Research has shown that hens living in a more naturalistic environment were observed to spend up to 75% of daylight hours foraging – a behavior that includes scratching and pecking at the ground and vegetation in search of food. Like the majority of hens raised in North America, hens housed without material on the ground (e.g. litter) or access to pasture on which to forage, are more likely to develop unwanted behaviors like feather pecking (which can lead to the removal of feathers and even cannibalism – yikes!). That’s why G.A.P.’s standards for laying hens ensure that birds have unrestricted access to litter (for Base Certification/Step 1 and Enriched Environment/Step 2), or litter and vegetation (Outdoor Access/Step 3 through Entire Life on Farm/Step 5+).

G.A.P. Partner Fair Farm – Doing it Right

Our partners at Fair Farm, certified to G.A.P.’s Entire Life on Farm/Step 5+ animal welfare tier (check them out on Instagram and Facebook), have infused their passion for producing high quality, local food into the way they care for their hens. Both pullets (a term for young hens before they lay their first egg) and hens are housed in mobile coops on a sprawling 60-acre property nestled in the foothills just outside Boulder, CO. Hens have free access to the pasture during the day, and, at night, cozy up on the roosts inside the coop.

With plenty of access to pasture, the ‘fair ladies’ at Fair Farm have plenty to keep them busy during the day. Foraging for bugs and bits of grass to eat mean that their eggs are loaded with nutrients, including omega-3 fatty acids. Foraging on grass keeps the hens mentally and physically healthy and in turns provides consumers with a healthy and nutritious protein source.

Keeping it Fresh

Not unlike pasture management for beef cattle and sheep, hens and coops have to be moved from spot to spot on a regular basis in order to keep the pasture fresh and give the land time to regenerate between uses. This keeps the soil healthy and from getting muddy and overly denuded.

So what do hens do for the other 25% of the day?

Other activities, including resting, drinking, dustbathing, preening, and egg laying make up the rest of the time that isn’t spent foraging.

Did you know? Some breeds of egg laying hens can lay almost an egg a day! Like an expectant human mother performing ‘nesting behaviors’, hens like to find or create a comfortable spot to lay their eggs. Hens are highly motivated to access nesting areas and nesting materials. In conventional cage systems, there is no designated nesting area and hens often show behavioral and physiological symptoms of stress leading up to the point of egg laying.

The fair ladies at Fair Farm are given access to ample nesting areas that include material for the hens to manipulate (peck and scratch at) into the perfect nest for them to use every day.

Being G.A.P. Animal Welfare Certified

G.A.P.’s comprehensive animal welfare standards, created across multiple species from laying hens to bison, cover the entire lifecycle of the animal. Hungry for more info about our partners? Read about poultry farming and maintaining good litter quality here, and about raising young turkeys here. G.A.P. sets the standards, our valued partners implement them, and our third-party certifiers audit every farm to ensure the standards are being met. It’s an important process that helps us impact the lives of more than 416 million animals annually.

Please keep in touch! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter, and subscribe to our monthly e-newsletter by scrolling down to the bottom (footer) of this webpage, and entering your email address.

Have your own story you want to share? Email us at info@globalanimalpartnership.org and let’s talk.

The post A Day in the Life of a Laying Hen appeared first on Global Animal Partnership.

The work doesn’t stop

As you may guess, despite the days getting shorter and the cold weather continuing to roll in, work on the farm is far from over – animals still need care and farm chores still need tending. Anyone with pets, especially dogs and horses, can attest to this. Even when it’s cold enough for your tongue to get stuck on a metal pole (is it just Canadians that try that?), dogs still need to be walked and horses still need to be exercised. Just as we need to throw on that warmer sweater as we step out the door, our pets start donning their colder weather gear, too.

Dealing with the Cold

Of course, farm animals don’t need to be blanketed; there are other ways to deal with the colder temperatures. Maintaining thermal comfort is an important requirement for all our species-specific standards. In a previous G.A.P. Farm Life blog, we talked about breed selection – farms in more northern climates may prefer to choose breeds that are better adapted to colder weather. In addition, making sure there is enough forage for ruminants to eat is important too. As the forage is broken down in the rumen, excess heat is produced, which can be helpful to keep cattle and sheep warm (we talked about rumen health and diet in this blog).

