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Keeping livestock healthy without the use of antibiotics or other off-the-shelf products is much easier if you understand the primary role of sub-therapeutic antibiotics in the livestock industry.
Companies add antibiotics to livestock feed to inhibit bacteria in the gut of the animal. This is not only for health reasons but to promote growth in the animal.
One of the many negatives of using antibiotics is that it wipes out the good bacteria, too.
The natural method to inhibit bad bacteria is to encourage the good bacteria in the animal’s gut so it keeps the bad bacteria in check. The result is that the animal is healthy and develops at a good rate.
That’s where clabbered milk comes to the rescue. Clabbered milk is raw milk that has been soured. You have to start with raw unpasteurized milk. I’ve found the best raw milk to use is milk that is one or two weeks old. Pasteurized milk will not clabber, as it is devoid of most of the beneficial bacteria.
The Best All-Natural Wormer For Your Livestock Is Right Here
To make clabbered milk, place the milk in a sealed container and place on your counter or other warm place for a couple of days until solids appear. Shake the milk and if it’s white and thick, you’re done! Next, put it in the refrigerator or it will eventually begin to separate into curds and whey. Nothing wrong with that, but we’re making clabbered milk.
Clabbered milk can be used in many recipes that call for yogurt or buttermilk. You can also eat it like yogurt!
But it also makes a great immunity-booster for livestock. One of the tricks to getting the most benefit out of clabbered milk for your livestock is to feed small amounts on a regular basis. Feeding a large amount once in a while would be like the feed company putting all the antibiotics in the first couple of bags of feed, and then nothing after that.
On my farm, we feed it to everyone around here, right down to the dogs. Pigs and chickens absolutely love it. Others like cattle, goats and horses may have to learn to like it. You can always mix it with feed to get them to consume it.
We give it to our livestock two to three times a week. We currently have a batch of 30 grower pigs about 100 pounds each, that get a five-gallon bucket three times a week. So if everyone shares, they are getting just over a pint each, three times a week.
Clabbered milk is one more way to help keep your livestock healthy and growing without using chemical and pharmaceutical products.
The more we have worked to manage the bacteria levels in our livestock, the healthier they seem to be. In fact, I’ve needed a veterinarian only once in the last 12 years.
Try it for yourself. Your livestock will be healthier — and you won’t be calling the vet as much.
Have you ever used clabbered milk – for your family or your livestock? Share your advice on using it in the section below:
