_ SUNWORKS FARM : Published Articles : Eco Farm & Garden Spring 2003


Sunshine, fresh air and green grass: ingredients for organic meat

By Priscilla Reimer
  Eco Farm & Garden Spring 2003 
 


 
 

A 160-acre farm, by today’s standards, could be confused for a hobby farm but Sunworks Farm in Alberta produces over 4000 pounds of certified organic meat per acre every year and Ron Hamilton says they still have too much land. He estimates that they could do what they’re doing on 80 acres.

Without any previous farming experience, the Hamiltons, Ron, his wife Sheila and daughters Shae and Erin, moved to their Camrose area farm from Leduc in 1992. Convinced that they wanted to work with Mother Nature, not against her, and that they wanted to grow the best, healthiest food possible for their customers, the Hamiltons began the transition to certified organic status immediately. They adapted the Joel Salatin pastured poultry system to conditions in central Alberta and five years later, raised their first flock of certified organic chickens.

These chickens, certified by the Sustainable Agriculture Association, were also the first flock that turned a small profit. Ron continued to work as an oilfield surveyor during the conversion period but as farming began to pay off he started spending more time at home. Sunworks Farm has been a full-time single-family operation since 2001.

The farm quickly became one of Canada’s largest certified organic pastured poultry operations. Last year, the Hamiltons sold approximately 12,000 chickens, 700 turkeys, 120 pigs, and 15 steers under the Sunworks label. They also keep 600 laying hens. Livestock numbers reflect consumer demand. There is little interest in red meat, for example, which accounts for the small cow-calf herd.

Ron and Sheila work closely with Dorothy Marshall, Sheila’s sister, who runs the certified organic Cambelton Farm nearby. She provides the feeder pigs and raises the lambs, ducks and geese. Sunworks sells 75-100 lambs and 400 ducks and geese annually.

All of the typical cuts of lamb, beef and pork are available, as well as processed meats like beef patties, bacon and sausages. Broilers are sold whole or in parts. Their sausages are unique, Ron says. They have no MSG, nitrates, sulfites, or egg, wheat and dairy products in them.

While a small amount of Sunworks product ends up in regional stores and restaurants, most of it is sold directly to customers at the Old Strathcona Farmer’s Market in Edmonton or the Blackfoot Market in Calgary. Face-to-face contact with their customers gives the Hamiltons an opportunity to build community and consumer confidence, both of which are important to them.

So far, Sunworks has been all but free from pest and disease problems. Ron attributes this accomplishment to their pasture-based system, nutrition program, and their stress-free management methods.

A pasture-based system is good for the livestock – it provides plenty of fresh air, sunshine and green-growing grass – and is also good for the pocket book. It does not require large capital investment in buildings and machinery. There is, in fact, only one enclosed livestock shelter on the entire operation and that is a 40x60 foot brooder building used to start replacement layer chicks, broilers and turkeys. In the winter it serves as a barn for laying hens.

The laying hens go on range in mid-April and the barn is thoroughly cleaned out for the first batch of day-old chicks.

Manure is removed with a Bobcat and windrowed for composting at least 150 feet away from the building (as required by Alberta law). The barn interior and fixtures are dusted off with compressed air and then pressure washed and sprayed with a strong solution of hydrogen peroxide (H202). They use about 1 cup of 35% H202 per 3-gallon backpack sprayer; the solution is strong enough that it “boils up” on contact. The barn is generally cleaned out between species; a fresh layer of shavings is added between batches of broiler chicks.

The Hamiltons have tried a variety of breeds over the years but have opted for the Arbor Acre and Cornish Rock Giant broilers supplied by Rochester Hatchery in Westlock, Alberta. Customers have asked why Sunworks does not raise rare or heritage breeds. Ron explains that heritage breeds of chicken have very little breast meat. Since much of their chicken is cut up into parts, Sunworks requires a bird with meaty breasts and thighs.

They chose the Nicholas White turkey over the Broad Breasted Bronze, a domestic cousin of the wild turkey that is also available from Rochester, because the Bronze takes much longer to finish and it can fly. The Nicolas White can’t really fly, making it easier to manage.

