Have you ever thought about raising backyard chickens but chickened out {see what I did there?} when you thought about all the work involved? What if you built a coop and got your backyard all ready, invested some time and money into having some chickens of your own {while dreaming of those yummy farm fresh eggs} only to find out that backyard chickens just aren’t for you? Maybe they were too much of a time commitment, your HOA threw a fit, you realized you didn’t have the space or maybe it just wasn’t what you were expecting at all. Regardless, wouldn’t it be nice to try out chicken ownership before you commit?
Well now you can! Reader, Karen, sent me a message telling me about a company called Rent the Chicken. This awesome company will show up at your house with a portable chicken coop {the coop has an attached run which allows the hens to have the feeling of free ranging }, two or four egg laying hens, 100-200 pounds of feed {optional non-GMO or organic feed is available}, food & water dishes as well as instructions on how to keep your chickens happy. You just need to make sure they have food and water available and then collect your farm fresh eggs!
You can rent your chickens from April/May until October/November {except in Arizona where rentals are year-round!} and then decide whether to adopt or return the chickens. If you decide to return the chickens, they schedule a date towards the end of your rental to stop by and pick up the rented chickens, coop and supplies. Easy as that!
This is such a great program because it cuts down on the number of chickens re-homed each year, plus it gives potential chicken owners who are clueless all the guidance they need to succeed with backyard chickens. Plus, they have affiliates all over the country. Check out their locations and see if one is close to you.
What do you think? Cool idea? You think it would have been helpful to try out when you first got chickens? If you’ve never had chickens, is it a service you would use?
~Mavis
Linda Anderson says
Hi Mavis,
I’ve noticed that you haven’t mentioned your chickens for quite some time now, so I figured the HOA gave you a hard time. I think it would be a good thing if people could rent in a HOA before buying and find out just how crazy it is to live in one
I hope your out of that place soon.
Mavis Butterfield says
I decided to stop blogging about our chickens for the time being due to a certain person/organization passive aggressively stalking me via the blog. And that’s all I’m going to say about that. For now.
Brianna says
I would try this out if it was available in my area. We just finally moved to our new home and it is on my list to get some chickens (it is prohibited by the county, but we have enough acreage to make it fall under a different guideline). I would rent for a few reasons: to see how my kids responded to them and how much help they really would be, to see if I have any neighbors who complain and try to report it, and to get a feel for how to provide for them and if the work is worth the rewards. I probably couldn’t do a free range coop because I caught a fox in my yard the other morning eating off of my crab apple tree. I don’t think the prices were unreasonable either. I think the trio of eggs you showed the other day were beautiful and I would want colorful eggs if I had my own chickens.
Teri says
I think it’s a great idea! I would think of doing it depending on the cost. How are yours doing? Any eggs yet?
Teri says
I just read your reply above. Sorry to hear that.
Heather says
We rent all sorts of livestock for 4H. At the end, they can go back to the original owner and a child got tons of experience.
Angela D. says
I think the premise of renting chickens is a good one, however, the short span of one month doesn’t come close to the investment it takes to raise chickens. Think of a weekend babysitting gig giving you the perspective to decide to have your own child?! At first, the whole family was on board with caring for our chickens….but 5 years later, it is still only my husband’s dream and he does most of the work. Winters in Wisconsin had us carrying out fresh water to replace the frozen water, chickens that suffered severe frost bite and lost toes….nursing a chicken back to health in a box kept in our foyer. We thought that having backyard chickens would be all about the pretty, healthy eggs. How wrong we were! It has been about so many other things: teamwork as a family, sharing responsibility, voting on if we should save a chicken or put it down, deciding how much $$$ to invest in building the coop and the broody cage, investing in water heaters, etc., right down to what type of feed and treats they shoud have and how often! (Is Lucy still getting her slices of cheese???) I had no idea that letting the flock free range (Yay, right!?) would require me to have to spray the chicken poop off of the sidewalk leading to our backdoor several times a week. We have also not found a reliable fence for my many garden/flower beds; they destroy all of my flowers. I no longer buy annuals. No pretty flowers here…
Barb says
Walking out on our back patio is like stepping through a mine field, but they’re so adorable whenever we step outside and the chickens come running/flapping their wings/squacking up to us to see what we are doing and if we have a treat for them. 🙂
Lynne says
I think the rentals are for the season – start in April or May, end in October or November, depending on climate. I’m afraid of birds (don’t ask) but all of my friends with chickens love them. Perhaps because now I won’t visit? LOL
Katherine says
This is a fantastic idea! Maybe one day I’ll get a chicken or two. Right now with 5 dogs ruling the house and fenced backyard it’s not ideal. I have to be careful feeding the wild birds because my dogs like to catch, kill and drop 🙁
Sorry to hear you are being blogged stalked, Mavis. Some folks just suck.
Tracy says
Instinctively, the idea of ‘renting’ animals makes me uncomfortable, but here is a very intelligent blog post from http://www.hencam.com on why this is not a great idea.
https://hencam.com/henblog/2015/04/no-to-chicken-rental/
(Full disclosure: I love animals and have owned horses, goats, dogs, cats, snakes, mice, birds and fish, but have never kept chickens.)
Angela D. says
Thanks for sharing this link! I haven’t visited Terry’s blog in awhile and I missed her post on renting chickens. She said exactly what I was trying to say in my above comment…especially the part about a small coop that’s not predator-proof. We thought we would keep our chickens locked up at all times, but they aren’t living a decent life when they’re confined in such a small run, which is my own opinion and based on what I’ve seen.
Kari says
I have a neighbor with chickens who will loan them to you in order to rid your garden of pesky bugs like squash bugs. They can clear your area rather quickly, then they can go back home. I would borrow them in a heartbeat if we didn’t have a bird dog. What a disaster that would be!!
Amy says
This is a great idea and how I got into chickens. After checking the bylaws of the small village I lived in, I then applied for permission as they had a no-livestock policy. I had to basically write a proposal (why, how many chickens, care, housing, etc.) and the village council approved it! My friend then lent me a pair of Polish Crested hens for the summer and we were able to see the benefits and drawbacks of owning chickens. 5 years later we have an acreage and have chickens, ducks, pigs and rabbits. I totally recommend borrowing, renting, or fostering animals before jumping in with both feet. And having a mentor!!!!
Jenny Young says
What happens if the chickens die on your watch?! My neighbors with chickens have a hard time keeping them alive between free-range dogs, foxes, racoons,ect. We live in the country.
nancy from mass says
I rent chickens for free since my neighbor 2 doors down have about 10. I haven’t found a tick in about 2 years!
Unfortunately, they never leave us eggs but have no problem leaving droppings for us (or poop bombs as my 17yo refers to them!)