# Home grown livestock?



## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Hey guys!

Well when I actually can travel I like to drop in on some of the farmers markets. With the season sorta being over I was wondering if you guys know any free range/organic farmers?

I was mainly looking for free range poultry, eggs and even beef or pork.

I am trying to exclude mass produced food as much as possible.


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## ameekplec. (May 1, 2008)

For meats, try the friendly butcher, or Cumbraes on Parliament street. Also, I think there's one or two vendors in the North market of St. Lawrence market that offer organic or free range meats/poultry. Also, there's Jorge who sells organic produce in the North market - his garlic is the best. I can't stop raving about it! Bought the last pound of it he brought to market a week ago


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Why did I not think of the St Laurence market! LOL We fight over the beet bread in our family rofl. Thanks Ameekplec :3

I'll check out that butcher as well


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

Hmm... if you know anyone in IIRC the Brampton area with a backyard or outside GTA that can house hens you can have some eggs as well in your backyard. It would cut down your organics bin by a good chunk of matter if fed to the chickens. 

That's the best I can help you with as I don't know on the beef/pork/chicken other then organic in the stores. When I get my aquaponics setup going who knows.... extra fish.


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Oohh for sure Neko! If you do your garden again in the summer i'll buy some greens from you :3

I wish I even had a compost bin D: we do the green bin the apts but I would never be allowed to do the bin inside my home.


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

Cid,

I have heard of some people that have kept 1-2 hens in an apt. before. I know (not personally or even know where the people are located but it has been published in the newspapers over backyard hen keeping in the GTA) there are some people that keep hens in the GTA. One person free ranges them in thier backyard but it is done covertly and thier setup is so if they had to move the hens out it could be done in a moments notice to relocate them given the no backyard chickens I think law as I've read before.

There are groups right now trying to make it legal for backyard gardens and small livestock but I've not heard of any rulings yet. IIRC Brampton is legal to own but most places that do have a no rooster policy for obvious reasons unless you need a natural alarm clock >.<; 

Not sure if you have a balcony but I've seen hang over the ledge balconey planters which you can use for growing your own produce or herbs. Granted that is very seasonal and I know you have a cat which not sure how the cat would be if you grew it indoors during the winter time. Is the cat an indoor or semi-outdoor (balconey) cat?

If you're indoors a simple worm composter works wonders. You can make one yourself using a rubbermaid bin then small holes in the bottom and top lid for air circulation. Shred some proproganda and make it damp. I thinky ou said you have a lizard or some reptile. You can take some of thier coco substrate and put it in the worm bin as well. Add some crushed egg shells for pH balance and you're ready to acquire the worms locally. The cool thing about the red wiggler worms is that they will keep reproducing to the size of thier bin then stop reproducing when they find that thier population has maxed for that bin. Kind of like RCS in a way. LOL They have a feel for knowing thier tank is too small or too many RCS in the tank to reproduce more.

Cool thing about worms is that they hate drying out and they hate light thus why they stay in the bins most of the time. Each worm can eat up to it's own body weight per day IIRC or 1/2 it's body weight. So if you produce 1/2lb of food scrapes (no meat/dairy in the bin) a day 1lb of worms will handle the job or 1/2lb of worms and wait for them to multiple (~2months for population growing). If you later have too many worms take some out and feed the fish with it.  Or start another bin or give some away so others can start thier bins. Just bury the food in the bin and don't over feed and you'll avoid most issues like smells.


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## Guest (Nov 25, 2010)

http://dufferinpark.ca/market/wiki/wiki.php

This is the best and most attended organic farmers in the gta. You won't find a better slection.

of course the Big Carrot is the best grocery store for organic/free range etc east of Yonge st


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## Ciddian (Mar 15, 2006)

Oohh I've been meaning to go to those two places!

I have no balcony sadly but I was looking into worm bins. Just have to be really careful because the other tenants in the apts tend to find composting as a negative thing.

No way I could keep chickens indoors. Dander with my own birds is a huge issue.


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## AquaNekoMobile (Feb 26, 2010)

Ciddian said:


> Oohh I've been meaning to go to those two places!
> 
> I have no balcony sadly but I was looking into worm bins. Just have to be really careful because the other tenants in the apts tend to find composting as a negative thing.
> 
> No way I could keep chickens indoors. Dander with my own birds is a huge issue.


Suuush! Don't tell the neighbours. Hide it under the kitchen sink. 

http://www.tampawormcompany.com/2009/04/build-worm-bin.html

Bag your finished compost and sell or give it away to other gardeners. That stuff is black gold.

Well should be catproof for both designs above or this unit. http://gtaaquaria.com/forum/showthread.php?p=152337#post152337


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## BettaBeats (Jan 14, 2010)

there are a few cumbraes around the city, can be expensive but its grain raised, local, and organic.


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## bae (May 11, 2007)

You have to have pretty low standards of odor and dust level to keep chickens in an apartment, or even in the basement of a house. Chicken droppings are wet and much smellier than cage bird droppings. But if you can legally keep them in an outdoor shed in your area, they will eat most of your compostables, and if you can provide light in winter, you can get 5-6 eggs per week per hen or even more under ideal conditions. They'll trash your garden if you don't fence them out, however, and even hens make a good bit of noise. Egglaying breeds of duck might be a better bet -- much quieter and easier to confine, but nothing like as productive as egglaying breeds of chicken.

There's a lady in my neighbourhood with two pet chickens. They are some kind of giant silkies, full size, not bantams, with black skin and fluffy white fur-like feathers. She ties a string around one leg and takes them to forage in the chickweed patch by the local school. I've had a few animated discussions with her, but since she doesn't seem to speak any English, and my grasp of Argentine(?) Spanish is minimal, not much information was actually conveyed.

You can raise coturnix quail for meat and eggs in cages in a basement. I've done it, it's interesting, but the eggs are very small and kind of a nuisance to cook with, slaughtering, cleaning and plucking them isn't much fun, and the little males are pretty loud for their size. If you really like quail or quail eggs it might be worth it.

Worm composting is very easy. At one point the city was distributing worm composters to people who didn't want outdoor composters. There's really nothing to it -- you can use wet newspaper for bedding and there's no odor as long as you avoid adding meat or citrus and don't let it get too wet.


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## wtac (Mar 17, 2006)

At Cumbraes, don't buy the chicken...it's from the same supplier for Maple Leaf Prime Naturally...been told from a few ppl that work there .

The price difference b/w the Maple Leaf Prime Naturally and Cumbrae grain fed chicken is significant.


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## Sunstar (Jul 29, 2008)

I think St. Cats is permitting chickens in backyards now. I was considering getting mum a couple laying hens.


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