After three weeks in the brooder building, chickens are moved to pasture where they are housed in 11x11x2.5-foot open-bottomed shelters. The shelters have a tarp that covers 2/3 of the pen and a mesh front. The pasture pens provide plenty of access to fresh air and sunshine but also offer shade and shelter from the wind and rain. They are low enough that the birds stay warm at night.

Each shelter houses 70-80 birds. More than 80 birds per shelter adds stress to the flock and increases the risk of mortality. Ron points out that large-scale confinement type production units are forced to use antibiotics, whereas Sunworks Farm has not used antibiotics on any of its livestock. He believes that this is due to the fact that his birds get 1.6 square feet of space per bird whereas confined birds typically get only 0.5 square feet each.

Shelters are equipped with a dry mash feeder and waterer. Because their well water is extremely high in sodium, the Hamiltons draw water from the City of Camrose for their brooder barn. During the summer, livestock is watered from an on-farm dugout with 6000 feet of black PVC piping. Last year they infused livestock water with vinegar to reduce the pH level and act as an antibacterial, but this generated mould in the watering system. The vinegar will be replaced with hydrogen peroxide in the upcoming season.1

Conventional poultry production relies heavily on medicated chick starters due to the high risk of coccidiosis. Medicated feeds, of cruse, are not allowed for organic production and Rochester Hatchery is now offering chicks that have been vaccinated against coccidiosis. Sunworks Farm has not taken advantage of the vaccinated chicks and they have never had a case of coccidiosis. The key, according to Ron, is a dry brooder barn; they use lots of wood shavings.

Their chicks are generally vaccinated for Merecks disease, however. Wild fowl and birds transmit the disease, and while confinement type operations have stopping using the vaccine, it does offer protection to birds that are raised in a range situation.

Chicks are started on feed, free choice, with a protein level of 19.5%. The primary ingredient of the ration is certified organic, second grade hard red spring wheat that Ron sources through regional grain brokers. He is convinced, however, that overall flock health is due to the essential vitamins and minerals provided by Fertrell’s feed supplements. Their Poultry Nutri-Balancer contains kelp meal, phosphorous, probiotics, B vitamin complex and trace minerals. Fertrell, a supplier of organically allowable materials, guarantees that its products come from as natural a source as possible.
     
When a problem occurs (Sunworks has only once had a problem in the chicken flock), extra kelp is added to the feed. Kelp seems to alleviate any known or unexpected deficiencies. The Fertrell nutritionist recommends, however, that extra kelp meal and other homeopathic remedies be used only when livestock is sick and not on a regular basis. But there is always plenty of kelp on hand, Ron says.

On pasture, green growing grass becomes a substantial portion of the feed ration. As the birds mature, they literally mow down everything in the pen. So pens are moved daily onto new grass. With the help of his daughters and two hand dollies, Ron reports that the job can be done in an hour. Daily rotation also ensures that birds are not pecking around in their own droppings. The birds are not allowed to run out of grain ration; this cause crowding at the feeder when it is filled and adds unnecessary stress.

Any mixture of pasture grasses is appropriate for poultry production but, according to Ron, legumes at heights of 4 to 8 inches are preferable. If the grass is much taller than 8 inches the chickens will eat less and it becomes more difficult to move the pens. If need be, beef is grazed ahead of the poultry, or the pasture is mowed before the chickens are moved.

Level pastureland is more suitable to this kind of production than a rolling terrain because it is harder to move the shelters on uneven ground. Flat grassland also discourages pooling after a rain. The birds do not like being on wet ground and a damp environment encourages coccidiosis, even in older birds.

Predators can be a problem around pastured poultry. In their second year of production, a fox and several skunks visited the Hamilton chickens. Ron immediately placed an order for electrified poultry netting; it arrived the next day. The netting was put up around the perimeter of the poultry pasture and they have not had a predator problem since then. With three of them doing the job, it takes about an hour to move ten nets. The fence line is mowed with a tractor mower before moving the netting.

A carefully managed rotation is critical to a multi-species pasture-based operation like Sunworks. The pigs have to be kept away from the poultry because they can carry both Erysipelas (to which turkeys are susceptible) and fowl cholera (which can affect both chickens and turkeys). And turkeys have to be kept away from the chickens, as chickens can be carriers for blackhead. The chickens are moved to clean pasture from year to year. The pasture is then allowed to rest for a minimum of 2 to 3 years before chickens return to that same piece. In the upcoming season, Ron plans to graze the pigs after the chickens for the first time.

