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
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