What is pet enrichment? Why is it important for your pets' health and well being?

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October 28, 2022

More than half of households worldwide have pets. Why is that? Well, it enriches our human lives. Pets provide companionship, can reduce stress and relieve depression, can give us more opportunities for exercise and socialization… and of course pets can provide us lots of fun!

That’s what pets do for us, but what about what we do for our pets? How can we make their lives better?

Pet enrichment is exactly what it sounds like. It’s how we can enrich our pets’ lives to improve their physical and emotional health and well being.

Some pets need an extra mental challenge to liven their day and curb inappropriate behavior. For some pets, enrichment helps ease anxiety. Some pets have extra energy and added enrichment helps take the edge off. For all pets, enrichment provides something enjoyable to do.

Much like humans, cats and dogs enjoy varied activities and being mentally engaged and physically satiated.

Pet enrichment can happen indoors by playing games, petting favorite spots, or gifting new toys. Outdoors, pet enrichment might involve taking a walk in a new area, playing catch, or going on a hike. But, most important to Miller’s Bio Farm, pet enrichment can also happen through food.

Feeding your pet a variety of foods with different flavors and textures as treats or at mealtime helps keep cats and dogs mentally engaged and physically satiated.

If you’re currently feeding the same old kibble or wet food every day, here are a few ideas to add some exciting real food to your pets’ diet and lives with raw pet dairy:

Add a dollop of raw Greek yogurt on top of kibble.
Pour them a small bowl of raw milk or cream to drink instead of water.
Mix kibble with some raw yogurt or kefir to provide a new texture.
Make some raw whipped cream and put it inside a treat ball. Your pet is challenged to figure out how to lick it out.
Go crazy and make some Raw Vanilla Ice Cream for your pets! The cold plus the flavor will be certain to stimulate their senses.
Explore slow feeding bowls/mats to make mealtime into puzzle time.
Do some research or talk to your holistic vet about switching to a raw food pet diet.

Raw pet dairy can provide many health benefits for your animals. It provides added moisture, vitamins and minerals, probiotics, and more. You can read more about how fermented raw dairy can boost your pet’s health here.

*All this being said, please know that raw dairy is NOT a complete food for cats and dogs. In other words, you can’t feed your pets only dairy. They need bones, meat, organs, etc for complete nutrition.

An important note is that not all pet food is created equal. When Miller’s Bio Farm started offering pet food, we were shocked at how unregulated the pet food industry is.

For example, generic meatmeal can be legally made from the scraps scraped from a butcher’s floor or roadkill, dead, diseased or dying farm animals — even euthanized cats and dogs. The same goes for raw pet dairy could come from cows with mastitis, have added coloring or ingredients, and so on. Yuck!

We are proud to have a variety of clean and safe raw foods for your cats and dogs. We go above and beyond and follow the highest standards. This is true for our beef, chicken, and turkey pet products as well as our raw pet dairy. You can read more about how we provide your pets the highest quality pet dairy here.

What do you feed your pets? Have you included raw foods in their diet?

I’d love to hear from you. Comment below (no account required - start typing for the guest option to appear) or contact us .

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What’s really in a grocery store turkey?

It’s that time of year again—the turkey takes center stage. Whether it’s Thanksgiving, Christmas, or just a Sunday family dinner, a golden-brown bird is often the star of the show. But if you’re grabbing a conventional turkey from the grocery store, you might be wondering: what’s actually in it besides turkey? Why not add weird stuff to our holiday dinner? Many conventional turkeys are “enhanced” before they even make it to the freezer aisle. That usually means they’ve been injected with a solution of water, salt, and sometimes sugar or broth. It’s meant to keep the meat "moist and flavorful", but it also means your turkey may contain up to 15% of stuff that isn’t turkey. Always check the fine print on the label—you might be paying turkey prices for salty water. I sure hope you like your turkey with a side of salt! Those injections can leave a grocery store turkey surprisingly high in sodium. And when you see “natural flavorings” or “seasonings” on the label, it isn’t always just herbs and spices—it can also mean more hidden salt and flavor enhancers. So what exactly are these “boosters”? Think modified food starch for texture, “natural flavorings,” caramel coloring, and sometimes even MSG for that extra hit of savory flavor.Here’s the kicker: take a look at this turkey below—it’s sold by a major brand and proudly labeled ALL NATURAL. But read closely, and you’ll see it actually contains about 4% “other ingredients” that aren’t clearly listed. Makes you wonder, right? Turns out the real stuffing happens long before Thanksgiving—it’s all corn, soy, and unnatural junk. Conventional turkeys are typically raised on large farms where antibiotics may be used to prevent illness in crowded conditions. The USDA regulates withdrawal periods before processing (meaning the birds shouldn’t have antibiotics in their system at slaughter). So does that mean the birds really aren't antibiotic free after all? How confusing for the consumer! As for what the conventional turkeys are fed: Grains:Corn, wheat, and barley aren’t just wholesome-sounding grains—they’re the cheapest way to pack calories into a turkey, fueling rapid growth. Efficiency, not nutrition, is the goal here.Seed Oils:Soy, canola, and flaxseed are tossed in, not out of kindness, but to boost fat content and keep growth on track. Soy especially dominates, since it’s cheap and plentiful—most of it genetically modified. So these turkeys are definitely not low PUFA.Protein sources:Turkeys grow fast, and that means they need protein—lots of it. Beyond soy, feed mills mix in other plant-based proteins to supercharge growth in young poults. The formula isn’t about balance or natural diets; it’s about pushing birds to market weight as quickly as possible. Seed oils, sugar and more, OH MY! Certain “self-basting” turkeys may also contain a touch of sugar or dextrose, oils, or even phosphates to help retain moisture during roasting. My gosh this list keeps going on and on... And the star of the show... Conventional turkeys are genetically bred to grow quickly and large, especially in the breast area—because that’s what most shoppers want. It’s something Big Ag has down to a science: decades of selective breeding for size and speed at the expense of health and flavor. The result? A bird designed for profit margins, not taste. Compared to wild or heritage turkeys, today’s supermarket turkeys are bland, bloated, and bred to fit industry demand, not the dinner table. These turkeys don’t look much like wild turkeys anymore. So what's in a Miller's turkey that makes them so darn special? ✔ Pasture Raised✔ Corn & Soy Free✔ Traditional "White" Breed - Has nice sized breasts✔ Washed in Water and Only Water✔ Nothing Added - No artificial flavors, no colors, no synthetic ingredients, no preservatives✔ Vaccine, Chemical, Antibiotic, Drug, and GMO FreeWondering what's in our turkey feed? Here you go! Soy & Corn Free Turkey Feed Shop our Pastured Turkey (P.S. whole turkeys are coming soon!) The next time you are in the grocery store and see those giant turkey breasts wrapped in plastic, remember: that bird didn’t get that way by accident. It got that way by design.