Two hours a day moving poultry shelters and flexi-netting does not sound like a whole lot of work but nevertheless, after analyzing last year’s production records, Ron feels that labour is a weak link. Office work is growing from day to day, he says, and Erin is moving into organic strawberries that will make her less available to help with the chickens.

The Hamiltons are also increasing broiler production to 17,000-20,000 birds in 2003. Last year they ran out of chicken in May, and the year before that they ran out in April. Their production schedule will also change. They are moving from frozen to fresh product, which means that they will be starting 1000 chicks a week and possibly brooding them directly in the field houses. This would reduce the workload and eliminate the stress of moving 3-week-old chickens from the brooder to pasture.

As a result, Ron is contemplating a different style of shelter for the poultry. The new shelters will have a 12x24-foot range area attached to a 16x24-foot poultry house with feeders and waterers inside the house. They will accommodate 300-330 birds each giving the birds approximately 2 square feet of room. In the evening, when the birds are inside, the entire unit can be skidded across the pasture with a tractor and draw bar.

During the winter, in what used to be the off season, Ron and Sheila are busy promoting healthy eating, organic agri-culture and direct marketing. This winter, between late December and the end of January, they attended seven events including the Red Deer Going Organic Conference, the Castor Agri-Business Conference and a Community Futures panel in Killam. And Ron took a two-day Advanced Organic Learning Program offered by the Fertrell Company in Bainbridge, Pennsylvania.

Last summer the Hamiltons sponsored an on-farm field day with approximately 100 people in attendance. This year’s event will be an all-day affair with fewer people, giving participants a chance to learn about pastured poultry production, rather than simply tour Sunworks Farm.

Ron is also a member of the Alberta Farm Direct Marketing Team. He believes that because they sell directly to the customer, Sunworks Farm is in a much better position to weather the current drought than other Alberta farms that are “strictly raising commodities.”

Sunworks has been growing by 30% annually over the last few years and finances can be a problem with that kind of growth, Ron admits. But people need to know that there are alternatives, he says, that it is possible to make a living on the farm. We have to make enough money on the farm to show our children that it’s possible.”

And that is another reason why Ron prefers farmers’ markets. They work the markets as a family and the girls, Shae and Erin, get to meet the people who will be eating the chicken, turkey and pork they raised. And they get to count real money at the end of the day. They actually see and experience the rewards of their work.

Priscilla Reimer is an IOIA Inspector and owner-operator of Burdock Meadows, a small-scale coloured sheep farm at Woodmore, Manitoba. She is also a school bus driver and free-lance journalist.

Sources
Telephone interviews with Ron and Sheila Hamilton; Sunworks Farm www.sunworksfarm.com

Organic Livestock Handbook. Anne Macey (Ed.) Canadian Organic Growers. Ottawa. 2000. “Farm Direct Marketing.” Prairie Sheep Update, Fall & Winter 2002. Alberta Agriculture, Food & Rural Development and Manitoba Agriculture & Food.

Raising Organic Pasture Poultry. Alberta Agriculture Agri-Facts, Agdex 450/20-2.

Rochester Hatchery Catalogue www.rochesterhatchery.com

David J. Reimer, retired turkey farmer (2-8-6 Ltd.), Blumenort, Manitoba.

Endnote
1. There seems to be some confusion regarding the use of hydrogen peroxide (H202) in livestock drinking water. The COG Organic Livestock Handbook states that (at the time of printing) H202 was “not registered in Canada for internal use and therefore this remedy is not approved for organic certification (pg. 34).” IOIA Inspectors, at least in the U.S., find that certifiers generally do not reject the practice when it is reported. The USDA National Organic Program allows H202 “as disinfectant, sanitizer, and medical treatment as applicable” (205.603 (a) (9)). Organic producers should check with their certifier before adopting the practice and confirm allowable concentrations. Producers report using H202 both to keep the drinking cup water free of iron bacteria (antiseptic) and to enhance flock or herd health (oxidizer).