Winter Food for Animals

What are Sepp's methods for feeding his animals through the winter? Do they dig through the snow? Does he harvest hay? Grains? Root crops?

Thanks!

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Karen

I saw a video a while back, can't seem to find it now, where he was walking out on one of his terraces throwing grain down in the snow. The pigs would dig down through the snow and then feed on the plants below.

Not sure what else he does.

I think the grain in the snow was in the original rebel documentary.

He is blessed with a lot of snow, so much that it protects the plants and he gets a lot more energy than I would for the same material left on the ground as I don't get snow until after the cold.

R Scott wrote:I think the grain in the snow was in the original rebel documentary.

He is blessed with a lot of snow, so much that it protects the plants and he gets a lot more energy than I would for the same material left on the ground as I don't get snow until after the cold.

I also know that one of the documentaries showed him throwing feed to fish in one of the ponds. The film-maker had him do it for the camera - it is not something he does regularly. So does he regularly scatter grain for pigs?

What do the pigs dig down to? Fruit that is on the ground? This seems plausible.

Are there techniques for encouraging other types of animals to forage? I have some animals who are completely bored this winter. I don't want to say what type because I want this thread to stay open regarding species! We still have 1' of snow on the ground. I know they would be much happier if they were foraging, but they don't dig through the snow on their own.

Thanks!

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Karen

Once you feed them, they get lazy fast. DON'T FEED THE ANIMALS

Most have never known how to forage. It takes time for them to learn, and maybe feeling a bit hungry.

Once you have a generation that knows how, they will train the others.

Not that much different than people.

Thanks R Scott. Where do you live? I am in Vermont and we have had an incredibly cold winter. Weeks of around 0 F and below, with no sun, and wind. To top it off we had a serious ice storm in December that coated everything in a few inches of ice. People were literally ice skating in their yards. I know the deer find a way to survive, but is there a way to encourage other animals to forage - short of starving them?

My chickens still forage in the winter but if there is snow they don't, I think it makes them lose too much heat through their feet to be worth what little they'd find. The pigs will still graze and root if the ground isn't frozen. Cows will graze standing grass all winter if they can get to it. Mostly it depends on whether there is stuff for them to eat, tho. Like have you planted self-harvest grains for the poultry that they can find and eat all winter? Is there stockpiled grass of the kind that won't all fall down and rot after a heavy snow?

Winter feeding allows us a lot greater stocking density than trying to store enough food for winter for our animals and the inevitable wildlife that are also hungry in winter. But some animals like poultry are just out of their native area and probably cannot subsist on what they can forage in all seasons.

Thanks Renate. Do you know of a good resource for learning about sturdy grass varieties and self-harvesting grains?

Hi Karen.
I too live in Vermont and I can't believe we're getting more snow. My husband reminded me that it snowed on Mother's Day when I was pregnant (either 18 or 19 years ago - not sure which pregnancy) and I cried! I hardly ever cry especially over the weather...

... anyway all my animals are good foragers because I choose breeds that are known to be good foragers. The one caveat is that "forager" can be a euphemism for "escape artist" because the grass is always greener.

Recommended grass species vary by state because of climate, etc. but you can look at this if you don't mind seeding a pasture: https://blog.uvm.edu/cvcrops/2013/06/13/cover-crops-as-forage-crops-a-look-at-winter-rye-and-triticale/ They refer to corn some - some are now recommending people plant corn as a fodder crop to let the cattle (and other animals) harvest in the field by managed strip-grazing of the corn plot. Other crops like winter wheat, oats, etc. are also used. As far as pasture grass, tall fescue is the one I see most often.

Karen Walk wrote: I am in Vermont and we have had an incredibly cold winter. Weeks of around 0 F and below, with no sun, and wind. To top it off we had a serious ice storm in December that coated everything in a few inches of ice. People were literally ice skating in their yards. I know the deer find a way to survive, but is there a way to encourage other animals to forage - short of starving them?

