We all know the ideal natural healthy diet for livestock is living green plants. Discerning consumers, who drive the high end retail market, also realize natural grass-fed animals produce far healthier food for human consumption. Traditionally we think of this living green plant diet in terms of pasture. But what if you don't have enough land for sufficient pasture? What if you don't get 48 inches of rain per year to grow a lush productive pasture? What about the cold season when pasture plants go dormant? What if drought leaves you high and dry without a feed source?
You can overcome these difficulties by growing your own living feed using modern horticulture techniques that are easy to learn if you're willing. You can grow enough living feed for an average pleasure horse indoors in the space of two shelving units two feet by 4 or 5 feet each (add a third shelf for two horses), so having pasture land is a non-issue. Since living feed grow systems recycle water in a closed system, water use is magnitudes lower than irrigated pasture. Your animals will likely drink more water than you use to grow living feed. Since you provide heat to the plant roots, cold season pasture dormancy and dependence on winter hay are problems eliminated as well. I mentioned drought, which is actually what led Australian commercial livestock producers to harness their ingenuity and adapt modern agriculture methods to producing livestock feed, starting the living green feed revolution.
In a living feed system, you basically sprout and grow grains and seeds into a living grass mat in about a week, which you feed your livestock--green grass, roots, seed husks, and all. Think sod, but taller and without the dirt. There is no soil. The seeds and grains you choose to grow will naturally depend on what kind of livestock you're feeding. While the foundational grain grasses will be the same for all livestock, you can add in extras to tailor your feed to your animals' needs.
Living Feed is an appropriate solution for equines, poultry, rabbits, sheep, goats, swine, dairy cattle, steers, alpacas, llamas, deer, and bison. The homestead cat and dog may enjoy living feed as an occasional treat to aid their digestive system health as well.
