By Tabitha Evans Moore | EDITOR & PUBLISHER
It’s Monday afternoon, and as the temperatures soar near 100 degrees, the unofficial Chicken Queen of Lynchburg, Moore County High School Guidance Counselor Amy Kimbrough, stands in her “chicken palace” on Duck Branch Road near the Moore County, Lincoln County line blissfully counting her chickens before they hatch as a half dozen barn cats do figure eights around her legs.
Rows upon rows of eggs sit on every surface in various states of incubation. It’s a form of chicken breeder magic that’s equal parts science, intuition, and patience. On the floor sits several chick brooders filled with her newest babies: Silver Laced Polish, Frizzle Silkies, Blue Slate Turkeys, and a critically endangered breed of chicken named Sultans.
“I’m working on a new crossbreed,” she says. “You mix Ayam Cemani rooster with a White Leghorn hen, and you get what they call a zombie chicken. They are known for their black and white or cream and black spotted plumage, along with black skin, feet, and beak. They are very popular right now.”
By the door sits a tray filled with “fairy eggs” or the small, sometimes yolkless chicken eggs laid by young hens who are just starting to lay. She keeps them around for the kids who like to visit her barn.
The Chicken Coop That Started It All
Amy tells us in 2018, Logan kept asking about raising chickens. His persistence eventually led Blayne to just build a coop so his little brother could experience his dream.
“That coop was the start of something much bigger than any of us realized,” Amy says.
What started as a family project with one rooster and 10 hens quickly evolved. It’s a classic case of chicken math. It began with one coop, then three, then 10, then the borrowed barn at her dad’s farm. Eventually, Tony and the boys decided to build her a separate chicken barn.
“At one point, I was hatching eggs out of all areas of my house and basement. Eventually, my husband just built me my own chicken barn,” she says.
That 1,800 square foot chicken barn now houses 17 different breeds of chickens, multiple breeds of turkeys, several original breeds of chickens, and despite her husband, Tony, and sons, Blayne, Brayden, and Logan’s, rolled eyes she’s got her eye on an emu that will hatch this fall.
Her new “chicken palace” sits on land that once belonged to her father and his parents before that in a spot near where the old homestead existed. It contains a temperature-controlled hatching room where she stores and incubates eggs, runs multiple brooders, and ships hatching eggs all across the U.S. The air-conditioned space sits filled with relics from that now torn down original post-Civil War era Greek Revival house – from repurposed bricks and rocks to her grandmother’s wooden ironing board.
“We hated to take it down,” Amy says. “But it was in bad shape. It really wasn’t safe.”
What Started as a Dream Now Ships Nationwide
What now exists is a testament to hard work, planning, and a touch of serendipity. Though Amy says she’s been content to let things unfold organically, there’s also been growth that was never random.
She says that six years ago, she sat down and created a one-year, three-year, five-year, and 10-year goals on a vision board entitled, “My Why.”
“I wasn’t just raising chickens – I was building a future,” she says. “Everything I put on paper has come to life. And now? I’m back at the drawing board with new goals, bigger plans, and even more purpose.”
Today, she not only spends much of her free time tending to her birds, but she also ships eggs all over the country – nearly as fast as the hens can lay them.
Amy says people find her through lots of different avenues. Some follow her on the Double K Farms Facebook page, and she also posts and follows numerous chicken breeder group pages online. In her free time, she attends various chicken shows and expos throughout the state.
“I’m just trying to constantly be out there,” she says. “We’ve grown through word of mouth over the past seven years.”
A Passion That Can’t Be Contained by Logic
Though Amy says she doesn’t consider herself officially “chicken crazy,” she does fully admit that sketching coop expansion plans on the back of feed store receipts might be getting close. Chicken math may not be real math, but it’s a real thing. She often goes to the local feed store to buy three chicks and comes home with 12.
“Then you realize that there’s a breed you don’t have, and suddenly you’re researching coop expansions at midnight,” she jokes. “I keep telling myself that I’m just one more pen away from being caught up, but the truth is, chicken math is what built this business.”
