gainesvilletimesarticle

							                                                                                                                              By Donn Cooper
                                                                                                                               For The Times

                                                                                                    Not long out of college, Rebecca
                                                                                                    Ennis doesn’t look like your average chicken farmer.
                                                                                                    Although she’s armed with a degree in Speech
                                                                                                    Communication from the University of
                                                                                                    Georgia, the Gainesville High graduate spent
                                                                                                    2011 tending to a flock of chickens on her small
                                                                                                    vegetable farm in Douglasville.
                                                                                                    Selling at the local farmers market along-
                                                                                                    side those in Grant Park and Decatur, Ennis
                                                                                                    and her business partner made as much as $5
                                                                                                    a dozen for eggs from her Rhode Island Red,
                                                                                                    Wyandotte and Araucana hens.
                                                                                                    “We always sold out of eggs,” Ennis said.
                                                                                                    “I haven’t sold in Atlanta in a while, but I’ve
                                                                                                    heard people are selling them at $6 (per dozen)
                                                                                                    right now.”
                                                                                                    It’s little wonder that Ennis, who lives in
                                                                                                    Athens, is currently searching for a few acres
                                                                                                    near the Classic City where she can farm
                                                                                                    chickens full-time. But unlike conventional
                                                                                                    growers, she wants to start at only 250 hens,
                                                                                                    possibly reaching 500 down the road.
                                                                                                    The chickens would be outside, feeding
                                                                                                    primarily on vegetation and bugs. They might
                                                                                                    be in “chicken tractors” — mobile, floor-less
                                                                                                    chicken coops — so that she can move them
                                                                                                    around the property and not worry over pred-
                                                                                                    ators.
                                                                                                    Ennis, 26, first fell in love with chickens
                                                                                                    while volunteering with her husband on a
                                                                                                    farm on San Juan Island, north of Seattle.
                                                                                                    “They were so much fun to hang out with,
                                                                                                    seriously,” Ennis said. “I know it sounds dumb,
                                                                                                    but I’d never been around chickens and I
                                                                                                    thought they were hilarious.”
                                                                                                    Enclosed on 2 acres of fenced pasture, the


                                                                                                    Photos by Sara Gu Evara | The Times
                                                                                                    Above: A Gold Lace Wyandotte guards
                                                                                                    freshly laid eggs March 16 at Phoenix Gardens
                                                                                                    in Lawrenceville.
                                                                                                    Right: This two-week-old Buff Orpington
                                                                                                    chick will stay inside a climate-controlled area
                                                                                                    until it gets its feathers.

                                                                                                    flock of about 100 hens wandered
and pecked
over the grass throughout the day. They had
a coop to roost in at night, but otherwise, she
said, they just did what felt natural.
According to Lula-native Daniel Dover of Darby Farms, that’s exactly the way it’s supposed to be.
                                                                                         breeds, as well as those developed
“You can run right around 750            from various governmental regulat-              here in Georgia.
birds per acre with proper manage-       ing agencies in order to find viable            At the moment they’ve got a
ment, and you don’t have to worry        processing options within the state             flock that’s both colorful and hard
about water pollution, air pollution     of Georgia.                                     to spell. Buff Orpintons, Amerau-
or any of that kind of stuff because     At the moment there is no USDA-                 canas, Black Australops, Welsum-
you’re working within the realm of       inspected processing facility for               mers join Rhode Island Reds to feed
how nature intended,” said Dover,        small-scale poultry producers, al-              in a custom chicken tractor that fits
who expects to raise about 10,000        though Tim Dyer of West Georgia                 over one of their vacant raised veg-
broilers, laying hens and turkeys on     Processing in Carrollton has ex-                etable beds. Once the manure there
about 15 acres of pasture in Good        pressed interest in building one, said Dover.   reaches a certain level, the chickens
Hope, near Monroe.                       Together, the two groups aim                    are moved to a new vacant bed. Bed-
Dover said that managing poultry         to provide “fair market access for              ding and manure in the bed they’ve
on pasture emulates the natural fer-     growers that want to sell to consum-            just left are turned under in prepara-
tility-building systems that once oc-    ers that want this food choice.”                tion for a new vegetable crop.
curred in the Great Plains and other     “This is about freedom,” Dover                  Burgeoning demand has made
places where animals grazed inten-       said. “It’s about the individual be-            Phoenix Gardens practically a full-
sively. His chickens disturb the soil    ing to choose. It’s about food sov-             time job. As a result, Brennan Wash-
by scratching, feeding and taking        ereignty, liberty, everything the               ington, who spoke about the basics of
dust baths. Through their waste they     Constitution is written about, about            his operation to an overflow crowd
return and redistribute nutrients        having freedom of choice.”                      at the recent Georgia Organics con-
back to the land, where it’s subse-      Concerned they could be liber-                  ference, is excited to see the grow-
quently broken down by microbes.         ated from their jobs due to downsiz-            ing interest in agriculture.
The chickens are regularly moved         ing, Brennan and Gwendolyn Wash-                “A lot of people coming out of the
throughout the farm and returned         ington, owners of Phoenix Gardens,              corporate world, either because of
to pastures only after their manure      LLC, became chicken farmers al-                 downsizing or just being tired, are
has been completely recycled, usu-       most out of necessity.                          actually getting into farming,” he
ally between 30 to 60 days.              Originally hobby gardeners on                   said. “That’s exciting to see.”
After five years of farming chick-       their 2« acres in Lawrenceville,                Having built his operation without
ens on grass, Dover is now becom-        they began selling heirloom vegeta-             taking out huge loans or setting up
ing involved in advocacy. He’s a         bles at local farmer markets around             costly infrastructure, Daniel Dover
founding member of Georgians for         2005. Their plan was to reinvest in             said that a pasture-poultry farming
Pastured Poultry and is spearhead-       their small farm and, eventually,               system is readily accessible to any-
ing a new group called the Georgia       replace Gwendolyn’s salary, which               one interested.
Pastured Poultry Association.            they did.                                       “It’s something that’s attainable
According to Dover, the purpose          “It was a big shortage of eggs,”                by anyone, whether it be in their
of Georgians for Pastured Poultry,       said Brennan Washington, who has                backyard or whether it be in Africa
or GPP, is simple: to inform “people     worked in Information Technology                or South America,” Dover said.
about their food choices.”               for 20 years. “That’s what everybody            “This is totally transferable as long
The Georgia Pastured Poultry             would ask us for, ‘You got any fresh            as you have at least 15 to 20 inches of
Association, which will have its first   eggs? You got any fresh eggs?’”                 rain per year.”
meeting on Dover’s farm on April 4,      Phoenix Gardens started off with                As soon as she find the right prop-
is “for growers, by growers.” Dover      ten laying hens. Those numbers                  erty, Ennis is ready to transfer those
said the association intends to edu-     quickly increased. Then ducks and               same ideas. Only this time she said
cate pasture-poultry farmers of all      even some broilers were added                   she’d also like to add the rich choco-
levels on the newest management          — all due to customer demand.                   late-colored egg of the Cuckoo Ma-
techniques and resources. It will        Expanding on their interest in heir-            ran hen to her dozen.
also work to achieve clarification       loom varieties and biodiversity, the            Chicken farming, it seems, is sud-
                                         Washingtons want to begin growing               denly full of exceptions.
                                         unique and endangered chicken