Below are some of the most asked questions we get from our customers.
As always if you have anything you would like to ask us, please contact us.
Side note: Everyone is always welcome to come out to the farm to visit. We only ask though that you organize a time with us so we are available to show you around.
Before reading the below FAQs, please consider watching the short video below, which the SEQ food trails did with us last year:
Q1. Is Shingle Hut Creek Farm’s beef completely grass fed?
YES! We do not feed grain or similar supplements to our cattle. We use hay as a treat to help us move cattle into the cattle yards, but daily they get paddocks with a diverse array of grasses, woody shrubs, and yes, weeds. This is one if the things that gives our beef it’s distinctive flavours.
Q2. Is Shingle Hut Creek Farm’s beef totally chemical free?
YES! We do not have a yearly program for giving our animals vaccines, antibiotics, worming medication or pesticides. We do not give Bovaer to our cattle or use herbicides on our paddocks. Our personal aim in life is to live as chemical free as possible and that is how we grow our cattle, as we eat our own beef. If for some reason an animal gets sick and needs antibiotics, we do no use that animal for our paddock to plate business.
Q3. Are you organically certified?
No, we are not certified organic, but we use similar practices to that which is required to be certified. No chemicals ever, not even organically certified ones, will be used on the cattle that provide the beef to you, our customer.
Q4. How do you look after the native animals on your farm?
We happily share our 2,400 acres with many species of native animals, birds and plants. We run our cattle, not only for the wellbeing of the animals but also with the native inhabitants in mind too. Longer grass gives protection for small birds and we don’t bait the dingoes or shoot the wallabies. Read more about this here in another blog post in our website called How much do we impact the natural world around us to protect our cattle and way of life?.
Q5. How does a ‘nature refuge’ and ‘cattle farm’ fit together?
We use cattle to manage the land for the better. Our cattle are tools to keep the grass under control, fertilize the soil and help reduce erosion by flattening out dramatic changes in topography. Currently we use cattle to graze paddocks for bushfire protection, rather than burning, as the extensive burning we would have to undertake would reduce the habitat for the native fauna and the recovery period is longer.
We use off creek watering and fence off dams therefore protecting the watershed, while periodically running cattle through the creek allows for massaging the creek sides to help reduce flood erosion. Moving cattle regularly increases the infiltration of water into the soil and therefore reduces damaging runoff.
Q6. Is your beef tender?
Since our beef is ONLY completely grass fed, it is different to grain fed beef. Grain fed beef has more fat throughout the meat so it is generally more tender. We hang our beef at the butchers for over 10 days to help our beef become tender and flavorful. The cattle are calm and content during their life, which correlates to tender beef on your plate.
Q7. How do you treat your animals?
Our animals are treated with respect and care throughout their lives. We aim to fill our breeder herd with long lived happy, healthy cows that will provide us with happy, healthy calves. They say cattle can live up to 17 productive years and that is our goal.
Q8. What additives or supplements do you give your animals?
We DON’T use hormonal growth promotants, grain, Bovaer or any other synthetic additives to promote weight gain or pregnancy in our cattle.
We DO use apple cider vinegar, salt and sulphur, and mineral licks. Apple cider vinegar helps the cattle’s digestion, repels flies and improves overall health. Sulphur, salt and minerals improve health, help reduce fly and tick pressure and improves feed palatability.
Q9. When do you wean your calves and do you supplement them after weaning?
We wean our beef calves at 8 months of age with EasyWean weaning rings. This means they stay with mum, but are not able to drink off her. The rings don’t seem to impede the calves eating and we remove the rings around 8-10 weeks later once the cow has dried up her milk supply.
Heifers stay in the breeder group for their productive life while steers will move to the grower group once they reach a heavier weight. This means that the animals stay in their family groups as long as possible, which allows the adult animals to pass on important information about grazing and behaviour to their calves.
We do not supplement calves with any grain or hay after weaning, or wean at a younger age.
Check out our website www.shinglehutcreek.com.au, YouTube channel Shingle Hut Creek Farm and Instagram @MaplesMarvels for stories, videos, photos and more.