Shocked by the outbreak of egg prices and their rationing in American supermarkets, Yong-Mi Kim decided to rent laying hens to ensure its supply.
This resident of the Crescenta, near Los Angeles, opted for this intermediate solution, because she was not yet ready to become completely owner of these animals.
“I really want to try to see if I like it,” she said to AFP by receiving her two gallinaceous and all the equipment to raise them.
“Some people around me have chickens at home, but that requires them a lot of work: they had to develop their entire garden,” said this university professor. “So I think renting a hen is a good start.”
For that she goes through the “Back The Chicken” project, created ten years ago in Pennsylvania. Since then, this service has extended to more than 40 cities across North America, based on partnerships with local farmers.
But the phenomenon really exploded because of the recent avian flu epidemic. Because of it, whole chicken farms have been slaughtered and the price of eggs flew away.
“This year in particular, we are seeing a much higher interest, I would say three to four times more than at the same time last year,” observes Victoria Lee, who serves the Los Angeles region from her Agua Dulce farm, on the outskirts of the Megalopolis.
At the peak of the shortage, the Americans paid more than $ 10 for a dozen eggs, up to three times their usual prices. Supermarkets were also forced to limit the number of boxes authorized for each customer.
The “Eggflation” has thus become an emblematic marker of the increase in the cost of living, which weighed so much during the last presidential campaign.
Donald Trump is committed to fighting food inflation. But since its return to the White House, the average price of eggs has increased slightly, and in March, it remains 60% more expensive compared to the same period last year, according to the US Ministry of Agriculture.
If renting a hen is not really cheaper than buying eggs in store, this at least saves in quality, according to Ms. Lee.
“When they arrive at the supermarket, the eggs have an average of 48 and 60 days,” said the breeder. “The longer the eggs remain on the shelf, whatever their initial quality, the more the proteins they contain deteriorate.”
The service offers various formulas to rent chickens, ranging from $ 500 to $ 1,000 for six months, depending on the number of poultry and the place of residence.
These prices include hens, their food, drinkers and feeders, as well as a guide to raise them. And above all, a chicken coop of remarkable quality, a sort of mini-house with patio, surrounded by a fence and entirely fixed on casters.
“Every day, our tenants raise the chicken coop and move it so that the hens can have access to fresh grass,” explains Ms. Lee. Enough to allow poultry to peck “new insects (…) while being protected by predators”.
Ms. Kim, her client, was particularly seduced by this concept. Just like by the dozen free eggs offered during the delivery of its hens, which had laid the previous week.
With two hens in her garden, she can now expect to harvest up to 14 eggs per week. A quantity that should be very useful for his sports son, who loves it as a source of protein.
But beyond a solution in times of crisis, the professor hopes “more” of this project.
“I really wanted to offer something that allows children to learn a lifestyle and compare the taste of eggs,” she concludes.
