About Us - Grassfed Lamb, Pasture Raised Chicken on Family Farm near Calgary

Nature Gully Farm is located one hour Northeast of Calgary, Alberta.  I grew up here and then had the opportunity to return to the farm with my husband and three kids, and we did that a couple of years ago.    

Our aim was to produce high quality food for our own family at first, while regenerating the soil.  We were looking for a natural way to bring back pasture diversity, and keep up the 40 trend of not spraying pasture for weeds.  True diversity requires animal diversity too, so we chose sheep, poultry and cattle.   All three species are complimentary. eating different plants and bugs, leaving different nutrients.  We are in year 2 on 7 of the  acres where we have intensively rotated the sheep and poultry, and are seeing a regeneration of those particular acres.  Each year we expand into more of the pasture, growing slowly along with the sheep dog training that is required, and specialized fencing needed for this process.   We have seen that this multispecies approach builds better soil, better pasture, and a better animals.

 

Grassfed, Grass Finished Sheep

Nature Gully Farm sheep are "meat" breeds, or hair sheep, not wool sheep.  The meat tends to be milder in flavor, and the sheep can be left alone more without a need for sheering.   Our lamb is seasonally available, typically from January onwards. 

Grassfed sheep have meat that is rich in Omega 3 fatty acids, comparied to the inflammatory Omega 6 fatty acids that grainfed animals have.  Moving around outside on pasture also lowers any chances for illness and parasites, and provides them with more nutrients.  Being outside in the sunshine, wind and weather leads to stronger, healthier, and happier animals. 

The lambs are born in late spring when temperatures are warm enough that they can be outside on pasture, in a natural environment.  Raised in the flock alongside their mothers gives them a low stress life, and access to milk until their mothers decide.  When the snow is too deep to forage, or the climate too cold, sheep are fed hay and alfalfa cubes in a wind- sheltered area.   

By their first January , our lambs are nearly as tall as their mothers, and are ready to be processed.  We take reservations or deposits on this limited number of lambs, and then schedule them in with a licensesd butcher to be processed, or prepared.   After we pick up the orders from the butcher, and then provided to our customers.

 

Pasture Raised Chicken

At Nature Gully Farm, we raise Poultry on pasture too, during the warm summer months.  At first, the chicks are hatched in an Alberta hatchery, and sent to us by mail. They spend their first few weeks growing feathers in a heated, indoor brooder. 

After, they are moved outdoors to live in "Chicken Tractors" outside, which are large cages on wheels, with fence and boards.  They provide shade, sunlight, and protection from rain. wind, and predators.  A second electrified fencing is used as a double precaution against predators that can dig under the chicken tractors.   

Our pasture raised chickens are moved daily, forage on plants and bugs, and rely on the dense calories provided by cereals, grains and pulses too.   Their favorite blend comes from a local family farm that makes its own special blend with minerals, pulses and cereals.  The chickens are processed when they are between 4 and 6 pounds. 

Our Pasture-raised Chickens are only available by reserving ahead of time.  They grow out from May through August.  Our own family of 5 eats a chicken a week, and they keep well in our freezer until the next batch is grown out.