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Three reasons why our milk is different and special:

It's Cow (and Calf) Friendly!

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 It is a basic fact that female mammals have to give birth in order to lactate (produce milk). But in the dairy industry, calves are generally taken from their mothers shortly after birth and fed on substitute milk, so that all the mother’s milk is available for humans. At our dairy, however, our cows keep their calves. And there’s no cheating – we don’t foster calves onto ‘nanny’ cows or wean early and pretend that’s acceptable. Each cow keeps her own baby for the natural suckling period of 9 months or more. After 12 months, the yearlings are separated from their mothers and put in a group with their buddies and older retired cows. Once they have lost the urge to suckle, the whole herd is reunited. The boys, along with the rest of the herd, are on grass all year round. At the age of 2 years, I take them to the abattoir myself to ensure minimum stress. The beef is sold as 'Pasture For Life' Beef directly from the farm gate and online. Please go to our Contact page to request our price list.

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It's Raw! (not been messed about with)

Our milk is unpasteurised, unhomogenised and completely unadulterated. It comes out of the cow, it’s bottled chilled down, and goes straight to you!
This means it is whole milk and comes with a cream-line. It is also traditional Channel Island Jersey milk, so it’s extra creamy and luxurious. 
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We are just a micro-dairy with 16 milking cows altogether we have 32 head of cattle, this includes the teeniest newborn calves, young heifers and steers. We do not allow the cows to become pregnant every year - as much as they'd love to we only allow them to calve once every 2-3 years on average.  When The cows get a bit over the hill and are' no longer fit or healthy enough to make babies or milk they are retired here on the farm.  They still play an important matriarchal role amongst the herd. 
Best of all, our cows are completely unrestrained during milking, in contrast to the conventional approach. Each cow knows her own name, she will come when called and she gayley trots into the parlour on her own.

It Goes Against the Grain!

The majority of our cows are truly and purely pasture-fed, and we don’t mean that the cows occasionally eat some grass along with a grain ration – they receive no grain at all! No wheat, No maize/corn or barley and certainly NO soya or GMs   Purely pasture-fed cows are far Healthier than grain fed cows so they make safer and healthier milk & beef. Purely Pasture Fed cows can help save the Planet. 
However some cows need a little extra help when the grass/forage is poor and they are raising a growing hungry calf. At this stage we stop milking the calves mum until we start to wean, but need to supplement these cows diet with an organic ration to maintain energy.  However instead of supplementing their natural diet with a higher energy ration we try to build in a little more resilience to our cows calves and we do something called landracing which means cross-breeding them with more robust native breeds to suit our context ie our local environment/their habitat, the farm's infrastructure, farming methods and resources. By doing this we are breeding animals which are 'good doers'. Yes they yield less milk but then they are low maintenance and less needy so lowering the inputs. Better for the cow the planet and us .
The Worlds Healthiest foods
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Why is this important for the environment? 
 Grain is grown as a monoculture on vast chemically supported acreages, compacted by heavy machinery on rapidly degrading soils, and the harvested crop then requires transport and distribution. The carbon footprint and soil damage of this kind of agriculture is huge. Pasture, on the other hand, is a living carpet of biodiversity that builds soil rather than depletes it. With careful husbandry, it is ethical, sustainable, wildlife-friendly and can last forever, storing carbon in the ground rather than pushing it into the atmosphere. Not only this but grain, cereals and concentrates are not a natural food for cows, it causes an unhealthy gut. The meat and milk from grain fed animals are not terribly nutritious when 100% grassfed meat and milk is. nutritionally dense - Remember you're not just what you eat, you are what you eat eats!
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 Don't ask us why is our milk expensive, ask the others why their milk is cheap!!!

Is CAFD raw milk safe for us to drink?
Modern commodity milk is centrally processed using milk from a number of different farms. This mixing of different milks means that pasteurisation is an essential requirement in dealing with any potential pathogens. The problem for consumers is that heat-treating milk in this way certainly kills harmful pathogens but also kills some benign friendly bacteria, enzymes and other essential elements. It is this that is a major contributor to the rising incidence of dairy and lactose intolerance.

By contrast, milk from the Calf At Foot Dairy goes straight from the cow to you, so there is no need for pasteurisation provided meticulous hygiene is in place. We are proud of the fact that we have been awarded the magic ‘5’ by the Waveney District Council’s Environmental Health Officer. We have a 'GOOD' from The Food Standards Agency (the milk police) which is the highest standard and means our milk is certainly *safe to drink. As with all raw milk producers, our dairy is inspected, and our milk is tested, very regularly.

Our compassionate approach to the idea of milking cows means that we have every confidence in our dairy, and you are welcome to visit any time to see how we do it. Come and watch the cows being milked – we do it every morning!  

We are always open for milk sales – 24/7 365. 

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Here is a little film produced by Ruari of madebettermedia.com
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​http://www.raw-milk-facts.com/ 
https://www.westonaprice.org/
http://www.seedsofhealth.co.uk/articles/case_for_untreated_milk.shtml​
https://www.westonaprice.org/podcast/is-raw-milk-safe/​

Although our cows are currently certified by Demeter as organic, we do not allow any certifying body to dictate to us what to do with our cows because we feel that we know our cows better than any box ticking beaurocrat and if we felt a cow needed treatment of any kind but it would put our certification in jeopordy we would chose the cows health welfare and happiness over a piece of paper' because we don't feel these certifying bodies always do our own high standards or methods justice as we are well ahead of them/the curve when it comes to welfare for dairy cows and calves. Hence we do not feel the need to tick any more boxes than we already have to. To be fair our customers are our certifying body, our customers know us well enough to trust us and just to reassure you.............. Our beautiful Jersey cows are fed a natural diet and that no soya, or GMOs'.  No routine use of antibiotics, wormers' or chemicals on our farm.  Most of our cows are Purely Pasture Fed and of course we don't use chemical fertilizer or sprays where our cows graze.

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Oh please do read this blog written by Luca possibly a new addition to our #FarmFamily #DairyAngels https://t.co/brcikfsqnw

— TheCalfAtFootDairy (@CalfAtFootDairy) February 16, 2018
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Calf At Foot®️ is a
REGISTERED TRADEMARK.
​ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

THE CALF AT FOOT DAIRY®️

​[email protected]
​Wannerton Farm,
Perriford Lane, 
​Kidderminster

DY10 3NJ

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NO Copyright © 2023 Fiona Provan doing business as The Calf At Foot Dairy®️
​All online content, including that of this website, is protected under copyright by law. Unfortunately for the law, WE WANT OUR METHODS SPREAD. Please, spread the word, link to our website, tell your friends and shout it from the rooftops. Together, we can make the world a better place for dairy cows, and together we will make calf at foot dairying the norm.  NO copyright here!

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