Growing venture

It started with a small desk and weekly porch pickups in March 2024.

In just over a year, the Bucklands' bakery and farm business expanded to a storefront running out of the family barn.

Three Chicks Farm celebrated its store grand opening last month. The new storefront, located at the Bucklands' home at 1538 W. 200 South, Portland, offers fresh eggs, frozen meat, tallow, jam and sourdough bread, among other items. It’s open from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. Saturdays and 3 to 7 p.m. Wednesdays.

Co-owner Ali Buckland started a farm stand business on Facebook approximately 14 months ago, with the idea stemming from efforts made by the family to eat healthier foods. 

“It was more so rooted into wanting to better the health of our family, and then it just turned into a passion for helping others do the same,” she explained.

Ali recalled her first porch pickup attracted five people. Each weekend, her reach grew.

She started selling pasture-raised eggs. Soon enough, she also began preparing sourdough bread and offering pasture-raised meats.

“I think people want to be a part of the movement of, you know, kind of closing that gap of knowing where your food comes from, and that’s a big part of our purpose,” she said.

Grocery store labels marked as “pasture-raised,” she noted, don’t necessarily mean what consumers may think. As long as the animals used to make the product had access to the outdoors, a product can be labeled as “pasture-raised.”

“That doesn’t mean they’re actually going outside,” she said. “When you come to our farm, our chickens are running around and have free will to do whatever they please, from sun up to sun down, and that makes all the difference in the nutrients in the eggs.”

Three Chicks Farm’s chickens are supplemented with feed, although Ali noted a majority of their diet, such as bugs and grass, comes from the outdoors.

“People are more interested in knowing how their food is raised and where it comes from,” explained Ali. “The more it comes to light in the news when you read about all these recalls of food products, when you start to really research how this food is prepared or raised, it’s kind of scary.”

The farm currently has about 300 meat chickens and 150 egg-laying chickens of a variety of breeds. It also has up to 16 cows and six pigs, all of which are given space to roam.

As the business grew, the Bucklands realized they needed more than a porch pickup option to meet demand. Ali also hoped for a space to connect with customers for a more personal experience.

Ali’s husband and Three Chicks Farm co-owner Brandon began converting a portion of the barn into a storefront. Seven months later, the family celebrated with their shop’s grand opening. Ali said her family estimated between 900 and 1,000 people stopped by the farm on June 14.

“Beyond my wildest dreams,” she said.

In addition to the sourdough, beef, pork, chicken and eggs, Three Chicks Farm also offers beef tallow, homemade jam, non-toxic cleaning sprays, natural soaps, beeswax candles and gift items, such as mugs or bread knives.

The name, Three Chicks Farm, stems from the three ladies in the family — Ali and her daughters Blair, 5, and Maebry, 3. Ali noted the entire family helps out on the farm, gathering eggs and providing for the animals as needed.

With full-time jobs — Brandon is a lineman for American Electric Power; Ali is a nurse at IU Health Jay Hospital — the Bucklands manage their farm and storefront in their free time.

Janna Snyder has been a regular customer of the Bucklands' products since they first started offering them. A former work colleague of Ali’s, she talked highly of the farm’s products. Three Chicks Farm’s jam and bread, she noted, are staples of the Snyder household.

“I can tell you her stuff is just incredibly delicious,” she said. “It’s such high quality. I’ve never had anything I’ve been disappointed with.”

She also praised Buckland for putting in the effort and providing her services to the county.

“We’re very fortunate to have someone like her who is willing to share her talent with our community,” she said.

There’s now a place for customers and the Bucklands to connect on a deeper level with the store front, said Ali. She talked about how she’s developed friendships through her business.

“I think we’re part of a growing movement that we want to reconnect people with real food and where it comes from, who’s behind it,” Ali added. “I think that sharing the process transparently and just to be able to create a space where customers can really know their farmer is important to us.”