Farmer Spotlight: Daniella
Daniella giving our special dwarfed chicken a ride in the feed bucket!
Most obstacles in farming are completely out of our control. Though every so often, the wind blows in the right direction and we end up crossing paths with just the right people at just the right time. Of course, it always helps when you’ve got great neighbors. Welcoming the newest member to the farm flock: Daniella, the Chicken Queen.
This Queen is a bay area native and spent most of her formative years in San Jose and Santa Cruz. Though her first jobs were often part of a family business, the office life wasn’t for her so she set out to make her big (and noisy!) dream of raising chickens come true. Ten years ago, Daniella started dabbling with owning backyard chickens and she was grateful to secure a small 2-acre plot for her cluckers in Paso Robles. She was finally far enough from the city to live, along with her small flock, a bit more free range. The sweet ‘ranchette’ also gave Daniella a place to figure out what type of chicken keeper she wanted to be– what type of food, environment, breeds etc would she want to invest in. So many decisions for some eggs! It was there that she learned how much a healthy, well-fed bird in its natural environment could produce the best tasting eggs. And it drove her to turn her hobby into a business. “I like to focus and prioritize creating an environment for the bird where they can indulge as much as their natural tendencies would want. Giving them the best life is important since they’re giving us so much.”
Daniella’s hen dream kept growing as folks started recognizing how EGG-celent her product was. Only a few years in and she had moved to a larger property in Morro Bay, received her California egg handlers permit, formed an LLC and was selling to a few local grocers in the area. The hens were happy but Daniella was about to need some serious HEN-durance to keep her dream alive. After a whirlwind of unexpected events that came crashing down at once, Daniella found herself without the business and the hens, but still holding fast to her passion.
Amidst the crazy shifts of closing the business and that chapter of her life, Daniella moved in with some beloved family in Gilroy. Uncle Joe is Daniella’s family, new housemate, and conveniently long time friend and neighbor of the Van Dyke Ranch. Uncle Joe was the connector that put the Chicken Queen’s wealth of knowledge and experience at the doorstep (well, back porch) of eager Spade & Plow owners who had been dreaming of owning chickens for years. After an hour-long porch meeting talking about all things chickens, Daniella and the Thorps decided to move forward with owning a flock. Cluck Cluck!
The shipping container chicken coup in progress late February!
“Working with the birds is the only time I'm out of my head. I lose track of time and feel a lot of purpose in what I’m doing.” Daniella spends her days at S&P’s new ranch caring for our chickens by harvesting leftover organic greens, fermenting grains, and corralling them in and out of the coop (including the ones that like to hop our hog fence a little too much). She provides them with personal care, individual attention, and an always-fresh water refill. Thanks to her creative resourcefulness (and Farmer Nick’s get-it-done attitude!), they were able to build a warm and safe coup out of an old shipping container for the first flock.
Our Egg-spectations are very high for late summer now that we have Daniella on our team. With only 6 weeks left until our first egg harvest and a recent second shipment of hens, it’s safe to say Daniella has both her hands and hearts full. Get your August baking tools ready folks- your egg supply is about to get seriously upgraded. Thank goodness for friends who don’t give up on their dreams and for back-porch neighborhood conversations!