Pennsylvania couple Emily and Cole Martin swap their three-bedroom home to 19-acre farm with 68,000 chickens

A family swapped their three-bedroom home for a 19-acre farm with 68,000 chickens to teach their kids to “work with their hands and problem-solve.” 

Emily and Cole Martin, both 27, grew up within the agricultural community and had always dreamed of owning a farm.

In November 2024, the couple’s dream came true when they purchased and took over the running of a farm in Lancaster, Pa.

The couple said a big factor for them moving onto the farm was to be around their family, and they have always wanted to raise their children – aged one and three – in that kind of environment. 

The couple plan to teach their two children the ropes as they get a bit older to show them that not everything in life comes easy.

“We have always thought that there is no better way to raise our kids than to teach them the ropes on a farm,” the homemaker and egg farmer Emily said. “My husband and I have both always had a love for agriculture – he started working on a farm when he was 11. He has always had a job that relates to farming and I have always had a dream of running a farm for ourselves. We are excited to finally fulfil our dream of raising our children on a farm.”

In November 2024, after a stint working on a farm, Cole was told it was going to come on the market and asked if he would he like to buy it.

“My husband is a big dreamer, I am much more realistic and ask whether or not we can afford to do it,” Emily added. “He had called me many times before telling me a farm is up for sale. This time around, he called and told me that this couple wanted to sell the farm and if we wanted it and I said sure. We were both in, we had both grown up in or around agriculture – it is something we were looking for.”

The couple took over the 19-acre farm that month, along with two chicken houses and 68,000 chickens.

Emily says becoming an egg farmer has been an “adjustment” as she tries to juggle her new lifestyle and parenting.

“The hardest part has been trying to juggle everything,” Emily said. “Getting the eggs packed, making sure that the boys have had the attention they need. And then going out to help Cole with the chicken houses. Even going into it, you know it is a seven-day job but it doesn’t hit you until you get into it.”

Emily said it was important for them to raise their child on a farm to show them that not everything in life comes easy.

The couple is talking about home-schooling but say they have not yet made a decision.

“We’ve always thought it would be the best place to raise kids because it can help teach them so many different things – hard work, how to work with the ground, work with animals, work with their hands, problem solve,” Emily shared. “It will also give them an understanding that not everything comes easy, and respect for life itself after seeing all that it takes to keep things running.”

“We’re not sure about home-schooling. That is something we have talked about, but haven’t made any final decisions regarding schooling.”

Emily and Cole said the hardest part of adjusting to farm life is juggling everything, but it is rewarding to watch their produce from start to finish.

The pair admitted that farm life has been a “whirlwind” but they wouldn’t change it.

“This is how we grew up, my husband is the hardest worker I know,” Emily said. “You have so many different aspects in farming, you can do a little bit of this and a little bit of that. You get to produce a product for a large group of people – we are helping feed the country.”

“It’s amazing to see something go from essentially nothing to a full-grown product, and knowing you were the one to get it to that point working with the weather that God gives you,’ Cole said “Same with the chickens, when we first get them they aren’t laying eggs yet, but you’re caring for them and working to keep them as healthy as possible to produce the best eggs you can.”