Why are American companies renting out chickens

Forget clipping coupons or hunting for supermarket deals—Americans are taking a whole new approach to fighting rising egg prices. Instead of relying on grocery stores, many are opting for a more hands-on solution—renting chickens.

Yes, you read that right. A growing number of US citizens are leasing hens to guarantee a daily supply of fresh eggs, as prices have nearly doubled in the last year to reach almost $5 per dozen, with some selling for as high as $7–8.

But why are eggs so expensive in the first place? How does renting a chicken help? Here’s everything you need to know.

How does rent-the-chicken work?

The idea behind Rent The Chicken is surprisingly simple.

The New Hampshire-based company offers customers the chance to lease two or four hens, providing everything they need—feed, instructional guides, video tutorials, and even phone support.

“You just let them out and walk around and they go in at night on their own, they want to roost up,” owner Brian Templeton told CBS News. “Real low maintenance and people really enjoy it.”

For around $600, Templeton says customers can rent two hens for six months, which typically produce about a dozen eggs per week. Those who opt for four hens can expect roughly two dozen eggs weekly.

By comparison, buying eggs from a grocery store can cost up to $300 (Rs 26,148) annually, with some cities seeing prices soar to $8 (Rs 697) or even $10 (Rs 871) per dozen.

The company works with farmers across the US and Canada to bring chickens to people’s yards.

And at the end of the rental period? Customers can choose to buy their chickens or, as Jenn Tompkins, who runs a similar business in Pennsylvania, told USA Today, they can “chicken out” and return them early if backyard farming isn’t the right fit.

‘Very attached to their birds’

With egg shortages making headlines, the demand for Rent The Chicken has soared. The Templetons say their phone lines have been flooded with calls from eager customers looking for an alternative to store-bought eggs.

And those who try it? Most love it.

“The majority of everybody who rents loves it,” Templeton told CBS News. “And a lot of the customers decide they want to have the same birds, they get very attached to their birds. When they come back, we tag them with a colored tag around the ankle, so they can get the same birds back next year.”

But while the service is growing in popularity, it’s not an overnight solution to the egg shortage, says Tompkins.

“So we’re not an instant fix,” she told USA Today. “It’s trending, but we are steadfast. We’ve been active a while and we want to help people. We are not coming against the high price of eggs. We are solving a problem of food insecurity; of not having eggs on the shelf. People can have eggs in their backyard.”

The egg shortage

Egg prices in the United States have skyrocketed in recent months, reaching record highs. Compared to two years ago, prices have surged by a staggering 65.1 per cent, leaving consumers scrambling for affordable options.

According to the US Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index, a dozen Grade A eggs cost an average of $4.15 (Rs 362) in December 2024, up from $2.51 (Rs 219) just a year earlier. But the situation has only worsened, with USDA Agricultural Marketing Service (AMS) data showing wholesale prices soaring past $7 (Rs 611) per dozen in multiple states.

The spike has even forced major diner chains like Waffle House to add a 50-cent surcharge per egg at its 2,100 locations nationwide. Supermarkets such as Aldi, Trader Joe’s, and Harris Teeter have also begun limiting egg purchases as supply struggles to keep up with demand.

And if rising costs weren’t bad enough, the crisis has even sparked crime. Last month, in a bizarre turn of events, thieves in Pennsylvania stole 100,000 eggs from a distribution trailer belonging to Pete and Gerry’s Organics LLC in Greencastle. Valued at around $40,000 (Rs 34 lakh), the missing eggs have led to a police investigation, as reported by USA Today.

Why are egg prices so high in US?

The biggest culprit behind the ongoing egg crisis is Highly Pathogenic Avian Influenza (HPAI), or  bird flu , which first appeared in Canada before spreading to the US in 2022.

Since February 8, 2022, when the virus was first detected in a commercial flock, more than 147 million birds—including 108 million egg-laying chickens—have either died or been culled to prevent further outbreaks.

Experts told PolitiFact that once a bird contracts the virus, entire flocks are culled to stop its spread. While this helps protect nearby farms, the poultry industry, and public health, it also wreaks havoc on egg supply.

After a brief lull, the virus made a comeback in 2024, forcing the culling of roughly 17 million egg-laying hens in November and December alone—nearly half of all birds lost that year, according to the USDA.

“Based on the amount of birds that we have lost in the last few months, and the hen population, there just isn’t enough production to support the amount of demand that we have,” Karyn Rispoli told The Guardian. “We’re at a point now where we’re truly in a shortage.”

The crisis continued into 2025, with another 14 million birds lost in just the last week due to outbreaks in Arizona, California, North Carolina, Ohio, Missouri, Indiana, and Washington.

When will the prices come down?

There’s no clear answer to when egg prices will return to normal, but experts suggest it may not happen until after 2025, according to USA Today.

A key factor in price recovery is how quickly farmers can replenish their flocks of healthy, egg-laying hens. However, with bird flu outbreaks still ongoing, that process remains uncertain.

According to a USDA Food Price Outlook released on January 24, egg prices are expected to remain high throughout 2025. The report predicts an increase of 20.3 per cent in egg prices for the year—far above the 2.2 per cent expected rise in overall food prices.

In the meantime, having your own egg-laying chickens doesn’t seem too bad.

With input from agencies