An Oxfordshire couple, who gave up their conventional way of life to run an organic chicken farm, have been nominated in a prestigious food award. Here they talk about their business, and detail five key factors that have helped secure their success.
Paul and Clare Sykes, who run Clare’s Organics, a 2000 flock unit near Faringdon, Oxfordshire, have been shortlisted for the Made in Britain Awards 2009 for the quality of their whole organic chickens.
Four years ago Paul was a commercial truck salesman who, along with his wife Clare, had aspirations to run an organic farm "Clare and I both agreed that organic farming is what we wanted to do. I gave up my job, we sold the house and rented a plot of land and started Clare’s Organics. We haven’t looked back since.
"It has been a hard three years and a steep learning curve but to receive this nomination, coupled with some lovely feedback from our customers, is really appreciated and proves we made the right decision."
So what are the reasons behind Clare’s Organics success and high standards? Paul and Clare work hard, often long hours with early starts, and are dedicated to best practice range management. Their whole ethos is about making sure the birds’ stress is minimised. Paul highlights five key factors that help to ensure a happy flock and high quality organic produce:
1 – Low stocking densities
Clare’s Organics deliberately under stock their sheds. "Soil Association standards allow for a maximum of 500 birds in a house, although our houses are designed to take 330 birds, we restrict the numbers to a maximum of 300 birds in each shed" says Paul "the extra room creates less competition for feed and water and reduces stress on the birds."
2 - Birds are brooded in the field not static brooding houses
Many larger operations use static brooding sheds, providing heat, light and protection from the weather. The birds are then moved to another shed and into the field after 3 or 4 weeks, this movement will stress the birds, something Paul is keen to avoid "We ensure that our birds are housed in the same shed from the first week to the last. This reduces the chances of things going wrong and allows the birds to become acclimatised to their environment and build better immune systems"
3 – Encourage early ranging
Paul and Clare ensure that in the first two to three weeks the birds are let out into the field (weather depending) - this allows for acclimatisation and also encourages the birds to range further, and spend more time on the range, as Paul explains "a bird that has been allowed to experience the range at an early stage will use it more efficiently rather than being shocked when the pop-holes are opened for the first time. We find that with this system our birds spend more time foraging in our specially planted range cover crop."
4 – High quality feed and feed services
Clare’s Organics use Humphrey Feeds for all their feed services giving access to both poultry nutrition and range management specialists. "The feed is high quality" says Paul "and more importantly; consistent - ensuring top performance from our birds. We receive regular visits from Anthony Harman, our Humphrey Feeds Sales Manager, who has given us valuable technical back up, support and advice on feed, range management and flock performance."
5 – All birds are killed and processed on farm
Most commercial organic operations take their birds to an offsite abattoir. Clare’s Organics process all birds on farm. "The birds are individually picked up by hand and individually stunned, this causes less stress," explains Paul "we never shackle our birds. The feedback we have had from customers since we started this practice has been very positive, a large percentage have said they can taste the difference. An investment in the facilities to enable us to do this was of course not cheap and does not provide an immediate return and therefore has to be viewed as part of the bigger picture and long term business plan. A solid base is essential, and key investments, such as this, to help your business grow, have to be sensible, well thought out and for the right reasons. We never compromise on values and ethics."
Clare’s Organics is one of twelve nationwide companies who have been nominated as one of the best British food and drink producers, demonstrating quality, innovation and use of traditional skills.
The winner of the Made in Britain Awards will be announced at the Royal County of Berkshire Show, held at the Newbury Showground in September.
Paul is delighted to have been shortlisted "We are in a category with some outstanding food businesses and can hold our heads up high. We had to change the way we lived our lives, it involved some tough decisions, and much hard work and determination, but finally we are where we strived to be. We will continue to adapt and grow, that is inevitable, but we will always work to the high standards we have set for ourselves. This ensures we provide the very best organic food through working with nature, being passionate about food, eating with the seasons, giving our birds a happy and stress free existence and treating them with the respect they deserve."
For more information on Clare’s Organics go to www.claresorganics.co.uk
For more information on Humphrey Feeds go to www.humphreyfeeds.co.uk
