Respect for the animals
What’s more beautiful than watching animals enjoy themselves as they run, graze in the meadows, and burrow in the hay ? Indeed, know that each one of our organic farms provides the best care and raising conditions in order to enhance animal welfare.
All the pork raised on our farms are born from one of 35 reproducing sows, who live on the grounds to allow the breeders to tend to them. Each gestating sow is raised in a group under a shelter with plenty of straw, while maintaining access to pasture during the summer. After giving birth to the piglets eager for their mother’s milk, the sow can move around freely, all while protecting her young and providing them with warmth. The piglets are weaned after 35 days (double the period required by standard regulation), providing them with increased immunity and overall well-being. Note that the practice of teeth and tail mutilation is forbidden.
Producers see to the well-being of the pigs and respect their natural behavior and preferences. The pigs have access to a large pasture, where they can graze on young clover and other grass, and practice their innate behaviour to grub in the ground. They are free to run, play, and roll around on the ground as they wish, and to do so throughout the entire summer. On cold days, the pigs enjoy a large indoor open space, covered with plenty of hay, where they can rest with their peers. In addition, the primary breeding location has natural ventilation and plenty of natural lighting, which allows the animals to follow a natural day cycle.
Our bovine producers aim to respect the animals’ natural behaviour and growth pace. Therefore, the bovine are not given antibiotics or growth hormones. During the summer, the bovine are raised in the open air on the pasture near barns. They are free to enjoy the open space while grazing on the fresh grass they so love. Overnight, and during poor weather conditions, they are free to seek shelter indoors. During the winter, the entire herd is housed in large open-air barns. Bedding with abundance of straw is available in order to ensure each animal’s comfort.
Contrary to the common practice of providing powdered milk to the calves, our calves are fed naturally from their mother’s teat. The calves leisure in the open air of the pasture, when weather permits.
All our animals are only fed certified organic feed produced on company land, cultivated with the greatest attention to quality.
Therefore, every day our pigs are fed a freshly ground meal, ground daily, and composed of a mix of oats, wheat, peas, corn, and soy. In addition to this base mix they have access to pasture during the summer and an unlimited supply of dry hay in the winter.
Between sucklings, the calves take advantage of the open air with their mother, all while having the pleasure of grazing on some fresh grass during the summer and on quality dry hay during the winter. Organic veal has a darker meat than the meat of milk-fed veal. Given that the organic calf grazes on grass, it absorbs more iron into its muscles, which, in turn, darkens its flesh.
Our beef is very popular for its distinct flavour. This special taste is attributed to the fact that the beef is fed exclusively organic feed, which is a blend of legumes (clover, alfalfa, and trefoil) and grasses (timothy grass, bromegrass, tall fescue, and ryegrass) all cultivated on our land. In fact, this forage increases omega-3 content in the meat as well as considerably alters the meat’s flavour. This is also what gives our meat its traditional, succulent taste of yesteryear !
All of the livestock raised on our farms receive neither antibiotics nor growth hormones. Instead, we subscribe to preventive methods : the only products we use are natural, such as apple cider vinegar with garlic, marine algae, and diatomaceous earth as vermifuge. In cases of illness, the animals are cared for with homeopathic medicine.