Poultry prodigy: 4-H'er turns a handful of chicks into a thriving business

By Linda DuBois

When Nathan Hutchison was 9 years old, starting a business was the last thing on his mind. The young bird enthusiast just wanted to raise a few backyard chickens.

But what began as a childhood hobby grew into Nate’s Chicks—a thriving, solar-powered poultry operation in Madera County with more than 600 chickens and customers statewide.

Now 19, Hutchison’s path from a 4-H member to an award-winning farmer hasn’t always been easy. In fact, getting his very first chickens came with obstacles, including convincing his mom he was mature enough to care for them. 

“I was pretty young, and she was a single mother of two and just didn’t want the extra responsibility,” he recalled.

Undaunted, he kept “nagging” her until she finally gave in and let him order four female chicks. However, two unexpectedly grew into roosters, so he gave them away and went to buy replacement hens at the local feed store, where the owner showed him a book of all the available breeds.

“We walked into the store to get two, and we walked out with 14,” Hutchison said.

Soon, the family was overrun with eggs, and he started sharing the extras with neighbors. One day, a neighbor handed him the spare change in her pocket as a thank-you gesture.

“That was basically the defining moment of when Nate’s Chicks was born,” Hutchison said. “I realized I could sell the eggs for a profit—and then I could buy more chickens.”

As he expanded his flock and sold eggs to friends and neighbors, he learned about poultry raising through Sierra Shadows 4-H and Madera Liberty High School’s FFA chapter, got his business license at age 15 and eventually moved his birds from his Madera Ranchos backyard to a nearby ranch.

‘A lot of work’

Hutchison raises heritage turkeys for the Thanksgiving season and more than 50 breeds of chickens, selling day-old chicks, chicken and turkey meat and anywhere from 2,500 to 5,000 eggs a month. He also brokers chickens from other farms and leads workshops on food sustainability, raising poultry and hands-on processing.

His mom, Camille Hutchison Sanders, helps by taking some calls and handling most of the website, Facebook and Instagram postings, and his friend, Brandon Howard, helps on the farm during crunch times. Otherwise, Hutchison operates the business himself, putting in about 16 hours a day. He also built the farm’s solar-powered infrastructure so that everything is run by renewable energy. 

Chicks require precision in temperature, lighting and diet. He keeps chicks inside for at least a month in the summer and for two months in winter, with a heat lamp running almost constantly, he said.

Feeding is just as critical. Hutchison starts chicks on medicated feed to protect them against disease. After the first week, he transitions them to a higher-fat, high-protein feed and switches laying hens to pellets at around six months.

His meat chickens get an entirely different ration—one Hutchison developed himself after years of trial and error. 

“What you feed them really makes all the difference in flavor, whether it’s meat or eggs,” he said.

Chicken challenges

The growth of Nate’s Chicks has had its share of setbacks. 

A few years ago, dogs killed all his Thanksgiving turkeys and many chickens. Hutchison now uses strong fencing and secures all birds in a barn at night.

He survived the avian flu outbreaks that have devastated many poultry farms through strict biosecurity and isolation.

Last year, he allowed only three guests onto his farm, requiring everyone to wear protective booties or dip their feet into a sanitizer before entering. Transport vehicles are sprayed down with sanitizer before entering.

Chickens get sick more easily than other livestock such as cattle, sheep or goats, Hutchison said. “You have to monitor them constantly,” he said. “Even a cold can spread through the whole flock and wipe out a lot of birds.”

Adjusting to inflation has also been tough. Nevertheless, Hutchison has kept prices as low as 

possible. “I finally did have to raise my egg prices by a dollar a dozen, but that was the first time in seven years,” he said.

Community connections

He sells most of his products directly to customers through word of mouth or social media. He also raises roosters for Hmong neighbors, who use them in weddings and celebrations of life.

A fellow Madera Ranchos resident, Ashlee McIntyre, found Nate’s Chicks on Facebook in 2022 and has been purchasing his meat and eggs ever since.

Buying local meat and eggs keeps food dollars local and “connects you directly to the farmer,” McIntyre said, adding, “You are getting not only the freshest but the most nutrient-dense ingredients.”

She took his processing workshop after she began raising her own chickens and later hosted a bone-broth class featuring Hutchison’s chicken carcasses and feet, sharing his belief in sustainability and honoring the animal by using every part of it. Hutchison even sells feathers for mulch and intestines for cooking or fishing bait.

Hutchison’s efforts have earned him several agriculture awards, including the state and national FFA Poultry Production Proficiency Awards in 2024.

Because almost all of Nate’s Chicks’ profits “go straight back into the business,” he also works for other companies while growing his business.

But for Hutchison, Nate’s Chicks isn’t really a job, anyway—it’s a calling. 

“I'm passionate about birds, hatching and selling healthy chicks, teaching others about processing and food sustainability and feeding the community,” he said.

Linda DuBois is a reporter in West Sacramento. She can be reached at agalert@cfbf.com.