The thermal comfort of non-ruminant species (this is a fancy way to describe animals that don’t have four-chambered digestive tracts that include a big rumen, like pigs and poultry) also needs to be considered. Baby chicks and turkey poults need extra heat for the first few days and weeks of life. Remember our blog on turkey brooding? Keeping chicks and poults warm in the fall and winter becomes even more critical as the ambient temperature drops.

Like chicks and poults, baby piglets also sometimes need an external heat source for the first few days after birth. Reducing draughts, keeping barns and buildings watertight, and providing extra bedding are helpful ways to keep animals, including pigs, warm. Check out our Snow Days blog to learn how our partners in the UK keep their pigs warm throughout the winter.

It’s also the season of coming together

For those of you who celebrate Thanksgiving, or just use it as a reason to get together with friends and family, check out our yummy recipes (à la G.A.P. Team members). From Bacon Cheddar Scones to a One-Hour Thanksgiving Turkey, and everything in between, these dishes won’t fail to impress your guests!

Shout out to our G.A.P. farm partners on the other side of the world – in Australia and New Zealand – who are actually in the middle of their spring, heading into summer! I’m sure they’re still getting together for lots of family meals this season as well.

Keep in touch

Stay up-to-date with our latest news! Follow us on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, and Twitter. We also send out a specially curated newsletter to our G.A.P. followers – go to our website, scroll down to the bottom, and enter your email address to subscribe. Liked what you read here? Check out our other G.A.P. Farm Life blogs that weren’t mentioned above:

The Grass is Always Greener…In the Hay Bale

“Litter”-ally Keeping Turkeys Comfortable

A Lambing Success Story

Hogging the Spotlight

On the Move: Achieving Symbiosis in Cattle Ranching

The Dog Days of Summer

Guardian Dogs – A Farmer’s Best Friend

The post Winter is coming appeared first on Global Animal Partnership.

Did you say “LGD”?

Did you know there are other types of working farm dogs? We’re talking about livestock guardian dogs, or LGDs, for short! What are LGDs, you ask? Their title gives their job away; they are responsible for protecting farm animals. Usually, LGDs protect animals like sheep that are easier prey due to their smaller size, but you can find them protecting all types of farm animals.

Where would I see LGDs?

With sheep that are grazed extensively – meaning the sheep are given access to large areas of grazing land – our partners at High Country Lamb are no strangers to the challenges that Mother Nature brings with predators like mountain lions, coyotes, and bears (oh my!). One way to deal with these kinds of predators is to use LGDs. Though dogs are not the only species that can act as guardian animals, High Country Lamb have found that dogs are well suited to the job. They use a variety of breeds, including Anatolian Shepherds, Great Pyrenees, and Akbash dogs – all of which are well known LGD breeds.

What do LGDs have to do with G.A.P.?

The use of well-trained livestock guardian dogs fits well with G.A.P.’s sheep standards – deterring predators from hunting and killing sheep, especially the vulnerable lambs. These dogs are bred for a number of traits that help them with their jobs:

• Ability to live in harmony with the flock they are protecting;
• Physical attributes that allow LGDs to be successful in the climate and environment they live in (large size to scare off predators and thick undercoat for chilly winters, for example);
• Gentle with people; and
• Most importantly, ability to detect and deter predators.

As you can see, these are not the type of dog to binge watch Netflix on the couch with their owners! They are happiest living outside and keeping their flock safe.

Socialization is key

Though livestock protection generally comes naturally to LGD breeds, individual personality and early life experiences also play a role in the success of an LGD. At High Country Lamb Ranch, dogs are bred and raised on farm – living with the sheep from day one. This helps the puppies bond with the sheep they are to protect. The dog breeds that High Country Lamb uses are known for their independent and strong-willed natures, making them suitable for this type of work. While independence is a very important trait, it’s also important that the dogs are well socialized with the farmers and other humans to allow for ease of handling and routine care-giving. Though LGDs can be gentle and friendly, they are also very loyal and protective, and if spotted out with sheep, passersby should give the dogs space and avoid disturbing them or their flock.

