For folks who want to try it out, companies like this one Pennsylvania will rent out chickens.
RentTheChicken.com
If you're a regular EarthFix reader, you may remember a story we did about hosting beehives (and getting free honey in return) to help jump start local bee populations. Or maybe you saw the story about renting goats to munch on weeds to manage public trails.
Treehugger posted a story today about another animal sharing service, chicken rentals:
“RentTheChicken.com is based in Pennsylvania and only rents during warmer months, May until November. But it says on their site you can start in September, if you're interested in giving it a try. What I love about this idea is that it lowers the threshold to entry for people that are intrigued by the idea of having chickens, but maybe aren't as comfortable just starting from scratch and making mistakes.”
The other benefit to renting your chickens? You don't have to figure out what to do with the chickens after they stop laying eggs in a couple of years.
There are a few companies around the country who rent chickens to wanna-be-farmers. (Modern Farmer lists a few in their post on the topic from earlier this year.) So far I found none in the Northwest, though this chicken breeder rents baby chicks to caring little kids.
Would you rent chickens to try it out? Do you know of anyone in the Northwest who has a chicken rental program?
_-- Toni Tabora-Roberts_