People are renting chickens to cope with high egg prices

The soaring egg prices, exacerbated by the avian flu, are helping boost the chicken rentals business as customers look for a cost-effective alternative which will provide them with a steady supply of the breakfast staple.

With egg supply shrinking, supermarket prices have hit $5–$7 per dozen.

Enter Rent The Chicken, a New Hampshire-based service that allows customers to rent hens for six months at $600, yielding about a dozen eggs per week. The company provides everything, including a chicken coop, bird feed, and phone support for customer inquiries.

One of the owners, Brian Templeton, notes that many customers grow attached to their hens and request the same birds year after year.

With the USDA warning that egg prices could rise another 41% this year, renting or even adopting chickens might become more common.

While renting chickens may not necessarily save money, it offers an educational and sustainable response to the ongoing egg shortage. The devastating bird flu outbreak wiped out 33 million egg-laying hens in 2024.

Meanwhile, as the egg shortage continues, the Justice Department investigates whether major egg producers conspired to raise prices or limit supply. The probe follows concerns that producers may have restricted supply to sustain high prices.

To address the rising costs, the Agriculture Department plans to invest $1 billion, including $500 million for improved biosecurity on egg farms.

The US is also looking at other countries to import eggs. However, according to Bloomberg, America would need 70—100 million eggs within a couple of months, and there are massive hurdles.

Due to their short shelf life and breakable shells, eggs are a shipping nightmare. Rabobank, a Dutch multinational banking and financial services company, told Bloomberg that just 3% of the world’s egg supply enters global trade.