
If you don't have sound click on 'captions' to see the commentary.
Tom has an outdoor herd of 100 sows at Smallbrook Farm. The pigs spend most of their time chasing each other around in the mud and nizzling through the grass and clover. They are a mix of Durroc, Large White, Hampshire and Landrace breeds, ideal for the pork, bacon and sausages you'll find in our meatboxes.
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