KELOWNA– Have you always wanted to produce your own eggs, but were too chicken to make the committment to build a coop?
Now you don’t have to.
Rent The Chicken is spreading its wings into B.C.’s southern interior.
Starting immediately, customers in Kelowna, Vernon and Kamloops will be able to collect farm fresh eggs right in their own backyards.
The company was started in 2013 in Pittsberg, Pennsylvania by Jenn and Phillip Tompkins.
“My job was coming to an end and I needed a job,” says company co-founder Jenn Tompkins. “We saw that rental chickens were a thing so Rent The Chicken was hatched.”
Tomkins says her customer base is anyone who wants a food source closer to their tables.
Each rental includes a portable chicken coop, at least two laying hens, feed for the rental season, a feeder and waterer, a book on chicken care and phone and web chat support.
Rentals run from May until October and include delivery and set-up.
A two-hen rental, which according to the company’s website should net eight to 14 eggs per week, is $425 for the season. Renting four hens costs $600.
“Homestead Ron and Marie” are the operators of B.C.’s Rent The Chicken Franchise.
They’re advising would-be customers to check local bylaws to ensure backyard chickens don’t run afoul of the rules in their area.