Amy says she’s not just adding birds. She’s expanding her vision.
“Chicken math may not make sense on paper, but in my world, it’s proof that passion can’t be contained by logic.”
It’s a vision that would not be possible without support from her family. Between the four men, they’ve built everything in her Duck Branch Chicken Palace except for the barn itself. They’ve moved coops, built endless chicken runs, caught thousands of chickens, and never once complained when things got messy or wild.
Their only collective hard no has come from a flightless bird that’s native to Australia that exists as the second largest bird – only slightly smaller than an ostrich.
“If there’s a limit to my chicken math, it’s apparently spelled -e-m-u,” she jokes.
Peace, Purpose, and the Rhythm of the Barn
In the end, Amy says her work at her chicken palace and the work that happens inside her MCHS guidance counselor office feels similar. Both feel like a place of peace, purpose, and connection. Like her office at the high school, she says deep conversations always seem to take place at the barn.
“When my boys were little, we spent countless hours gathered around brooders or out by the coop. Some of our best and deepest conversations happened out there. As they’ve gotten older, that tradition hasn’t changed.”
Today, there’s a porch swing as well as a table with chairs where not only her family but also friends and customers can come and sit for a spell.
It’s also a place where she can unplug from the world. Duck Branch Road located in the heart of rural Tennessee enjoys next to no cell phone or Internet service. Amy says it forces her to stop, reflect, tune in, and reconnect with the land she loves where generations of her family stood before her.
“This space grounds me,” she says. “The rhythm of the farm, the sound of the birds, the conversations under the open sky – it brings me back to what really matters. No phones, no emails to check, no social media, it’s just me and the chickens.”
Despite all the hard work, Amy says her side hustle fits in perfectly with her day job. Each morning before school, she walks through the barn, checks water and feeders, and feeds the barn cats. After school, it’s back up to the barn to collect and label eggs, check incubators, and prepare boxes and eggs for shipping.
“It doesn’t matter how stressful my day at school has been, those moments with the chickens bring me back to center,” she says.
Show Up Every Day with Love
In the end, Amy says her hobby turned small business teaches her a new lesson every day. Like watching a teenager slowly come into their own through four years of high school, tending chickens takes patience.
“Nothing tests your patience like waiting a full year for a chicken to lay her very first egg. You feed her, care for her, talk to her like she’s royalty, and then wait, wait, wait.”
Ultimately, it has also taught her lessons about herself – that she’s physically, emotionally, and mentally capable of building something from the ground up. She says it reminds her that she can do hard things. She also says it’s deepened her understanding of the concept of care for both her students and her flock.
“You can’t rush Mother Nature. You can’t force growth. You just show up every day, consistently with love – even when it’s messy, inconvenient, or exhausting.”
When we ask her what’s next, she admits to already having the next set of big dreams. She’s got rare chicken breeds (and that emu) sitting on her vision board now. She’d like to expand her breeding programs. There are lots of chicken shows circled on her calendar. However, she also reminds us that some things can’t be measured on spreadsheets like connecting with people who sometimes drive hours to visit the farm and hand-pick their chicks or choose the perfect hatching eggs. She especially loves it when kids visit, and she gets to watch their eyes light up with wonder at the place she built chick-by-chick with her family.
“It’s not about chasing the next big thing,” she says. “It’s about building something that brings joy, purpose, and connection. As long as it keeps doing that, the chicken math will continue.” •
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The Lynchburg Times is an independent, woman-owned newspaper rooted in the heart of southern middle Tennessee. Led by a Tulane-educated journalist with over two decades of experience covering this region, we shine a light on the people, politics, and cultural pulse of a changing South. From breaking news to slow storytelling, we believe local journalism should inform, empower, and preserve what makes this place unique. Supported by readers and community partners, we’re proud to be part of the new Southern narrative – one story at a time. [Support us here.]