An important job

Good guardian dogs are worth their weight in gold – they make sure to keep the flock, especially young and vulnerable lambs, safe from predators. They are good at keeping a very watchful eye on their charges – sensitive to slight changes in the demeanor of the flock. They’ll also patrol the perimeter of the pasture on a regular basis, especially at night, when predators are more active. This helps deter predators without having to set up really long fence lines (not practical for extensively grazed flocks) or set traps (leg traps, snares, etc. are prohibited by G.A.P.’s standards).

Did you know that G.A.P. has requirements within our species-specific standards for guardian dogs too? Pozzi Ranch, one of our other G.A.P. Animal Welfare Certified partners also uses guardian dogs to protect their lambs. Read here to learn more about their operation. G.A.P. also certifies the ingredients used in many pet food brands. We traveled to the SuperZoo pet industry trade show in August to meet with brands prioritizing animal welfare in their businesses as well. Check out our adventures here.

To keep up-to-date with more posts like this, follow #GAPFarmLife on social media (including Instagram and Facebook)! And the next time you see a farm picture with a “funny looking” sheep, it is probably a livestock guardian dog! Now you know.

The post Guardian Dogs – A Farmer’s Best Friend appeared first on Global Animal Partnership.

• Feeding cattle (remember our blog about feeding cattle in the winter?)
• Moving cattle and fixing fences (remember our pasture management blog?)
• Providing medical care
• Repairing machinery and equipment

What we don’t always realize is the amount of thought and planning that goes into successful farm management. The less physical, more thoughtful chores may not require as much blood and sweat, but they *may* involve at least a few tears! One necessary job that appears, at least on the surface, to be a brief mental exercise, can be complex: farmers must make decisions about the genetics of their herd.

At first glance, this decision appears simple and straightforward, but with thousands of recognized cattle breeds and innumerable cross combinations, you can see how this decision requires a great deal of knowledge and thought. The farmer or rancher needs to consider the traits they want and need in order to be successful. The climate, the ecosystem and level and type of vegetation, as well as desired qualities of the meat products inform the breed or combination of breeds that will be used on farm. Even when this decision has been made, it’s important to assess and re-assess it regularly.

Beauchamp Farms, a new G.A.P. Animal Welfare Certified Pasture Raised (Step 4) beef cattle ranch in Virginia, raises heritage Irish Dexter cattle. Where modern commercial breeds can be about 25-40% larger than Dexters, Beauchamp Farms has found a special niche with this breed, and finds they are a perfect fit for their G.A.P. Certified farm.

As their name implies, these cattle originally hail from Ireland and were brought to North America in the early 1900’s. They are among the smallest cattle breeds in the world and are known for being docile and easy to handle. Their small frame and lighter body weights make them well suited for small farms as they don’t cause as much soil compaction or need to graze as much as their larger counterparts. Maintaining specific levels of vegetative cover in pasture areas is an important animal welfare standard for G.A.P. beef certification. Mary Ganous of Beauchamp Farms says “Our gentle Irish Dexter cattle’s efficient use of available pasture allowed us to easily achieve G.A.P.’s Pasture Raised (Step 4) certification.”.

G.A.P.’s comprehensive standards are truly unique and are developed specifically for each animal group, while taking into account the different production systems and geographic climates around the globe. G.A.P. develops and sets the standards, our valued partners implement them, and our third-party certifiers audit every farm to ensure the standards are being met. It’s an important process that helps us impact the lives of more than 416 million animals annually.

If you are a farm or ranch, we would love to hear about how you manage your breed choices on-farm. If you’re thinking about the G.A.P. program, learn more about our standards here and click here to fill out a pre-application and be contacted by someone from our farm team.

Keep up-to-date with the G.A.P. program and more posts like this by following #GAPFarmLife on social media (Instagram and Facebook)!

The post Breed choice: A critical decision in cattle ranching appeared first on Global Animal Partnership.

