Founded in 1944 by Nell Hickman, what began as a few hens for fresh eggs for the family has grown into a local egg icon, with a processing capacity for shell eggs of more than ¾ million eggs per hour. Still family owned and operated, Hickman’s Family Farms is the go-to local favorite for the best farm fresh eggs available, as well as being the largest egg company in the Southwest and in the top 20 nationwide.
Since the age of 19, Glenn Hickman has been running the family business alongside his brothers Billy and Clint and his sister Sharman. Growing up in what used to be a rural Glendale, Arizona, Glenn spent time working in all facets of the farm’s operation. After years of experience and hands-on expertise in every job from egg-packer to account manager, Glenn’s knowledge of the business spearheads the company’s expansion and adaption to the ever changing market– including unprecedented industry projects such as Hickman’s Cage Free expansion, PET carton conversion and more. Glenn and his wife, Audrey, are the parents of two sons, Michael and Grant and became grandparents for the first time in 2015.
Since early childhood, Billy Hickman quickly began to create ways to make the chicken barns more efficient in feeding, watering and climate control. While working his way around the company to learn the business, Billy began to develop plans to innovate all production processes– closing waste streams through recycling, repurposing manure as fertilizer and making sure that hen welfare is and always has been, top priority. A tribute to his grandfather– who checked in on every hen twice daily– by first checking temperatures, then hitting every feeder with his knuckle to listen to the sound it made to indicate fullness and lastly, carefully rescuing wayward hens in each of the seven hen houses– Billy makes sure he still watches every hen from his office and if you visit him, he will show you how he does it. Billy and his wife, Lisa, are parents to four children, Branden, Brett, Jordan and Bliss.
A graduate of the University of Arizona, Clint oversees the vast network of partners that Hickman’s maintains, as well as masterfully guiding all of the company’s marketing efforts. Community impact is a very high priority for Clint and his team. He watched his grandparents give to friends and neighbors and now assures programs are provided to help relieve hunger, support education and promote extensive and ongoing training in every community that Hickman brands are welcomed. A dedicated public servant, Clint was elected to the Maricopa County Board of Supervisors in March 2013, where he is an integral part of providing regional leadership and fiscal responsibility so that residents can enjoy living in a healthy and safe community. Clint and his wife, Jennifer, are proud parents to three children.
The youngest in the third generation of Hickmans, Sharman is the only daughter of Bill Sr. and Gertie Hickman. Since childhood, she has been working alongside her brothers in the family business. Sharman oversees Hickman’s Community Outreach endeavors and can serve a delicious omelet in under 60 seconds, a unique skill—a proven pro with a spatula who doesn’t “crack” under pressure. A graduate of Arizona State University, Sharman serves on the Governor’s Animal Advisory Board, Arizona Educational Agricultural Literacy Foundation and is an Executive Board Member of Arizona Audubon. She is a proud mother and enjoys raising her two vivacious children.
Billy’s oldest son, Branden Hickman is one of the fourth generation of Hickmans in the family business. Branden brought innovation and fresh ideas to the company after attending the University of Colorado, Pueblo. Among his many achievements––and his favorite project to date––is developing the recycled PET cartons now used by Hickman’s Family Farms. This innovation assists in closing waste streams and helping the company advance in their environmentally-friendly mission. Day-to-day, Branden oversees the incoming products and shipment of all Hickman’s packaging.
Grant has been involved in the company business from a very young age, working on the farm with his cousins during school breaks. A graduate of Colorado Mesa University, Grant Hickman is Glenn’s youngest son and is a Plant Manager at the Hickman’s Arlington farm. He is currently developing technology to continue to close the company’s waste streams. He is especially enthusiastic about the robotics Hickman’s has employed to alleviate some of the hardest aspects of certain jobs for human employees. Grant and his wife, Dana, are parents to two energetic children.
Billy’s second son, Brett Hickman, is one of the fourth generation of Hickmans in the family business. Brett is following in Grandma Nell’s chicken whisperer footsteps – more than 35,000 steps per day, usually before lunch break. Brett’s crew has been transitioning to cage free, from day old chicks to adult laying hens. His hands-on youth jobs at Hickman’s and his higher education experience enabled Brett to embrace the Cage Free Transition far ahead of industry standards. Among his many achievements — and his favorite project to date — is developing the best life for our hens in their new home environments. When you remove a mother hen, it is everyone’s responsibility to train behaviors to keep hens safe and enjoying their daily routines.
Brett shares his parents’ compassion to constantly educate and invest in training to keep everyone, including our feathered staff, healthy and happy, responsibly.
Mr. and Mrs. Hickman Sr. started the company with Bill’s mother and father in Glendale, Arizona. As their family and their farm grew, the Hickmans began to employ innovative practices to keep operations running smoothly. Bill drove trucks, organized labor and tended to the chickens. Gertie ran the store and accounted for sales. Since passing the family business on to their children, Gertie has been a member of the Peoria School Board and Bill Sr. enjoys golfing and both enjoy spending time with their many grandchildren and great-grandchildren. They are celebrating their 61st wedding anniversary in 2018.
When the Hickman family settled in Glendale in 1944, Great Grandma Nell acquired a few hens for fresh eggs for the family. She was from rural Kansas, and it was quite common for a housewife back there to maintain a small flock of chickens in order to produce a little extra money for the family. In 1944, the practice wasn’t quite as widespread in Glendale, so Nell continued to add to her flock as neighbors heard about the eggs being sold off her back porch. Their grandfather had a full time job as an ironworker, but he built their grandmother an enclosed house, or coop, and as an early innovator, built individual cages in order to more easily care for the hens.
The hens performed much better in the coops and the little flock grew to 500 laying hens by 1957. Nell’s eldest son was managing a Glendale service station at this time and his new wife had time on her hands – and experience working in her father’s local dry goods stores. So, he bought 500 baby chicks to match Nell’s flock, and the two women became 50/50 partners in the new business. Soon, egg production exceeded the back porch sales, so they began to sell out of the back seat of a ‘55 Ford coupe to local cafés and grocery stores.
Business was so good that in two years the flock had grown to 3,500 hens. Gertie & Bill’s oldest son, Matt, was born in 1959 as well, so Bill Hickman, Sr. left the service station to run the egg business full time.
The family purchases 40 acres way-way-way out on 91st avenue and Orangewood. This would be the ranch on which the third generation of Hickman children grew up.
Hickman’s Egg Ranch grew to 100,000 laying hens on 10 acres on 67th Avenue and Missouri. Maryvale was also growing, and for the first time we experienced urban encroachment.
The family home is constructed on the land purchased in 1968 on 91st Avenue and Orangewood, as well as hen houses to expand and relocate the 67th Avenue farm.
By 1997, we had a processing plant capable of grading 72,000 eggs per hour and a feed mill running around the clock supplying not only our feed, but feed stores around the state — and 350,000 laying hens. And we were out of room.
We bought our first piece of ground in Arlington, Arizona (on the west side of Buckeye) in 1997. The town’s lone operating retail establishment in what passes for downtown was a bar – and still is.
We bought some more land in Arlington, and have since expanded our operations there and in other areas as well. Having crossed the hurdle from hobby to viable business, we are fortunate enough to have had the founding generation of Hickman’s Family Farms live to see their grandchildren actively engage productively in the family business. Four generations later, we’re just getting started.
