My name is Shawn Sweet, owner and operator of Sweet Happy Farms located in Milton, VT. I got my start 5 years ago when I started with laying hens and poultry chickens. I wanted to know where my food was coming from and after viewing the standard practices online, it was a no brainer! I raised 75 meat birds the first year and have grown from there. Last year I did 150 for myself, family, and friend
s. Through this, I've realized two things; one is that I love chickens and the other is that farming is what I'm meant to be doing. I believe that everyone should raise their own food and the ones that cannot, should have access to locally grown happy chickens. What I mean by happy chickens is this; a bird that from day one, is handled not only with care but with respect and humane hands. And of course, all the chicken's needs and its instinctual wants are met. We start with locally hatched, day old chicks, which for the first two weeks are kept in a nursery in the barn where we can monitor feed, water, temperature, and of course play with them! They stay in the nursery until they have their feathers (it's kind of like when your mom said put a coat on before you go out to play!). We construct temporary paddocks that are roughly 150 feet by 120 feet, using overgrown pasture that has been inactive. We do so because of the abundance of cover, plants to graze on, and insects. Each paddock has a 6 1\2 foot by 12 foot hoop house for a nice dry roost spot, shade, and protection from airborne predators. We also put multiple smaller shade/protection structures all though the area. The grain feed that is constant in the nursery is now distributed two times a day via an automated feeder. Chickens left to their own will scratch at the earth to revel insects and fresh shoots to graze upon, making up more of their diet than the grain! It was amazing for me to watch the chickens wallow the first time! It's quite humorous to see them bathing in the dirt, with their feathers all ruffled up or chasing and catching a grasshopper like they won the lottery and everybody wants some! In each paddock I've also plumbed in a gravity fed water system to insure a constant fresh water supply for the chickens. Now to the hard part. The part people don't like to talk about. What I like to describe as "Harvesting." I will be using a locally approved and inspected processor, which will be providing the proper weight and prep sticker, along with my product label. Through this process, I will be overseeing the handling of every bird because I insist on handling every bird from day one until harvest. I feel I owe it to them to ensure they've had a stress-free, happy life and in return, they provide us with stress-free happy meat! This method of raising chickens could be called free-range, shed-free or pastured. I chose "happy", because that's what they are. I also use a NON-GMO feed, produced by Green Mountain Feed out of Berlin, Vt. because of my personal beliefs. I would love to have this be known on my product label along with free-range and shed-free, niether of which should have to be said. But, in order to do that, a third party needs to come and verify this practice, which is too expensive for me at this point.