A well-balanced diet

G.A.P.’s comprehensive sheep standards require that all sheep have access to fibrous feedstuffs and that their diet meets their nutritional needs. We all know how important a well-balanced diet is – making sure we get enough protein and energy is critical to our health. But a diet high in fiber is also important, especially for ruminant farm animal species, like sheep. Access to fibrous feed helps ruminants maintain their digestive function and health, especially for their rumen, which is the largest part of their stomach. Providing sheep access to pasture meets our fibrous feed requirement, but making sure to provide the right types of plants, such as a mix of legumes (e.g., alfalfa, clover) that are high in protein and energy, and grasses that are high in fiber, is the key to balancing the flock’s overall diet. The main forages found on Atkins Ranch farms are perennial rye grass and clover. Sheep thrive on this type of pasture year-round.

Pasture rotation and resting

If sheep are kept on the same plot of land for too long, the land can become overgrazed, which can be the very detrimental to the pasture and the environment. When vegetation is grazed too close to the soil, there is a risk that some plant species will die out or take a long time to recover, which in turn, can negatively affect the soil quality. G.A.P. does not allow pastures to be denuded (reduced to bare earth) by more than 20% – that means that ranchers need to consider how many sheep are on a pasture area and how long they are grazing there. Atkins Ranch ranchers know how to manage their flocks and pasture and will move their flocks before the pasture forages are no longer giving the sheep the nutrition they require to maintain their health and growth. Often, the pasture is measured for growth by taking soil samples. This helps the ranchers determine when to move the flocks and allows the pastures a good amount of time to regrow before the next grazing cycle begins. In addition, pasture grazing cycles vary throughout the year based on the weather. The ranchers will work with the weather cycles and forecasts to adjust pasture rotations based on how much feed the sheep need at certain times of the year or stage of production.

Parasite control

Another factor to consider when creating a pasture rotation schedule is the number and types of parasites present in the area, which live on the surface of the soil. If the grass gets too short and sheep graze too close to the soil, they can ingest parasite larvae. The larvae then grow and lay their eggs in the sheep’s digestive tract, and when the sheep defecates, the parasite eggs are deposited back onto the soil and the cycle starts all over again. In an effort to circumvent this process, it’s important that sheep are moved off of a pasture area before it’s grazed too close to the soil so the sheep don’t ingest the parasites in the first place. Likewise, it’s important to allow pastures with a high parasite load to rest for as long as the lifecycle of the parasite – if the sheep are not present to ingest the larvae and help perpetuate their growth cycle, the parasites will die out.

As you can guess, pasture management can be tricky – each ranch will face different challenges and utilize different strategies to provide the best grazing environment for their animals. That’s why G.A.P. works with farm animal scientists and our farm partners to develop our animal welfare standards, taking into account the environment and production system for each animal species. At G.A.P., we focus on the animal first and foremost as we set the standards.

We truly value our loyal farm and ranch partners who work diligently to care for the animals and their environments every day. Interested in learning more about our standards? Click here. We welcome your questions and interest. Interested in learning more about raising sheep to G.A.P.’s standards? Check out this blog on Pozzi Ranch and their lambing (birth) season. Like this post? Let us know! To keep up-to-date with more posts like this, follow #GAPFarmLife on social media (including Instagram and Facebook)!

The post Pasture Management: The Key to a Healthy Lamb Flock appeared first on Global Animal Partnership.

It all starts at the hatchery

Did you know that it takes 28 days of incubation for fertile turkey eggs to hatch? Specialized operations called hatcheries use large appliances (incubators and hatchers) to provide the ideal environment for developing turkey embryos – the temperature and humidity must be closely monitored and controlled for optimum hatching success. After four weeks, the group of poults begin the hatching process – pecking their way out of the eggs. After they’ve all finished hatching, the hatchery staff will begin transferring them to the containers that will take them to their new home – the farms.

