Our Livestock
Breeding Stock For Sale
Occasionally we have breeding stock for sale. We welcome enquiries from farmers and breeders interested in purchasing our livestock.
Our grass-fed, organic and free-range livestock are occasionally available for sale. And we can work additional stock into our future scheduling if required.
Our Cattle
HEREFORD CATTLE have been around since the 1700’s and are renowned World-wide for turning grass to beef.
Our pedigree herd is hardy enough to stay outside all the time. They live on 550 acres of wildflower meadows and we make hay to feed them over the winter.
So, in winter they get hay and silage (pickled grass) and in the summer they graze the extensive wild flower meadows.
Our Cattle are free to express their natural behaviour at calving time and this results in 99% of the herd calving with no problems.
The weaned calves thrive on silage made from grass, clover and Lucerne. The clover and Lucerne are rich in protein so we do not need to supplement with cereals.
Our pastures are full of herbs and by grazing them, the cattle self-medicate themselves and so we don’t need to use vaccines, wormers or anti-biotics except when absolutely necessary.
All in all this system produces the most environmentally friendly, healthy and tasty beef. You can learn more about the breed online at The Hereford Cattle Society
Cows are ruminants: they have three pre-stomach chambers for fermentation of the foods they eat and an enzymatic stomach where the enzyme pepsin digests proteins when exposed to hydrochloric acid. Cows are not able to process cereals well because they are designed to eat grass and herbs that grow naturally in the fields they graze. When grasses are grown in mineral rich soil with herbs that grow naturally in there geographical area it contains good nutrition including omega fats. Therefore the meat produced from these animals is naturally full of nutrients and good for their health and if we eat it, our health too.
Our Pigs
Our pigs are the rare Hampshire breed which we chose because of its ability to forage.
These Pigs are Free-Range. They are not organic because then we can feed them waste potatoes, sugar beet and silage.
And our pigs need only 50% cereals in their diet and the adults need a lot less.
They have two lots of piglets per year reared in Family Groups. We have also recently added some Kune-Kune pigs which are grazing pigs from New Zealand.
Pigs are monogastric: they have one major stomach just as humans do and they also rely on enzymes for good digestion and health. This means they need to eat more than just grass to stay healthy so we supplement other food sources like Lucerne, Clover and Peas for additional protein and some farm food waste like our leftover apples.
Our Chickens
These birds are given the freedom to roam around acres of Herefordshire pastures from dawn to dusk.
This healthy lifestyle with exercise, fresh air and access to natural pastures makes these birds happy, healthy and full of flavour.
Why Springfield Poultry?
Because Springfield Poultry rear all their free range chicken to the same standard as their Organic Soil Association Chicken.
Living conditions are both indoors and outdoors. The free range chickens live in small flocks in naturally ventilated houses or barns. They have all day access to the outdoors, where they can forage naturally and enjoy being in the fields and fresh air.
Our Sheep
Our 350 Easy care ewes do just what the name suggests.
They are resistant to foot rot, worms and they shed their wool without shearing.
These Sheep also express their natural behaviour at lambing time and so 99.5% lamb themselves without problems at a 170% lambing percentage.
They also out-winter and lamb outside from February to April during which time they are fed red clover silage. They are productive to a good age – our oldest ewe at the moment is 11 years old.
PASTURE FEEDING FOR HEALTHIER FOODS
OUR CATTLE SHEEP PIGS CHICKENS AND OUR WILDLIFE
We have been formally Organic since 1999 and we are founder members of the Pasture-fed Livestock Association which promotes the Health benefits of cutting cereals and soya out of a ruminant’s diet.
OUR ENVIRONMENT
Grazing pasture is the best way to remove carbon from the atmosphere. We sequester about 350 tonnes of carbon per year.
This results in a healthy soil which is the base of the food chain.
Consequently, we have a myriad of insect life leading to a reverse in the decline of bird numbers. The decline of bird numbers is very evident on ‘modern’ farms.
We grow 4 acres of Wild Bird Food to get them through the ‘Hungry Gap’ period of February, March and April.
Breeding stock is occasionally for sale.
Please call Simon
07974 097705 to discuss your requirements about stock. This number is for stock inquiries only and not for the shop.
For shop related inquiries, please use the contact details in our Contact Us page.