|
Fickle Creek Farm - Efland, NC
by Cat Moleski, Features Editor
If you're looking for a truly free-range egg, Fickle Creek Farm's eggs are the answer. All the adult chickens are free to move about the farm. Only the little chicks are penned inside for their protection. The reason Ben and Noah, the owners of Fickle Creek can allow free-roaming, is because of the four Great Pyrenees dogs that guard the chickens from fox, hawks and other predators. The chickens have large pastures that they can forage in and mobile coops where they roost and lay their eggs. There is no need to clip their wings or beaks. If a problem develops in the pecking order, hens can migrate to another group to find a better fit. Ben says of his chickens, "I want them to live the happiest, healthiest life and when you do that it means no chemicals." They use no antibiotics, no growth hormones and follow a natural laying cycle. Conventional growers use lights to artificially prolong egg production.
The two main ideas that drive Ben and Noah's farming philosophy are "sustainably as possible and as humanely as possible." Farming in this fashion can be tricky and hard on the pocket book. The lower egg laying rate, and the cost of the dogs add to the price of their eggs. "The hard part is educating people about all the pieces that go into sustainable and humane farming."
Noah and Ben decided to start a farm after many years of teaching at NC State. They wanted to "try to do some doing" after all those years of theory. They also wanted to see if they could create a farm that was completely self-sustaining: protein, vegetables, sugar (from bees eventually) with no imports. "Except for salt, of course," said Ben with a smile.
They are reclaiming their land with low input conversion. Ben and Noah chop down the new growth trees and pile up the brush. Goats trample the brush to smithereens and eat the shrubs. The chickens come along after that, spread their own natural fertilizer and produce eggs. "This land should be able to keep producing, with low to no inputs and no fertilizer."
Be sure to include Fickle Creek Farm on your list to visit during the Piedmont Farm Tour.
|
