Grass-fed vs. Grain-fed Meat

First I must say, all things in life need to be reasonable and balanced.  Moderation!  If we get sidetracked too far in one direction (whether good or bad) it leads to obsessions and paranoia.  Feeding grass and forages to ruminant animals is not revolutionary, neither is feeding them grain.  In fact oats, barley and wheat are all in the grass family and are nothing more than the seeds from grass!  The grass-fed campaign would have you believe that sheep naturally eat nothing but green blades of grass.  Many farms have jumped on the Grass-fed bandwagon.  I'm guessing not so much from personal conviction, but to take advantage of a great niche market!!  Having raised sheep for years, I can tell you that yes, sheep do eat grass, and they like grass; but given the choice, they will start with pruning all the leaves off of deciduous trees (as far as their little necks will reach), nibble on fir trees, devour roses, daylilies, grapes, blueberry bushes, apples, pears, pumpkins and just about everything grown in the vegetable garden: corn stocks, broccoli, peas, etc.  I know this because they escape, now and again, from their pasture and dine gleefully on the landscaping.  They also love legumes, most common are alfalfa and clover.  The sheep at Wet Thistle Farm are allowed to eat a combination of everything (except the landscaping if we can help it).  They are raised on pasture and are given alfalfa and grain as a supplement.  Growing lambs and pregnant ewes require high levels of calories.  The grass in our pastures does not meet all their needs,  so they are much healthier and have less medical problems when provided with adequate nutrition.

It also frustrates me, that people assume that grain-fed also means hormones and antibiotics.  Well you know what happens when we assume.  At Wet Thistle Farm, we don't use growth hormones in our sheep and our the sheep's rumens are very healthy without a daily dose of antibiotics. On the farm, antibiotics are only used to fight infections, just like we use them in ourselves and good records are kept on any treated animal.  Also be assured that feeding grains, does not link the animals to any BSE (mad cow) risk.  BSE is passed through contact/eating the brain or brain stem tissues of infected animals.  Sheep are ruminants, and ruminants are not carnivores, therefore we do not feed animal parts or byproducts to our sheep.

I hope I've provided you a clear understanding on my view of feeding our sheep and your dinner!  I feel we have found a reasonable, healthy, moderate way to raising sheep and providing you with a natural, safe, and tasty meal.