Excellent animal welfare - Organic standards and beyond

Sheepdrove Organic Farm reaches the very highest organic standards for animal welfare - those of the Soil Association. We also go beyond those standards, striving to do the best we can for our livestock.

Over the years the Kindersley family and our excellent stock managers have worked with vets, researchers and animal behaviour experts to develop best practice.

We have a number of unique approaches to create a happy and healthy environment for the farm animals. For example, the Poultry Agroforestry System is lined with woodland edge habitat and herb strips designed to support self-medication, balanced diet and foraging behaviour.

We also use chicory fields for young sheep and cattle to naturally prevent parasite worm problems, and enhance the other fields with herbs such as birdsfoot trefoil to prevent bloat, a common gut problem.

If you care about how farm animals are managed, we recommend you look at the enlightening information on the website for Compassion in World Farming (CIWF). http://www.ciwf.org.uk/

We were inspired by the CIWF website, which used score tables to compare standards of the 'Red Tractor' farm assurance scheme with those of the Soil Association. CIWF show clearly how good Soil Association farming standards are, awarding them many more ticks than the Red Tractor scheme.

Take a look at the scoring tables below, to see how Sheepdrove goes beyond even the excellent Soil Association practices.

 

Soil Association - how CIWF scores their standards

Measure	Cattle	Sheep	Pigs	Chickens
No Close Confinement
Low Stocking Density
Outdoor Access
Shelter
Bedding
Small Group Sizes
Suitable Breeds
Appropriate Feed
Adequate Feed
No Growth Promoters
No Mutilations
No Embryo Transfer			N/A	N/A
No Genetic Engineering
No Rough Handling
Stockmanship
Score out of 15	12	11	13	14

 

 

Sheepdrove Organic Farm - a comparison

Measure	Cattle	Sheep	Pigs	Chickens	Turkeys
No Close Confinement
Low Stocking Density
Outdoor Access
Shelter
Bedding
Small Group Sizes	Below 40	Low Density		About 1000, kept at low density	About 500, kept at low density
Suitable Breeds
Appropriate Feed
Adequate Feed
No Growth Promoters
No Mutilations	De-horning (Breeding for horn- free cattle) & Castration
No Embryo Transfer			N/A	N/A	N/A
No Genetic Engineering
No Rough Handling
Stockmanship
Score out of 15	14	15	14	14	14

 

What else do we do at Sheepdrove Organic Farm?

	Cattle	Sheep	Pigs	Chickens	Turkeys
Hands-Off Management
Family Nursery Groups
Wallows (and summer shade)
Long Stay with Mother (SA standard)
Rubbing Posts/structures
Herbs & Self Medication
Early Behaviour Support
Wild Habitat			Wise Oaks
Farm Sounds in Nursery
Conservatory in Nursery
Mobile Shaded Dustbaths in Field
Harvesting done at dawn, by hand
On-Farm Slaughter and Processing

Here at Sheepdrove Organic Farm we continue to research husbandry methods and come up with new ideas, mixing both traditional and the most modern of organic farming. So when you buy Sheepdrove meat, you can be happy in the knowledge that your purchases sustain some of the very best livestock farming standards there are.

Notes:

• Growing pigs are handled minimally – perhaps only twice during their whole rearing period - to minimise stress.

• We keep sows and piglets in small groups/tribes until they are weaned, which makes for group bonding and less conflict between pigs later on.

• In summer the Soil Association requires either wallows or shade – we always have both.

• Long stays with the mother and natural nursing are Soil Association standards, not mentioned in previous tables.

• Sheepdrove provides unique pyramid shaped rubbing posts. Pigs scratch against their housing!

• We provide herbs with medicinal and nutritional benefits within the field.

• Periods of protected mother-young bonding (starting straight after birth) promotes health, and teaches feeding behaviour, respect for the herding dogs, etc. Poultry chicks are placed on top of food on day one, to ensure good feed imprinting.

• We have some pigs in a woodland called Wise Oaks – ancestral wild boar habitat. Sheepdrove chickens benefit from woodland edge habitat supporting forage instincts and adding more wild food, like insects, to their diet.

• We play a CD of farm sounds in the chicken nursery to help prepare them for the outdoor environment.

• Nursery conservatories benefit health and natural free-range behaviour, giving chicks natural sunlight and early views of the outdoors.

• Wet weather prevents dustbathing in the open field, so we have made weatherproof dustbaths.

• Catching at dawn will not panic the chickens, so they do not get stressed or bruised before slaughter.

• We minimise stress for chickens with a short journey from the field to slaughter here at the farm.