Considerations
Prairie Psalm Farm has a mission to explore symbiotic relationships that God has already designed between land and animals.
Below are some commonly asked questions or posed considerations on why we do what we do. In the future, we hope to make it a feature for our customers/followers be able to comment or provide feedback so we can continue to explore together! God is good, all the time!
Do our chickens have antibiotics as a normal diet additive?
No, our chickens eat wheat, corn, soybeans, and milo as there main supplement to what they find on pasture. Although it is our understanding that, by law, antibiotics administered during the life of the animal must be cleared from there system at time of slaughter, chickens fed a small, but steady, ration of antibiotics during their lifetime have potential to produce resistant strains of bacteria that can pass through in their meat after slaughter.
Since we follow our chickens all the way through from day 3 to freezer, processed on farm in a facility anually inspected by Kansas Department of Agriculture (KDA), it is safer for us to keep our livestock living conditions cleaner than to risk working with these potential resistant strains.
What do Prairie Psalm Farm cows eat?
In the late spring to early fall, all cattle are grazed on native prairie. In the late fall to early spring, cows are fed a mix of whole bales from prairie hay, alfalfa, brome, and sorghum sedan grass prepared for them in the growing season. Calves weaned from their mothers that have higher nutritional requirements are fed an all-you-can-eat buffet of high-quality alfalfa and prairie hay. All livestock are fed on crop fields to regenerate soil life for forage growth in the years following.
Ensilage diets are very common for grass finished beef. There are great farmers in the area that can do ensilage diets well. However, for our small operation, it appears it would require more equipment inputs, animal health monitoring and interventions to maintain the correct balance of rumen acid/fermentation than we currently employ.