Home Our CSA Apprenticeships Animals Flowers and Crafts Farm Events Our Markets 2007 Photos Recipes and Cookbooks Links and Resources Contact Us				Animals Cows and Beef | Pigs | Chickens and Turkeys All of our animals are raised as part of the farm system. The roles they play in cycling and recycling nutrients, eating insects, mowing grass, tilling the soil and providing us with hours of entertainment (as if we just sit around and watch them!) are just as important as the products they provide. All of our animals are raised on organic feed and our meat and eggs are certified organic. Cows and Beef We started our herd of cows with a Jersey named Ellie and a Milking Shorthorn/Jersey Cross named Eva. Eva is the grand dam of our current herd. She turned 18 in 2007. She is too old to bred again and has earned her retirement on the hillside of the farm. She was a great mom in her day and still seems to look after all the calves in the herd. Ellie's daughter, Val, was a Herford/Jersey cross and was the mother, grandma and great grandma of many of our animals. Our cows have evolved from a herd of two family milk cows to a predominantly beef herd over the years. The dairy quality insures that the mothers have plenty of milk for their calves and the beef bloodlines supply the blocky body characteristic for good meat production. Newer additions to the herd are some registered Milking Devon cows and a bull. Milking Devons are an old breed of smaller cattle that use pasture efficiently and provide both delicious beef and milk. This breed is now considered rare, but in the past several farms in the area raised Milking Devons. Our Nona is related to a cow that was raised in Tunbridge many years ago. Our beef is available by the cut at the Norwich and Royalton Farmers Markets as well as the farm. When we have enough, you can also find it at the South Royalton Market, our local coop food store right in town. We can also sell animals by the whole, half or quarter cut to your custom order. Pigs Pigs are smart and piglets are cute. We now have two sows on the farm: Flo (Florence) and Franny (Francesca). Each sow has two litters a year so we have a steady supply of pork on the farm and will be able to supply other farms with certified organic piglets to raise. Our pigs spend their lives outside in portable houses and help us recycle produce leftovers and retill fallow vegetable field areas. In addition to the farmers markets, we also sell our pork at the South Royalton Market our local coop/grocery store. We can also sell pork by the whole or half animal from the farm. Chickens and Turkeys Our poultry is all raised free-range on pasture and fallow vegetable fields. This helps us to improve our field and pasture fertility, while making healthy and happy birds. We get our day old chicks in the mail and need to provide them with a warm, dry place for their first few weeks. Baby chickens are sturdier than turkey poults and we can often get them onto grass after the first week in a brooder if the weather is good. We will not be raising turkeys during the 2008 season. We have discounts for quantity purchases of 10 or more chickens and appreciate advance orders. In addition to meat birds, we do raise some laying hens and sell organic eggs off the farm to CSA members and at farmer's market.
Luna Bleu Farm 96 Boles Road, South Royalton VT 05068 802 763-7981 lunableufarm@verizon.net