Smart Chick Farms

A Carolina Family Farm that Started with a Dream…and a Chicken Farms of the past were known to most anyone in their local community- family milk cow, chickens in the yard providing eggs and meat, pigs and turkeys for special meals, and the family working horse or two. They were a vital part of the food network, a way of life where a person could fix something when it broke, families enjoyed trading and swapping baked goods or canned veggies, and knowledge about this way of life was passed from generation to generation. Somewhere in history, this knowledge, experience, and way of peacefully meandering through life began to fade. Today farms can be called small-scale, mini, co-op, hobby, or backyard. Our family has always had a knowledge of what could be, but not the direct opportunity. Knowing this, our family wanted to build a farm that held onto heritage practices, teaching all generations and raising our children to know where their food came from and how to care for the animals and land. After years of work in other career fields, we set off on an adventure to live out what we could do in our own farming fields. And, with the help of some grandparents, parents, aunts, and uncles stoking embers of heritage farming curiosity, we started looking for our path back to a simpler time. It is our hope that we can merge heritage practices and traditions with modern ways of life to build our farm as a tool for learning history as well as providing knowledge and healthy provisions for our communities' current living and enjoyment. We started our farm unexpectedly by going to a small, local auction for farm equipment, just to observe. They had a few small animals that weekend and our family turned from spectators to participants. We saw our first rooster, a barnyard special, and brought him and two buddies home for $5. From there, we have gained experience with rabbits, goats, cattle, pigs, and more. We also have learned from great farm mentors, reading books, blogs, articles, attending workshops, and trial and error to become the family of farmers we are today.