Now it’s time to prep the barns…

In anticipation of the poults’ arrival, the farmers must make sure the barns are ready for their new charges. At JD Farms, the barns are cleaned and the floors covered with fresh litter (we learned about litter in a previous turkey blog – check it out here) before the poults arrive. Of course, feed and water must be available and ready for the poults to discover once they arrive at the farm. Also, as a way to keep the poults closer to each other and to their feed and water, the poults are usually kept in smaller areas within the barn. At JD Farms, the poults are given access to only one side of the barn. The divider will be removed as the birds grow and need more space. (Remember: G.A.P. defines these space requirements in our detailed animal welfare standards.) Finally, like most young animals, poults need extra warmth to keep them comfortable for the first few weeks of life. The barns are heated to 89-91°F (31.7-32.8°C) to start, and from there, the temperature is gradually reduced each day to match the needs of the turkeys as they grow.

Welcome new poults!

At JD Farms, the freshly hatched poults have a short ride on the truck to the farm – a quick 15 minutes from door to door. When they arrive at the farm, each container of poults is swiftly, but quietly, removed from the truck and unloaded by the farm workers into the barns.

Special care is a must

“Brooding” is just farm-speak for caring for young poultry. Similar to the care given after the arrival of a new family puppy, the poults are monitored extra closely for signs of comfort or discomfort. Are they huddled in one corner? This might indicate they are too cold or there is a draught somewhere. Are they as spread out as possible and breathing with their beaks open? This might indicate they are too warm. Are they active and expressing normal behavior? This means they’re healthy and have been accessing feed and water successfully. Making sure the poults are adapting well to their new home is very important for raising a healthy flock of turkeys.

G.A.P.’s standards in action

If you weren’t aware that G.A.P.’s comprehensive animal welfare standards cover the entire lifecycle of the animal, now you do. Our farm team members are specialists in farm animal welfare, so they analyze every stage of the animal’s lifecycle and develop G.A.P.’s standards accordingly. That’s what sets our program apart from others – our standards are always developed, first and foremost, with the animal in mind.

And that’s how our program works: G.A.P. sets the standards, our valued partners implement them, and our third-party certifiers audit every farm to ensure the standards are being met. It’s an important process that, with the help of our farmers, ranchers, and third-party certifiers, helps us impact the lives of more than 416 million animals annually. Interested in getting G.A.P. certified? Click here to learn more about our standards or click here to fill out a pre-application and be contacted by someone from our farm team. We look forward to speaking with you.

Like this post? Have your own story you want to share? Let us know! To keep up-to-date with more posts like this, follow #GAPFarmLife on our social media feeds (including Instagram and Facebook)!

The post Turkey Brooding 101 appeared first on Global Animal Partnership.

So what’s with pigs and mud anyway?

Did you know that pigs don’t have functional sweat glands? This little tidbit of information is great to have in your back pocket during trivia night at the local pub, but to a pig farmer, it’s way more important than just random knowledge. Without sweat glands, pigs cannot take advantage of evaporative cooling (that’s just a fancy way of explaining that wet skin makes you feel cooler) without supplemental moisture. That’s where the mud comes in! Mud keeps the pigs’ skin wet for longer than just plain water, giving them a prolonged cooling effect.

G.A.P.’s farm animal welfare standards require that farms maintain thermal comfort for their pigs – so providing pigs with access to mud in the summer is a good way to do this while allowing them to express their natural behavior. Mud has another benefit which is particularly important for pink pigs – it can double as a sunscreen, preventing sunburns for pigs that spend time outdoors. Pretty clever, right?

G.A.P.’s Standards in Action

Our partners at Rancho Llano Seco know all too well that keeping pigs cool and comfortable is paramount to good animal welfare, especially in the hot summer months in Chico, California.

They’ve worked hard to build barns that are designed to disperse heat – high ceilings and roll-up fabric siding aid in air flow and good ventilation through the barn. Keeping the air moving means that the heat doesn’t have a chance to build up around the pigs. In addition, the barns are equipped with misters that run for 5-minute intervals every 20 minutes during the daytime in the summers. This is enough time to get the pigs a bit wet, and then allow for an evaporation period. Remember, like sweat on humans, moisture on pigs needs to evaporate in order to effectively cool them down.

At this farm, pigs are also given access to an outdoor area, where mud wallows are provided by running sprinklers in certain areas. The sprinklers outside aren’t run on timers like they are indoors, but are used generously on really warm days. Pigs at Rancho Llano Seco are happy to spend time in the wallows and cover themselves with a nice layer of mud. They definitely know how to keep their cool when the mercury starts rising!

