Out: Overpaying for eggs. In: Rental chickens
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One way to deal with an egg shortage: Hatch your own.
Why it matters: With egg prices skyrocketing and shortages in grocery stores, DMV folks looking for a reliable source — but not a huge commitment — can rent backyard chickens.
Zoom in: Rent The Chicken offers delivery and setup up of a coop on wheels, two or four young egg-laying hens, chicken feed, and food dishes for a five-to-six month rental period in D.C. and its suburbs.
- The one-time cost to have two hens from spring through fall starts at $495, which will yield around 8-14 eggs per week.
Between the lines: DMV farmers markets, including some year-round FreshFarm markets like in Dupont Circle, have also been reliable egg sources — and even cheaper than grocery stores.
- We recently spotted $13/dozen eggs at Giant in Potomac Yard — cluckin' expensive!
Zoom out: 11 million U.S. households have backyard chickens, and 8 million consider their chickens pets, making them one of the most popular animal companions in the country, according to the American Pets Products Association.
Yes, but: Before you take Cluck Schumer on a neighborhood trot, pay attention to local laws. In Arlington, for example, chickens can't roam and must be at least 100 feet from the property line.
The intrigue: The animal rental market has grown — you can even hire goats for vegetation control in Virginia and Maryland, and D.C. has its rat-abating "blue collar cats" — but that wasn't always the case.
- Years ago, Mayor Muriel Bowser attempted to ban backyard chickens by closing a "coophole" in city laws, but that was pecked apart by the D.C. Council.