When the COVID-19 pandemic brought the world to a standstill in March 2020, we all shifted focus. Instead of eating in restaurants, we started with sourdough bread and made pasta from scratch. Instead of extracurricular activities after school, we planted gardens and started knitting. Instead of travel and vacation, we have planted roots where we live.
While we spent this time at home, we found that we had more time for pets. According to a May 2021 survey by the American Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (ASPCA), more than 23 million American households — that’s 1 in 5 nationwide — have adopted a pet during the pandemic.
The majority of these adopters chose traditionally cute and cuddly animals like dogs and cats, but some animal lovers flew out of the coop and flocked to feathered friends: namely chickens. Poultry became the new “it” pandemic pet.
Kelly Gray is a writer living in Asheville, NC who has kept chickens as pets for seven years. “I think the pandemic has given rise to more chickens as pets as the news is circulating about their affectionate and playful nature,” Gray said. “Also because of the egg production.”
Gray recalls the way supply chain problems arose almost immediately as shoppers rushed stores for supplies at the start of the pandemic, Gray says: “I think we all realized we needed to be more sustainable and be more aware of our food sources.”
Phil and Jenn Tompkins started their company, Rent The Chicken, in Freeport, Penn., in 2013. The company helps people develop yard-to-table eating habits by providing two to four laying hens, a coop, feed and water dishes. . and food for a five- to six-month lease – so families can enjoy owning chickens and their rewards without years of dedication. At any time, chicken tenants can choose to adopt their flock permanently or return them to the homestead. What started as a small operation now reaches approximately 50 locations in the US and Canada.
“We thought we would have to close our business at the beginning of the pandemic,” Jenn Tompkins told Yahoo Life. “But we couldn’t have been more wrong. Rent The Chicken kept growing even after that [stay-at-home] mandates, as people decide to move from crowded areas to more natural areas with more space.”
For chicken owners, daily fresh eggs are just a bonus
Tompkins says that while the first reason people rent chickens for eggs is often surprised at the birds’ big personalities and how much fun they are to have as pets. Their crazy antics and funny noises make them a joy to have around the house.
Another bonus: chickens are intelligent and trainable. Radio DJ Bonnie Miller, who lives in Fredericksburg, Virginia and has raised chickens for six years, says that if she has peanuts in her hands, she can make her five birds do almost anything. Tompkins says her tenants sometimes set up obstacle courses for their chickens with treats as prizes. The chickens will also come and peck at the door of their house.
Miller says her chickens know her. When she gets home, they immediately run to the back deck to look for her through the door. “My listeners [on the radio] love to hear stories about my chickens in the sky,” she says. “During the holidays, I decorate my coop with Christmas lights. I make them a birthday cake every year. They are my babies and they are spoiled rotten.”
Gray had been involved in animal rehabilitation for a long time before she started raising chickens — including her leading man, Willie Pep, a rooster named after the 1920s boxer — but a friend had to relocate her poultry pets and Gray stepped in.
“The funny thing about pet chickens is how friendly they can be and they will cluck and nest their way into your heart if you let them,” Gray says. “These were my first chickens and before adopting them I had no idea how affectionate and intelligent they are — from excited to see their human friends to the sophisticated language they share with each other.”
Gray says many of her chickens, including her beloved chicken, Betty Grable, look more like pets than livestock. They ride in her car, cuddle with other animals on her farm and are part of her family.
“I had no idea how much chickens love their humans until they started following me everywhere and even when I didn’t have any food they loved to sit with me,” she says. “Then I bought [a] garden chair and I would sit in the loft with them for hours, reading, taking my work or a glass of wine to enjoy, just interacting with them.”
Do your research before committing
Before devoting herself to her chickens, Miller looked through every book she could find on breeding and caring for them in her local library. “My husband laughed at me, but I wanted to learn everything,” she says. “Chickens are a lifelong commitment.”
Miller also researched online and inquired with the city and county about their laws regarding chicken ownership before purchasing a coop and supplies.
“Every municipality has different ordinances and regulations,” Tompkins says. “It can be very tricky.”
Sometimes hens are allowed, but not roosters – in Miller’s case this was true. “Restrictions can also be based on the size of the property, the distance from the coop to the property line, or square footage of the coop based on the number of chickens,” she explains, “and some ordinances include a nuisance code by default based on sound or smell on the property line.”
Tompkins recommends anyone thinking about chickens call the local council and ask for information about the chicken ordinance code.
Gray agrees, saying that chickens need just as much care as a dog or other farm animal. “You have to be ready to be chicken parents,” she says. “Cleaning the coop is quite a process, and fresh bedding and a never-ending fresh supply of water are critical to avoiding disease and expensive treatments,” she says.
It’s also important that chickens have room to forage, but stray chickens are susceptible to far more dangers than caged chickens. “Predators take advantage of the fact that the chickens have no protection,” says Tompkins. “Everything wants chicken for dinner, when all we want is breakfast from our backyard flock.”
When customers receive a chicken ownership pack from Rent The Chicken, they get a portable chicken coop. Tompkins recommends moving it regularly to keep the chickens in a fresh supply of grass and insects for foraging. “Moving the coop also means there is no dead spot or accumulation of feces, minimizing odor,” she adds.
Gray says chicken parents should be most prepared to love them. “Chickens are so much fun,” she says. “I love watching them live their best lives.”
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