Horses
For many years, horses have been kept outdoors all year round and have helped maintain the woods. Camille, a distinguished rider from a very young age, looks after them daily and rides them very regularly.
She is launching a new, more ambitious equestrian project, combining the well-being of the rider and the well-being of the horse. The aim is to get the rider to subscribe to a philosophy by which they can benefit from an exceptional connection with their horse, without discomfort or abruptness.
In this process of connecting rider and horse, Camille also wishes to integrate the piano pieces she composes, music being a very effective tool for concentration and relaxation, in both humans and equines.
This project also includes the construction of buildings for rider comfort in all weathers (arena, lunge pen, indoor school) and the development of grassy, shaded pastures for the horse's comfort. The rotational grazing technique (PTD), which involves the rapid movement of horses from field to field, allowing them to always feed on fresh, tender grass throughout the year, comes to us from New Zealand.
The lambs
In 2003, we asked our mares to graze our 12 hectares of truffle patches for us. They grazed very well, unfortunately, 400 kg on 4 hooves is too much for compacting, and truffles don't like to be compressed.
So we thought about sheep, only 20 kg on 4 hooves, obviously that compacts less.
The idea of lambs didn't spring up by magic. No, we simply realised that in the 19th and early 20th centuries, Quercy peasants didn't have mowers and grazed flocks of sheep in the truffle patches.
Raising sheep is another profession, it's complicated. And it still took nearly 20 years to implement pastoralism in the truffle fields, but since 2022, it's been done.
We introduced a small flock of 26 young lambs under the oaks.
We took our time because we wanted a hardy lamb suited to grazing in truffle fields, a lamb that would produce tender, juicy meat.
We wanted fresh, new grass every day for these lambs and obviously no processed food.
In short, the five-legged sheep!
After many options, we opted for a Castillonnais lamb, a local breed from the Ariège Pyrenees, an excellent, very rare lamb, with only 1200 ewes and 40 rams registered in the genealogical record.
This hardy mountain breed, a keen walker and resilient, is suited to outdoor life and grazing on the specific flora of the estate's truffle grounds.
Throughout the centuries, it has adapted to the wild by feeding on a natural diet, unlike «modern» breeds selected to respond well to industrial, over-proteinised foods.
The whole family rallied for these dream lambs.
And we used an innovative fencing system.
Louis-Dominique and Camille have implemented the «active fencing» system with ultra-light fibreglass posts. This technique, imported from New Zealand, allows for very rapid relocation of fences.
Every day, Camille builds new fences and moves the lambs to different pastures so they have freshly renewed grass daily: this is called Dynamic Rotational Grazing (DRG).
Normally, we allocate 200 m² per sheep. With this technique, our lambs have over 10 hectares, which is more than 3,000 m² each to graze!
When animals graze too much in the same spot, the grass struggles to regrow and the soil becomes compacted (and vice versa).
It's not very good for lambs and it's very bad for truffles.
This is why, almost every day, Camille moves the lambs using the «wire ahead – wire behind» fencing technique. This way, the lambs naturally move towards the new pasture and cannot go back to trample the previous grazing area.
The grass is renewed daily and the lambs only eat the best. They do not graze on their droppings, as they will only return to the same spot at least 3 weeks later, allowing the grass to fully regrow.
This ecological grazing technique makes the lambs happy
So, our 26 lambs graze day and night on 10 hectares, eating the leaves of truffle oaks, vine shoots (and grapes too!), a bit of organic cereal from the estate, and drinking water from the Loups spring.
For the three summer months, our animals do not leave the truffle patches (except when they scarper into the woods!).
In addition to truffle oak leaves, they feed on the typical plants of our limestone causses of Quercy Blanc: wild thyme, fescue, cistus, ivy, ... Not to mention a few acorns at the end of the season.
This natural, varied diet gives the meat an incomparable flavour and succulence.
We wanted to respect the well-being of our lambs right up to their final moments. That's why we take them ourselves to the slaughterhouse in Villeneuve-sur-Lot, 45 minutes away from us. It's a small slaughterhouse, the last one in Lot-et-Garonne, it's completely transparent, from the holding pen to the animal's final moments, the entire procedure is carried out under video surveillance.
We use the «family slaughter» procedure, our lambs arrive the day before and benefit from a quiet pen reserved for them for their last night.
Chickens
Our Caussade hens are an old breed of black hen from Quercy. They are an essential element for the cultivation of our vegetable garden. By daily working through the vegetable and fruit garden soil, aerating and enriching it with completely natural fertilisers, they allow us to avoid any unnecessary intervention on our part. Admittedly, it's an investment and a daily commitment, requiring us to move the mobile chicken coop and obviously to clean it perfectly. It's all for the comfort and quality of life of our hens!
We also pamper them for the excellent quality of their eggs. A tender and smooth white, an intense and very flavourful yolk. A clear reason for this is their daily diet of herbs, flowers, and seeds from the vegetable garden, and as they scratch the soil, they find worms or insect larvae. And as a supplement if needed, grains from our tremendous truffle wheat.
Our hens work constantly in our "lazy" vegetable and fruit garden; they are paramount to its success and, what's more, they are essential to the creation of a succulent dish, Gascon egg and bacon.
Truffle dogs
We are spending significant time conducting multiple trials on our truffle patches. We are experimenting with intercropping other plants (lavender, vines, wheat, etc.), and for years we have been considering pruning, tree spacing, and green manures (planting of birdsfoot trefoil, sainfoin, etc.). We are studying soil management and grazing to achieve exceptional truffle quality year after year. Our truffle patch is unique in France, but all these investments, commitments, and the time spent would be in vain if we didn't have our dogs to find our truffles, which are invisible to us.
They are essential companions with whom we have a deeply bonded relationship. To achieve this unique rapport, time is essential. At the age of two or three, we begin training our dogs. It takes us at least four years of training to teach them to locate the truffle. They must scan the ground, smell it, identify the truffle, and dig to find it without, of course, eating it. It is painstaking work that requires time, energy, and patience to achieve such harmony with our dogs.
Today, Paulsen, Persanne his sister and Marsanne, our truffle dogs, are our companions in life and work, bringing us pleasure, gratitude and strong emotions. Dogs need a trustworthy owner, often a single one, to accompany them, guide them, reward them and give them a treat.
Pascale is their preferred partner, in charge of their education and develops an astonishing and sensitive relationship with her dogs.
Camille looks after the lambs grazing in the truffle patches daily, and Nel, her Irish Border Collie sheepdog, has become indispensable for guarding and herding the flock.
