This is our farm column from farmer Casey O’Neill. O’Neill is the owner operator of HappyDay Farms north of Laytonville, and a long time advocate for the cannabis community in Mendocino Co; more of his writing can be found here. The opinions expressed in this column are those of the writer. If you would like to submit a letter to the editor feel free to write to [email protected].
A farm is like a jigsaw puzzle, connected pieces in different areas that work together to form a complex picture. Over time, the pieces change and the picture takes on new form and function. As we learn new skills and become better at our craft, the picture takes on sharper definition and becomes more clear in the transition from mindstate to reality.
The pieces of the puzzle that make up our chicken operation have changed dramatically in the past few years as we learned to move the meat birds across the new pasture at the ranch. We built new chicken tractors to keep the birds safe, and through teamwork moved them every day and kept them with fresh water and feed. We worked together on slaughter day to create meals for our families for the year to come.
Last year we visited our friends at Whitethorn Valley Farm to help with slaughter day for birds they had raised in their hoophouse during early spring. The birds were huge and healthy, having foraged through the cover crop in the hoop and had shelter from the spring storms. Their shit fertilized the beds for a spring light dep crop, turning the grain they ate into fertilizer while they put on weight that became meat.
After that experience the wheels started turning in our heads, and this spring we have had 70 meat birds in the hoophouse at brother Lito’s. It’s such a special experience to see the birds comfortable and happy on wet days, foraging through the tall, lush cover crop. We stomp it down or crush it with hay bales to give the birds access to the taller stalks they can’t reach, and as we move them down the tunnel we end up with crimped cover crop and chickenshit which we cover with wood ash and oyster shell to absorb the smell and help hold the nutrients.
When the birds come out of the tunnel, we amend lightly (less fertilizer is needed because of the chickenshit), cover with a layer of compost and irrigate to provide enough moisture to speed decomposition. Then we lay panda plastic over the beds to stop any cover crop from coming back and so that the black surface will heat up during the remaining cool spring to warm the soil and help break down the cover crop detritus. When we plant light dep in a couple weeks we’ll just dig holes through whatever remains and plant directly into it.
It can get warm in the hoops, so we make sure to cover a section of the tunnel with shade cloth and we clip on the white insect/bird netting to the sides of the tunnel so that air movement can happen easily on warm days but the birds are protected. We roll the plastic sides up and down based on outside temperature, and surround the whole hoop with the electric poultry netting and portable solar charger to avoid predation.
In thinking about the pieces of this puzzle we’ve also been thinking about the outdoor cannabis garden at Lito’s. There are rows of t-posts on both sides of each cannabis terrace to anchor netting or cages, and these can be used as a framework with the addition of boards attached lengthwise to the tops of the posts. Then we can cover them with plastic and shade cloth to make a shelter so that we can move larger birds down to the lower garden to forage in the cover crops there.
We’ve already mowed this year, but now we have a plan for next year that will allow us to rotate 4 batches of birds consecutively so that when the first batch has used up the cover crop in the first hoophouse, they go down to the outdoor garden and the second batch comes into the second hoophouse. One of the most exciting things about farming is to figure out new ways of doing things, and seeing how happy the birds are as they forage and live in the dense stands of cover crop makes me happy.
After I finish writing this morning I’ll head off to the ranch in the early morning light to move the laying hens back out to pasture from their winter quarters in the barn. I’ll break down the electric netting, use the tractor to scoop out the pile of straw and shit that I shoveled out of the coop yesterday and then I’ll tow the coop up into the north pasture where we’re going to begin building fertility this year. I’ll reset the electric, let the birds out and then move the feed cans, bowls and waterers.
The pile of bedding and manure is going to go into the new hugelkultur beds we’re building this week, layered in on top of the brush and wood chips to provide some nitrogen to help decompose the woody biomass. The puzzle becomes more complex yet more clear with each season that passes, and I’m deeply grateful for the lessons and the process. As always, much love and great success to you on your journey!
Casey O’Neill owns and runs HappyDay Farms, a small vegetable and cannabis farm north of Laytonville. He is a long time cannabis policy advocate, and was born and raised in the Bell Springs area. The preceding has been an editorial column. The Mendocino Voice has not necessarily fact-checked or copyedited this work, and it should be interpreted as the words of the author, not necessarily reflecting the opinions of The Mendocino Voice.
