Nolah Poulin and her mother, Sara Jenney, have a long tradition of visiting poultry shows. This January, they attended the 2025 Northeastern Poultry Congress in West Springfield, MA.
(Learn more about the show at poultryshowcentral.com/Northeastern_Poultry_Congress.html.)
At the show, as well taking in the exhibits, Nolah observed a lot of breeders selling many different breeds of show-quality chicks and chickens. She decided she could raise and sell chicks too, and she started her own agribusiness.
Another entrepreneur and fellow fowl enthusiast, the renowned Martha Stewart, visited the show too, and featured it on her blog, themarthablog.com.
In the past, Nolah and Sara have raised and shown a lot of chickens, so Nolah has been raising chickens her whole life. At her family’s home in Wendell, MA, she conceived her plan of buying two different batches of 30 chicks each to be ready as pullets for her customers at staggered times – the first batch to be ready in May, the second in June.
She started her business in February, naming it Nolah’s Hens & Horses, and printed fliers that she put up at local coffee houses and area shops.
The breeds she chose included Buff Orpingtons, Rhode Island Reds and New Hampshire Reds.
She is also raising Ameraucanas, a breed that lays primarily blue eggs, developed from the Araucanas that also lay different colored eggs. She has previous experience in selling product from operating an egg stand.
Nolah Poulin with the pullets she is raising to sell through her agribusiness and her horse Shadow. Photo by Laura Rodley
At 13, she is busy attending eighth grade and works part-time in nearby in Wendell taking care of goats and horses, where she earned the money to buy the chicks. She built her chicken coop on the family’s two acres.
In a time when people are concerned with avian flu and want to buy local, the orders started pouring in, mostly from Massachusetts but also from Vermont. As of mid-April, “I only have 15 birds left,” she said.
Is she surprised by how quickly the orders came in? “It’s cool to see the different breeds that people wanted the most,” she said. “They really wanted Ameraucanas, Rhode Island Reds and Buff Orpingtons.”
She is following in her mom’s footsteps, as Sara raised chickens herself. Nolah considers herself a second-generation farmer. “My mom is helping me keep a spreadsheet and with answering emails.”
Her friends at Greenfield Farmers’ Cooperative in Greenfield, MA, help her decide which grains to use. She is feeding her chicks Chick Starter Crumble, a feed from Poulin Grain. The chicks were under cover and under heat lamps during the latest April snowstorm.
While Nolah has worked with chickens all her life, she has worked with horses the past six years. At her house is a very friendly 30-year-old Pinto named Shadow. She keeps her other horse, an 18-year-old buckskin named Brio, at a nearby boarding facility where she participates in Interscholastic Equestrian Association (IEA) shows, gymkhanas and drill teams.
The money she has earned taking orders she is putting back into her business. She is also saving some of her income for future college tuition (or for a faster horse). College is a way off, so she hasn’t decided which college yet, but UMass is her first choice so far.
by Laura Rodley
I loved reading about Nolah, her business and activities! Totally awesome!
Best of luck to her in all her endeavors!😊👍❤️