May 19, 2017

Rhent-a-flock: Get your hens and roosters here

Because what’s an Island house without its own chicken crew?

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June 9, 2016

“There is no investment that has a return percentage anything like being able to breed chickens,” Gates said as a gaggle of 30 birds clucked inside of a coop behind him at the fifth annual Forbes 400 Summit on Philanthropy. “Our goal here is to take West Africa, where 5% of the households have chickens, and get that up, country by country, to about 30%.”

June 7, 2016

What you need to know about the question, the lawsuit, and what the measure would mean for the price of eggs in the Bay State.

April 12, 2016

On spring days, when normal people are listening to NPR or CDs or music on their smartphones, I listen to the baby monitor.

We don’t have a baby. I got the device to eavesdrop on our chickens’ conversations.

April 28, 2015

Entrepreneurs hatch hen-rental idea for fans of fresh eggs

April 28, 2015

Chicken rentals are a growing business nationwide as people seek to live more sustainably through local food sources. Poultry leases allow customers to get eggs from hens without the commitment of ownership. (April 28) AP

April 2, 2015

Some of Brookfield Elementary School's youngest students hope to convert their urban courtyard into a farm this spring, part of a program called Two Hens and a Kindergarten. They plan to lease two chickens and all required equipment if they can raise the money and incorporate lessons learned from care and feeding into the curriculum.

There’s a new breed of chicken on the South Coast, the type you can rent. Patrick McBride launched Rhent-a-flock late last year for those wanting to try their hand as farmers without a long-term commitment. The season generally runs from April or May through the fall.
 

October 26, 2013

Chickens are soulful animals, Phil Tompkins says. “They walk up to you and talk to you,” he says. “They want to interact with you. They’re like a cat or dog, except they’re a chicken.”

April 25, 2013

The first time my neighbors asked me to take care of their chickens while they went away for the weekend, the temperature dropped into the single digits overnight. The hens didn’t freeze like I feared, but by morning their hanging water dispenser was an airborne ice cube.

My attempt to thaw the thing out and refill it was comical. An hour and a few frostbitten fingers later, I got two eggs out of the ordeal and ate the freshest omelet I’ve ever had.

I love connecting with my food as much as the next urban locavore, and fresh eggs really do taste better, but I might not be cut out for four-season chicken farming. Turns out there’s another option: renting.

That’s right… there’s such a thing as Rent-A-Chicken.

April 23, 2013

“Everyone loves a summer chicken. But come February, when you’re schlepping food and water across the snowy yard, getting your PJs wet, cursing your kids who promised to help, and not getting any eggs for your trouble, the romance of the backyard chicken may start to wane.”

Enter Rent-a-Chicken. Leslie Suitor started the company in Traverse City, Michigan as a way to spare you from cold weather trauma. ”We get hellacious winters up here,” she said. “Who wants to slog through snowdrifts to get to your coop?”

April 22, 2013

MyNorth: How exactly does one get into the business of renting chickens?Leslie Suitor (Mother Hen): Well, for us, it happened like a snowball. We live in the country and already had chickens. When the Traverse City ordinance changed last year (allowing up to four hens per city parcel), friends started asking us a ton of questions about how to raise them. There was a lot of interest, but people were leery too, especially about how to care for baby chicks. We did have some friends take the plunge—and they spent a lot of money to do so—and it got me thinking. What if we made chickens available that weren’t babies? That would eliminate a lot of the costs. And that led to wondering if we should just rent chickens, let people check them out for the summer and see where it goes. Before I knew it, we had a basement full of baby chicks all winter long.