Being G.A.P. Animal Welfare Certified

Did you know? G.A.P.’s comprehensive animal welfare standards cover the entire lifecycle of the animal – from birth to slaughter. Check out one of our other blogs on pig farming and the standards around raising and weaning young pigs here. G.A.P. sets the standards, our valued partners implement them, and our third-party certifiers audit every farm to ensure the standards are being met. It’s an important process that helps us impact the lives of more than 416 million animals annually. At G.A.P., we value our loyal farm and ranch partners who work diligently to care for the animals and their environments everyday. Interested in getting G.A.P. certified? Click here to learn more about our standards or click here to fill out a pre-application and be contacted by someone from our farm team. We welcome your questions and interest.

Like this post? Have your own story you want to share? Let us know! To keep up-to-date with more posts like this, follow #GAPFarmLife on our social media feeds (including Instagram and Facebook)! Have a great summer!

The post The Dog Days of Summer appeared first on Global Animal Partnership.

It’s a simple field, full of grasses, shrubs and forbs. It seems expansive and never-ending with only trees and the occasional hill hiding the horizon. Grazing animals dot the landscape in the distance, content with the abundant vegetation around them. As tranquil as this simple field seems, its health and vitality require not only the presence of the animals grazing, but also the removal of those animals.

The large group of animals that are currently occupying the field graze contentedly, harvesting the very best forages. They are able to eat the best this field has to offer because they get moved to a new and fresh spot every day. As the land sustains the animals, providing them food and shelter; the animals sustain the land, returning nutrients to the soil. To maintain this relationship, it is important for the field to be rested for a period, preventing degradation of vegetation that can occur if overgrazed.

In this spot in the Northwest Hill Country of Texas, it would seem that approaching ATVs would disrupt the peace, but their arrival has little effect. These are no joy-riders tearing around the terrain for their own pleasure. They are there to work, using the most efficient vehicle for that work. As the four-wheeler rolls to a stop, it not only carries a person, but fencing materials. It’s time to move!

Quickly the fence is strung, and the animals are on the move, seeming to know what they are doing and where they are going. They are almost lazy as they head for the small 15-foot break in the fence, looking unworried as they are followed by the ATVs. It appears orchestrated, but in reality, it is evidence of good planning, proper tools, and effective stockmanship. It also doesn’t hurt to have the reward of new and delicious food on the other side of the fence, enticing the cattle through.

Finally, the animals are gone, off to fresher, greener pastures. They will be back, but not before the field is rested, allowing the vegetation to replenish itself.  And with only a couple of four-wheelers, some fencing, and good management, this ecological dance is possible.

Like this post? Let us know! To keep up-to-date with more animal welfare posts like this, follow #GAPFarmLife on social media (including Instagram and Facebook)!

The post On the Move: Achieving Symbiosis in Cattle Ranching appeared first on Global Animal Partnership.

If you’ve been following the #GAPFarmLife blog series, you would have learned that for a turkey farmer, ‘litter’ means ‘bedding’. But for a pig farmer, the term ‘litter’ has a whole different meaning! When a momma pig (or “sow”) gives birth to a group of baby pigs (or “piglets”), this group is called a “litter”.

This week, we’re going to get you up to speed on some pig farming lingo and give you a peak at what piglet management looks like. (And that means management according to our G.A.P. farm animal welfare standards, of course!) To help us explain this process, we followed a sow and her litter over the course of seven weeks on one of our G.A.P. partner farms that is part of the North Carolina Natural Hog Growers Association.

The Piglets are Coming

To start, sows are pregnant for 114 days – but an easy way to remember that is: 3 months, 3 weeks, and 3 days! These “gestating sows” are given special care to make sure they are fit and healthy when the piglets arrive.

There are many different ways to house and manage sows and their piglets. Sows have a natural instinct to build a nest and give birth (or “farrow”) away from other animals. So, in the days before a sow’s expected farrowing, our partners at NC Hogs move their sows to individual outdoor huts, which are bedded with straw, allowing her to perform these natural behaviors.

