Animal care

pasture-raised and grass-fed.

During the growing season, all of our animals are raised out in our pastures. These pastures have been seeded with a diversity of species to allow the livestock to browse a variety of forages. We believe in allowing our animals to express their true selves, and we support this by providing them with everything they need.

OUR CHICKENS

Our chickens are raised out on pasture when the weather allows. If we end up doing a few batches of chicken when it’s too cold for the chickens to be outdoors, we raise them in one of our large greenhouses and provide them with hay to mimic our grass fields. These chickens are also raised on a diet of non-GMO grains, with as much access as possible to fresh pasture, bugs, and other tasty treats they find out in our fields.

OUR PIGS

Our pigs are a cross between several heritage breeds that we’ve selected over the years, to be both hardy and able to thrive in a pasture-based system, while remaining succulent and flavorful. We build mud wallows for the pigs in the summer to cool down in, and provide ample room to frolic and play out in the fields. They’re constantly digging around searching for roots and bugs, living their best lives on our pastures. These pigs eat a diet of non-GMO grains, leftovers from our vegetable operation, cracked eggs from our layer hens, and spray-free grains that we grow ourselves on our Comox Valley farms.

OUR SHEEP

We raise a small flock of breeding ewes down in the Comox Valley where our fields are lush and our fences are strong. We overwinter and breed the ewes on our farm here, and once their lambs are ready for weaning we truck them up to Kelowna, to be finished on our rangelands alongside our small abattoir and butcher shop. We prefer to do things this way, to ensure the moms get adequate nutrition from our abundant grass fields on the island, while the lambs get to have a stress free last few months on the same farm as our abattoir is located so they can be harvested without having to transport them again, so they are relaxed and content up until their last moment.

OUR COWS

Our beef is our pride and joy. They, along with the sheep are our converters of sunlight and rain into steak and fertility.

We rotationally graze our cattle, which means they are moved every day or two across our pastures, mimicking a natural ecosystem. By doing this we are able to optimize grass growth which in turn maximizes carbon sequestration in our soils.

Our beef is 100 % grass-fed and grass finished.