Backyard barnyard: rising egg prices prompt hen hires in US
While many people idly muse about backyard farming, for those not ready to take the plunge permanently, there's a solution: renting a henhouse, complete with egg-laying birds.
"I really want to try it out and see whether I like it or not," the Los Angeles-area resident told AFP as she took delivery of two chickens and all the equipment they need to live a happy egg-laying life.
"Some people I know have chickens at home, but it's a lot of work for them -- they had to adjust the whole garden themselves.
"So I think renting a chicken is a good start."
Hiring hens began to gain ground in the United States around a decade ago in Pennsylvania when a farming couple set up "Rent The Chicken."
Since then, the project has expanded to more than 40 cities across North America, with local farmers setting up their own offshoots.
The service saw an uptick in interest during the Covid-19 lockdowns, when people were stuck at home.
But it has skyrocketed in recent months as consumers quail over the soaring cost of eggs, thanks to a bird flu pandemic that has seen the wholesale culling of egg-laying birds.
"Especially this year, we have had a much higher interest, I would say, three to four times as much as we were seeing this time last year," said Victoria Lee, who serves the Los Angeles region from her farm in Agua Dulce.
Some Americans have been forking over more than $10 for a dozen eggs, up to three times their usual price, with supermarkets putting daily limits on the number of cartons a shopper can buy.
The eyewatering costs were a regular feature of last year's presidential campaign, with US President Donald Trump pledging to lower grocery bills when he got to the White House.
But prices have continued to climb, and in March eggs were 60 percent more expensive than a year earlier, according to the United States Department of Agriculture.
Lee is quick to point out, however, that raising chickens at home is not cheaper than buying eggs at the store.
Instead, it's a question of quality.
"By the time they get to the grocery store (eggs) are on average 48-60 days old," she said.
"As eggs sit, no matter the quality at the start of that countdown, over time, the protein in the eggs begins to break down."
Backyard eggs, in contrast, are only as old as however long it took the owner to pick them up off the henhouse floor.
- 'Free eggs!' -
"Rent the Chicken" offers different options that range from around $500 to over $1,000 for six months, depending on location and number of birds desired.
Packages include the birds, food, waterers and feeders, additional treats and a chicken care guide.
But it is the included coop that is most striking -- a sort of mini house with what looks like a patio, completely protected by fences.
It's also moveable, thanks to wheels on the bottom.
"Every day, our renters will lift this up ... and move it forward... with the chickens having access to fresh grass each day.
"They're getting the experience of being on wide-open pasture with that new stimulation, new bugs to look for, new grass to dig through, while still being safe in a predator-proof coop."
The convenience is what made the package attractive to Kim, a university professor living in La Crescenta, near Los Angeles, and when her new coop arrived, she was absolutely thrilled.
"Free eggs!" Lee exclaimed while unloading the new backyard tenants and handing over a complimentary dozen laid the previous week.
A client with two chickens can expect up to 14 eggs per week, Lee explains.
Kim, whose son is an athlete who eats a lot of eggs, says although the supply crisis prompted her to rent the chickens, it's "bigger than that."
"I really wanted to have something for the kids, also to learn as a way of life, and to compare the taste of the eggs," she said.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
LeMonde
4 hours ago
- LeMonde
The French government is stepping in to rescue Eutelsat
On Friday, June 20, President Emmanuel Macron is expected at the Paris Air Show in Le Bourget and aims to make the event a turning point for France and Europe's space strategy. "We are witnessing a dramatic acceleration of the space sector" that "is being privatized at breakneck speed with extremely ambitious projects, especially from the Americans, but also from Chinese players." It is also "becoming militarized very, very quickly," explained an Élysée adviser ahead of the president's midday speech from the "Paris Space Hub" – the Le Bourget hall devoted entirely to the sector. The war in Ukraine has highlighted Europe's dependence on Starlink, Elon Musk's satellite communications network. "Europe needs to "act independently, not be dependent on external solutions," the Élysée acknowledged. In this context, the government announced on June 19 that it would strengthen the state's stake in Eutelsat, the French satellite operator whose low-Earth orbit constellation is, for now, the only viable European alternative to Starlink. To achieve this, France's State Participation Agency (APE, the government's shareholdings agency) will take a major share in Eutelsat's €1.35 billion capital increase; the APE alone will contribute €717 million. At the same time, it will purchase the 13.6% stake currently held by Bpifrance, bringing its total holding to 29.9% – just below the threshold that would trigger a mandatory takeover bid for the entire company.
France 24
12 hours ago
- France 24
Putin says recession in Russia 'must not be allowed to happen'
Economists have warned for months of a slowdown in the Russian economy, with the country posting its slowest quarterly expansion in two years for the first quarter of 2025. The Kremlin has said this was to be expected after two years of rapid growth as it ramped up military expenditure to fund the Ukraine campaign, but officials including the country's economy minister have raised alarm about possible pain ahead. "Some specialists and experts are pointing to the risks of stagnation and even a recession," Putin told attendees at Russia's flagship economic forum in Saint Petersburg. "This must not be allowed to happen under any circumstances," he said. "We need to pursue a competent, well-thought-out budgetary, tax and monetary policy," he added. The Russian economy grew in 2023 and 2024 despite the West's sweeping sanctions, with massive state spending on the military powering a robust expansion. But analysts have long warned that heavy public investment in the defence industry is no longer enough to keep Russia's economy growing and does not reflect a real increase in productivity. At his address to the forum on Friday, Putin was upbeat about Russia's economic prospects and denied the economy was being driven solely by the defence and energy industries. "Yes, of course, the defence industry played its part in this regard, but so did the financial and IT industries," he said. He said the economy needed "balanced growth" and called on officials to keep a "close eye on all indicators of the health of our industries, companies and even individual enterprises." © 2025 AFP
France 24
13 hours ago
- France 24
NATO scrambles to overcome Spain block on summit spending deal
Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez on Thursday threw a last-minute hand grenade into preparations for the gathering in The Hague by coming out strongly against the agreement. In a blistering letter to NATO chief Mark Rutte, Sanchez said that committing to a headline figure of five percent of GDP "would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive". The outburst from Madrid's centre-left leader has sparked fury from other NATO members who fear it could derail the carefully crafted compromise designed to keep Trump happy at the summit. Ambassadors held a round of negotiations at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Friday, but broke up without a deal being reached. Several diplomats said talks could drag on through the weekend in an effort to reach a breakthrough or the start of the summit on Tuesday. "There is no clarity yet," one diplomat said, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss ongoing deliberations. In a bid to satisfy Trump's demand to spend five percent of GDP on defence, NATO chief Rutte has corralled allies towards a diplomatic trade-off. That would see them agree to coughing up 3.5 percent on core military needs, and 1.5 percent on a looser category of "defence-related" expenditures such as infrastructure and cybersecurity. As a string of reluctant European capitals fell into line, officials believed they were comfortably on track to reach the deal for the Hague summit. Washington's allies fear that Trump -- who has previously threatened not to protect countries he thinks don't spend enough -- could blow a hole in NATO if he doesn't get what he wants. Spain has been one of the lowest spending NATO countries on defence in relative terms. The country is only set to hit the alliance's current target of two percent this year after a 10 billion euro ($11.5 billion) injection. Sanchez is facing a difficult balancing act of aligning with NATO allies and cajoling his junior coalition partner, the far-left alliance Sumar, which is hostile to increasing military spending. © 2025 AFP