Does exploding milk kefir mean it's bad? Not necessarily.

We get this question from customers on the regular --> "My kefir exploded. Is that normal? Does that mean it's bad?" The answer? Bubbly volcanic kefir is 100% ok. Kefir is known as the "champagne of dairy" for a reason! In case you haven't tried it, milk kefir is a fermented drink made with milk. It's similar in taste to yogurt (a little stronger in my opinion) but has more probiotics. As I've heard it said, yogurt is good for cleansing the gut. Kefir, on the other hand, adds to the gut. People working to heal or enhance the function of their digestive system often turn to kefir as part of this process. Even though kefir has been around for thousands of years, it seems that there's still some mystery around it. I mean, it's just not as popular as yogurt, particularly in the US. Bubbles in kefir are a natural part of the fermentation process. To make kefir, you need to add culture to milk. Different from yogurt culture, which is strains of probiotic bacteria only, kefir is a symbiotic culture of probiotic bacteria AND yeast. Once the culture is added, you let it ferment at room temp. The culture eats up the milk sugar (AKA lactose), creates bubbles (AKA CO2), and grows more of the culture. When you get bubbly kefir, that's a sure sign that it's fermented. It's also a sure sign that it's probiotic. After all, the more CO2, the more eating and duplicating the bacteria and yeast did. After we make it, kefir will continue to ferment. It will happen more rapidly at room temp and more slowly in the fridge. But, it's still happening. More and more bubbles are created over time. And, if that container is air tight, lots of pressure builds up within the container. If you don't open the kefir and it's super fermented, there is the potential for lots of bubbles upon opening. Here's a short video of a kefir explosion: And, here's a little story about the worst kefir explosion I've heard of. Years ago, we used to sell blueberry kefir. With that added sugary fruit in the end, the culture would really take off. A customer sent us a picture of blueberry kefir on her kitchen ceiling!! It really exploded. I wish I could have been there to help her clean it up! Open slowly or burp kefir to stop it from exploding. Not a fan of your kefir exploding? Thankfully, there's an easy solution. Open slowly. Simply crack the lid a little, and let the gas escape before opening all the way. You could even burp your kefir every day or two in the fridge to prevent it from getting too bubbly. The only way to stop kefir from fermenting and creating more bubbles is to freeze it. However, I don't recommend that. First off, kefir tends to get clumpy when thawed. Second, there's some probiotic loss when freezing. The longer it's frozen, the more probiotic loss. If you need to freeze kefir for later, I don't recommend freezing it for more than 3 months. You know kefir really went bad by the smell and look. When you make kefir with raw milk, it's slowly turning into kefir cheese. So when I say it goes "bad", it's really just knowing when it's too sour or pungent to palate. It's not necessarily a safety issue. Here are two things to look for: Putrid Smell: OK, kefir smells funky, even good kefir. But, especially if you've been drinking kefir for a while, you should be able to tell when it smells putrid. Like, you absolutely aren't able to consume it.Massive Separation: A little separation in kefir is normal. You will see the whey (a yellowish liquid) separate from the thicker white part. But, if it's all separated, and the white creamy part has turned into a mass of clumps, it's probably not the best to consume anymore. *Side note: I think this is why most kefir comes in a container that's NOT clear. When you make kefir with pasteurized milk, it's a different story. Since there isn't a natural community of microorganisms that are regulating themselves, it has the potential to go bad in a dangerous way. In addition to the signs listed above, here's one more thing to look for: Visible Mold: Especially green, orange, red, or black mold, which is a clear indication that the kefir is bad and should be tossed. All in all, this is really about trusting your gut and being connected to your food. How bubbly has your kefir been? Have you ever had it explode? Do you drink kefir for its yumminess or probiotic benefits? I'd love to hear from you. Comment below to share your thoughts with our community (no account required). Or, contact us to keep it private 😊

What is pet enrichment? Why is it important for your pets' health and well being?

Pet enrichment is exactly what it sounds like. It’s how we can enrich our pets’ lives to improve their physical and emotional health and well being.

Feeding your pet a variety of foods with different flavors and textures as treats or at mealtime helps keep cats and dogs mentally engaged and physically satiated.

An important note is that not all pet food is created equal. When Miller’s Bio Farm started offering pet food, we were shocked at how unregulated the pet food industry is.

What do you feed your pets? Have you included raw foods in their diet?

More from the blog

From Grass To Glow: Tallow Skin Care

What’s really in a grocery store turkey?

Does exploding milk kefir mean it's bad? Not necessarily.

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Miller's Bio Farm, 523 Valley Road, Quarryville, PA 17566