Chicken rentals offer test runs for would-be backyard farmers wanting eggs
SAANICH, B.C. — Kate Fraser holds a big brown hen she calls Dr. Donna in her arms while her two-year-old son Coby tugs on the bird’s leathery feet.
Fraser, 34, says she always wanted to be a farm girl, and this month she helped other would-be farmers with similar dreams of eating yard-to-table fresh eggs by renting out several dozen chickens.
Fraser is one of two Rent The Chicken operators in British Columbia and among eight across Canada.
“Renting is the way to try it out without committing to buying and building your own coop and raising your own chicks, and finding out they are actually roosters instead of hens,” said Fraser. who lives in Saanich, a suburb of Victoria. “It’s a way for you and your family to try out chickens. They are fun to have around.”