Americans are living in a not-so-egg-cellent time right now. Prices for the refrigerator staple have skyrocketed and show no signs of coming down, leaving families, bakeries, breakfast spots, and other consumers feeling the pinch. This will probably be the norm until the avian flu scare passes and the country’s totally competent, totally honest, totally not criminal president does something about inflated grocery costs.
The egg crisis might lead some in Pittsburgh to consider keeping city chickens, a practice that, like other so-called urban agricultural pursuits like gardening and goat raising, has gained popularity over the past decade. City of Pittsburgh Zoning Code allows residents who obtain the proper permit to keep up to five chickens within a minimum lot size of 2,000 square feet.
For those wondering if five chickens are enough, no worries — Jenn Tompkins, co-founder of Rent the Chicken, tells Pittsburgh City Paper that two hens can lay one dozen eggs weekly, with some caveats.
“That’s at the peak of summertime laying,” she says. “In the winter, hens slow their laying because it’s not based on weather, it’s based on the amount of daylight.”
Founded in the borough of Freeport in Armstrong County, about 30 minutes northeast of Pittsburgh, Rent the Chicken allows curious folks to experience the fowl life without the stress and obligation of permanent ownership. The business, which now has affiliates throughout the country, provides the coops and egg-laying hens and travels to renters’ homes to set everything up. Rent the Chicken also provides each renter with a book, instruction sheet, and video tutorial about chicken keeping.
“There’s a lot of ways to make it complicated, and we do our best to uncomplicate it,” says Jenn.
Jenn and her husband/co-founder, Phil, started Rent the Chicken in September 2013 after moving to Armstrong County from Baltimore. Jenn, an Indiana, Pa. native who describes herself as coming from “a long line of rednecks,” says that, while she was familiar with rural life, Phil, who grew up in Portland, Ore., had a more romantic view of it.
“When we were talking about moving back home, he’s like, ‘I really want to do some homesteading things,’” she explains, adding that Phil expressed interest in setting up a garden and raising chickens. “And I was like, ‘Who are you, and what are we talking about? You better slow it down, guy.’”
Phil did not slow it down.
“I think he broke all the rules with all of it. He did everything that we tell people not to do,” she says, recalling an incident where Phil bought chicks from Tractor Supply. “One of them was a rooster, and the sign said ‘egg-laying chicks.’ And he said, ‘I’m gonna take that rooster back to Tractor Supply, this is false advertising.’ … I was like, I don’t think that’s how it works. It’s not like Walmart. You can’t just take everything back.”
While Jenn seemed perplexed at Phil’s initial suggestion, the couple and its affiliate members now share the honorific “Homestead” in front of their names.
The idea for Rent the Chicken came when Jenn, who graduated from Indiana University of Pennsylvania with a degree in small business and entrepreneurship, wanted to avoid going back to a cubicle job. She says Phil started searching online for “crazy business ideas” and saw chicken rentals on a list.
“If you search for crazy business ideas now, you’ll see Rent the Chicken. We’re like the Kleenex of chicken rentals,” Jenn laughs.
At first, Jenn and Phil experienced some hurdles trying to sell people on the idea.
“We built the prototype coops, and then we could not get anyone to take a rental for free for research and development,” she explains. “Finally, my mom’s friend in Indiana County said she would do it. And my mom might have paid her, I don’t know, just because she was tired of us asking.”
The Indiana Gazette caught on and published a story about the nascent business, traveling out to the family friend’s home and meeting her two rental chickens, Laverne and Shirley. “And that was the first time we went viral,” Jenn says of the article that ran on the Gazette’s front page on Labor Day 2013.
From there, Rent the Chicken started delivering coops and hens to clients throughout Pennsylvania (Jenn says they rent anywhere from 50 to 70 coops a year in western Pa. alone) and New Jersey. They then launched an affiliate program that created partnerships with farmers and homesteaders across the United States and Canada, who deliver coops and chickens to their local communities.
In terms of cost, standard rentals, which include a single coop, two egg-laying hens, delivery, and set up, as well as feed and other supplies, comes to $495 per season. Renters can also opt for more expensive deluxe packages that offer specialized coops, extra feed, and more.
Jenn says they base their pricing on how much it would cost for an individual to buy their own coop, chickens, and supplies and offer something that’s both comparable and more convenient.
“But I’ll tell you, our renters, when they have pens from us, they don’t have to worry about the price of eggs, and they don’t have to worry about if there’s a shortage, or have to worry about if Trader Joe’s is limiting how many you can purchase at one time,” she says. “And they’re fresh and they’re delicious, and the chickens are fantastic, and [have] personalities.”
Renters can also opt into the newer five-week Hatch the Chicken program, which provides an incubator and other supplies for raising chicks.
Beyond meeting city ordinance requirements, Jenn says renters should make sure they have “green or dirt space” on their property to accommodate the portable coop, and for the chickens to have supervised free range time.
“We ask that [the coop is] moved once a day so there’s always access to fresh scratch and bugs,” she explains. “We want to make sure there’s enough space, and it’s not necessary to work from home and make sure you’re looking at your chickens all day.” Like any other kept animal, Jenn says renters who plan on traveling should make accommodations for someone to check in on and care for the chickens daily.
Renters who fall in love with chicken-keeping can also adopt their hens and coop operation for an additional fee.
Jenn says their clients, who represent a diverse group ranging from “empty nesters” and “retired folks” to young married couples and families, take an interest in chicken-keeping that extends beyond egg prices and food security.
“I have a great story of this one renter who was like, ‘I didn’t know how many children were in my neighborhood until I got chickens. The children just want to stop by and see the chickens,’” she recalls. “It really brings a sense of community. At work, people talk about their kids, they talk about their cats, and now, they’re talking about their chickens. It gives people something to talk about that’s substantial, that’s not necessarily sharing feelings and personal stories. You know, something else to talk about that is positive and fun — and chickens are fun.”
This article appears in Mar 19-25, 2025.
