Happy Hen Farm ​started as a homestead when we bought the land for our family in 2013.  The land is east of Raleigh, North Carolina in the central to eastern part of the state.  Like most of the farmland in our area, it was used for growing mainly tobacco and soybeans. We had a plan of building a house, moving out to the land, and growing and raising as much as we could for our family, while hopefully doing our part to regenerate the land that had been stripped by traditional monoculture farming.  We started planting wildlife plots, our own garden, and tended to everything on the weekends.  It took a little while, but we eventually moved out to the farm and started really living our homestead dreams.  In 2019, we decided to start sharing the products that our family has enjoyed so much with other families.
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Stephanie is a mom of three and the heart of Happy Hen Farm.  Although she is a licensed professional engineer with a specialty in water resources, she would prefer to be on the farm in the dirt and with the animals any day.  Stephanie's passion for growing food started after she and Jason had their first child in 2007.  Like many moms, she became extremely aware of everything that was going into her sweet baby's mouth.  This interest led to lots of research, which evolved into a passion for local, healthy, sustainable foods.  She started reaching out to and buying everything possible from local farms, while learning all about how each farm raised or grew what they produced.  Stephanie was growing things of her own and opened her heart (and yard) into the "gateway animal" of livestock - chickens.  Their home was in a subdivision with an HOA at the time and ran a "Give a Cluck" campaign in the neighborhood to change the HOA bylaws to allow hens and it worked.  More than fifteen years later, Stephanie has no HOA (a benefit of acres and acres in the country) and as many chickens as she wants (which is a lot).  Stephanie has worked to learn some of the practices of farming that have been lost in recent generations and to integrate those on Happy Hen Farm.  She truly cares about the land, the animals living on it, and the people for which it provides.
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Jason is a crucial part of Happy Hen Farm.  Although he prefers to take a backseat to the farm sales and business, he is integral in planning and planting pastures for animal rotation, and ensuring that projects are completed.  He is a licensed soil scientist and works hard at his day job.  The farm is lucky to have his help and expertise.  He also puts up with Stephanie's ever expanding animal ventures - which is key.  He enjoys working on the tractor and anything having to do with the cows.  He spent many hours of his teenage years working on his family's cattle farm and developed a soft spot for the bovine.
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Stephanie and Jason have three little chickies that help out on the farm.  The oldest is in middle school and is wonderful at helping out with the jobs that require a little more muscle.  The middle one LOVES animals and will likely end up being a veterinarian or farmer himself one day.  The youngest is always enthusiastic and especially loves the chickens - she's our little "chicken tender."