This Farm Uses Rental Chickens To Egg On Those Curious About Urban Farming

Like the idea of raising backyard chickens but you’re not sure if the responsibility will ruffle your feathers?

Twin Cedar Farm in Acushnet, Massachusetts, will allow you to renting chickens, and if you don’t like it, you can quit cold turkey. It’s seriously duck soup.

“People like to find out where their food is coming from more and more these days. So it kind of gives people an opening,” Ella Magnuson, who owns and operates the farm with her husband, Alexander, told CBS . “The eggs taste fantastic. Nothing like [what] you get in the grocery store.”

According to the farm’s site , a six-month rental for $450 will get you a quality coop, 100 pounds of all-natural feed, two gallons of water, a feeder and two chickens.

"They're very social animals," Ella told South Coast Today . "You can't have just one."

The couple will also deliver everything to your home and offer ongoing support. After the six-month rental, there is a buy out for an extra $200 for those who want their rent-a-hens to become part of their permanent flock.

Some may write off the idea as bird-brained, but that's not the case. NBC reported in 2013 that due to the booming backyard chicken trend, hundreds of unwanted fowls were being dumped at shelters and sanctuaries after people realized how much work it is to care for chickens.

“Many areas with legalized hen-keeping are experiencing more and more of these birds coming in when they’re no longer wanted,” Paul Shapiro, spokesman for the Humane Society of the United States, told NBC. “You get some chicks and they’re very cute, but it’s not as though you can throw them out in the yard and not care for them.”

As for the Magnusons, the idea they’ve laid out seems to be working.

Last year they rented out 20 birds, two of which were to Shannon Smith, who enjoyed the experience so much, she kept her hens, telling CBS: “They [are] part of the family.”