Karen, I live in Maine. It was an incredibly hard winter here too with multiple ice storms and deep snows. I think wildlife survive by finding groves in the forests where the snow doesn't crust with ice. They browse a great number more things too than domestic livestock. They seemed to have come through the winter just fine. The wild turkeys this spring were numerous.... they were out foraging every day this winter. They all seemed to be looking quite healthy.

I think one key is to choose hardy foraging/browsing breeds. Highland cattle and Cotswold sheep, both which I have raised in the past and will raise again, are browsers, where other breeds are not so much. They will eat spruce tips and buds of all sorts and grasses other cattle won't touch. Horns help dig through ice and snow.

During the coldest days of winter when spots of snow had melted away I noticed my horses happily eating whatever was on the ground. I am still feeding hay because I only have a couple of drafts and had a cow over the winter and some friends critters....and these animals aren't conditioned to forage. But I let them out to dig through the snow all the same because it is their instinct.

As for pigs, they find all sorts of things to eat. And if they are raised with cattle, horses and chickens, there are always treats around if they get them before they freeze.... same for poultry. Ducks and geese are another matter....geese only eat grass and grains. I think they need to have feed set aside for them or enough forage of sunflower heads and seedy weeds and things like viburnum bushes to have a meal through the winter. My high bush cranberries--one type of viburnum--are usually loaded through the winter. The chickens pluck off the lower berries and the wild birds eat the rest. These berries last through spring, even during a hard, icy winter like the past one, and are a great emergency food supply for wildlife. I think what happens is some of the berries thaw during the day in the sun and get eaten, while the frozen ones remain for another day. As the sun shifts and the days get longer different parts of the bushes get more or less sun.... time release feeding....

The other key to year round foraging for livestock is to introduce them to it gradually....and stockpiling as much feed as you can for the animals you have. One year you might try shaving only one month off of feeding them. The next year, two months--one spring, one fall. Their offspring will see it as normal, but older animals such as we can only often afford, need to get used to it. It also helps to have known foragers in the mix because they will teach and show the others how it is done. This is the sort of method which works as you build up your diversity and food forest....It can't happen overnight and it takes planning and management. The rewards are immense, but the effort has to be paid up front.

This year I am working hard to leave enough grass in two pastures by the end of summer.... One pasture I will feed after the first snow. The other I will leave to be grazed first thing in spring. The spring graze worked well for me this past spring, but the grass wasn't really tall enough to be a great source of energy for animals emerging from winter rations. But anything we can do to get animals out and feeding themselves as early as possible reduces the amount of hay we need to put up and breaks the dependency cycle.

For the first time in 25 years I don't have sheep, or cattle or pigs....sad in many ways, but it is also a time to study and learn and adjust to something new as I plan and work towards building a new farm more in harmony with nature than I've ever tried before.....

Neal Foley wrote:
I think one key is to choose hardy foraging/browsing breeds. Highland cattle and Cotswold sheep, both which I have raised in the past and will raise again, are browsers, where other breeds are not so much.

Belted Galloways & Black Welsh Mountain Sheep are also excellent browsers.

One key thing here is that Sepp has paddock-shift systems with both trees and shrubs so his grazing animals don't have to dig through as much snow. Also, he increases temperature of the landscape with sun traps and lakes/ponds. If there is a hard winter storm, he has earth shelters for the livestock and root cellars filled with fruit and vegetables. If he ever has to feed, he is always able to. But he does have a waterfowl house on a pond with moving water to prevent to ice forming in the house. He always puts himself in the shoes of his animals/plants and asks himself if he would be comfortable there.

Jacob did a great job answering this question and Neal made a great point about how snow cover is not as severe in the forests. Sepp's grazing systems are forests with thick tree cover sheltering the animals from snow and harsh weather while also providing them with surplus food for the winter. Here is one of the Earth Stables at the Holzerhof.