From Birth to Weaning

On March 12, 2019, sow #111 gave birth to 14 piglets. Litter sizes can range from 8-20+, though the average is closer to 10-12 piglets per litter, so caring for them is a full-time job!

After birth, piglets learn how to access their mother’s milk very quickly. It doesn’t take long for the piglet to learn when their mom is ready to let down her milk. She starts by making slow, rhythmic grunts, and as her grunts speed up, the piglets know a meal is on its way! With the sow laying on her side, piglets form two layers in order for each piglet to get their own teat – and they will come back to the same teat every time.

A fully-grown sow can reach weights of 500+ lbs, but an average piglet only weighs between 4-5 lbs at birth! Farrowing pens are designed with protected areas to give the piglets space to get away from their mother if she lies down too quickly. These protected areas are often heated to keep the newborn piglets warm.

Once the piglets get to a certain age at this NC Hogs farm (for this litter, it was on day 16), they and the sow are moved to a group housing area with other sow-piglet groups. This type of group management gives the sow more space to move around and express natural behaviors, like maternal care and social interactions with other sows. It also allows the piglets to meet, greet and play with piglets from other litters.  

Though the piglets can mingle with other litters in group housing, they will often continue to rest and interact with their own litter mates.

Being acquainted with the other piglets in a group housing system prepares them for the next step – weaning. This is when all of the piglets are moved to a new area together away from the sows. After weaning, we then refer to them as “weaners” or “nursery pigs” and they will stay in these groups until they are ready to leave the farm. The litter from sow #111 was weaned at 47 days of age and have now started the next stage of their growing lives.

Like this post? Want to keep learning about our G.A.P. farm animal welfare standards in practice? Let us know! To keep up-to-date with more posts like this, follow #GAPFarmLife on social media (including Instagram and Facebook)! If you’re a pig farmer, let us know about your piglet and sow management successes.

The post Hogging the Spotlight appeared first on Global Animal Partnership.

So, what makes a lambing season successful?

Being in the right place at the right time makes all the difference. In the days leading up to lambing, pregnant ewes are often put in a pasture near the home ranch so they can be monitored more closely. Though it’s not very common, farmers might need to step in to reposition the lamb, if they can, and carefully help pull it out when a ewe is having difficulty giving birth. Most of the time though, ewes can lamb safely on their own. Lambs are usually born head first with their fore legs extended out in front of them, to ensure a smooth passage through the birth canal.

After lambing, the new moms keep busy by cleaning the lambs and getting them on their feet for a nursing. Sometimes they need a helping hand with the newborns – if there is a weak lamb, it might need to be given extra care to make sure the lamb is dry, warm, and near its mother. It’s also important to make sure that all lambs, especially the weaker ones, receive colostrum after birth. This is the first milk produced by the ewe which contains special antibodies to boost the newborn’s immune system and protect it from disease.

One of our G.A.P. Animal Welfare Certified partners, Pozzi Ranch Lamb, have recently finished their winter lambing season. For them, there are several factors that contribute to lambing success, which starts by making sure the ewes are healthy and in good condition. Prior to lambing, Pozzi Ranch worms their ewes for parasites, clips the wool around their udders to make sure that area stays clean, and puts them in special pastures that have been rested throughout the year to make sure the ewes get the best nutrients. The lambing pastures have a lot of open space for the ewes to move around, but they also have trees and barns in case the ewes need to seek shelter during bad weather. The flock is also kept safe by a guardian dog, making sure the ewes and their lambs are protected from predators.

Unless the lambs need special attention, Pozzi Ranch knows that it is important to leave the new mommas alone with their newborns so they can bond, and the lambs can receive colostrum.

“It’s amazing to watch the natural instinct of a newborn lamb finding the milk from an udder of an ewe.” – Joe Pozzi, Pozzi Ranch Lamb

Although a lot of time and energy goes into the lambing process, it’s all worth it in the end!

Like this post? Let us know! To keep up-to-date with more posts like this, follow #GAPFarmLife on social media. If you’re a sheep rancher, let us know the key to a successful lambing season on your operation.

The post G.A.P. Farm Life: A Lambing Success Story appeared first on Global Animal Partnership.