Get to Know Tim & Deena, Chicken Farmers from Kentucky
Tim and Deena raise broiler chickens on their family farm in Kentucky. They raise about 675,000 chickens per year. Not only are they successful chicken farmers, but they are also Kentucky’s two-time Family Farm Environmental Excellence award winners.
Tim and Deena’s passion for agriculture has even passed down to their two daughters. Their daughter, Caroline, is a student at Murray State University and she is majoring in Agriculture Communications. And their youngest daughter, Maddy, is a freshman in high school. Both Carolina and Maddy regularly help out on the farm.
Get to know Tim and Deena, and find out their thoughts on being chicken farmers.
How did you get into chicken farming?
Tim: I worked at a local factory and wanted to be my own boss. We had 40 acres of land, and poultry barns were a good way to make a living on 40 acres.
Deena: I was raised on a farm. My family had row crops, and we also raised cattle and poultry barns. I was familiar with farm life and I was excited that my husband shared that interest.
How do you practice environmental sustainability on your farm?
There’s a couple ways we practice sustainability and conserve natural resources on our farm. One way is with solar panels. We installed 50-kilowatt solar panels, and that saved us 60-70 tons of coal per year!
We also use GPS technology to fertilize and spray our crops. This maps out what each part of the land needs, so it doesn’t over broadcast.
What’s your least favorite thing about chicken farming?
Our least favorite thing about chicken farming is all of the negative ads about animal cruelty. Our chickens are well fed and have plenty of room to roam around. There are no steroids or hormones used EVER.
What’s one thing about chicken farming you wish more people would know?
Farmers want to treat their animals well. The better the chickens are treated, the better they produce. During the ice storm that hit our area in 2009 we were without power for 16 days. Our chickens had a generator so they had heat, food and water while the power was out.
What’s your favorite chicken dish?
Tim: Good Ole Southern Fried Chicken!
Deena: Chicken and Dumplings