Homestead Jenn checking in... Where are we now?

Hello!   Homestead Jenn, Co-Founder of Rent The Chicken, checking back in! I can't believe it's almost the end of April already! Where has time gone?!   Again, thank you to all who already made your reservation for 2026! Some of you have already participated in Hatch The Chicken for 2026. So amazing! For Hatch The Chicken rentals, we'll be in touch about a week before your delivery with more information. For Rent The Chicken rentals, we deliver in either April, May, or June depending on where you are located. Stay tuned for more details!

Some of you may recall that I was under the weather on and off in December and January. It hit me again early this month! I'm back to being healthy but being sick caused me to miss over two weeks of half marathon training. I'll report back on the race when I check in next time! Spoiler... it involves wearing a potato costume! haha

 

We had Spring-like weather last week only to dip into freezing temps again the last few days. We are hopeful that Spring has officially sprung! Homestead Phil (my husband and Co-Founder of Rent The Chicken) and I went for a nice motorcycle ride together last week. The weather was PERFECT!

 

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At any rate, I have more big news!

 

I have more locations to feature and announce as we continue to egg-spand:

 

Rent The Chicken backyard egg-laying hen rentals AND Hatch The Chicken 5-week hatching rentals are available in Tampa / St Petersburg, Florida and Rent The Chicken is available in Columbia, South Carolina!

 

Homestead Valynda is now offering Rent The Chicken and Hatch The Chicken rentals in Tampa / St Petersburg, Florida. Her photo is below with her lovely hen! Homestead Gary and his family (pictured below) are providing Rent The Chicken to the Columbia, South Carolina area.

 

Here are some links for both Hatch The Chicken and Rent The Chicken:

 

Tampa / St Petersburg, FL - Rent The Chicken

Tampa / St Petersburg, FL - Hatch The Chicken

Columbia, SC - Rent The Chicken

 

For all other areas:

To see a list of all of our Rent The Chicken locations - click here.

For all of our Hatch The Chicken locations - click here.

 

To reserve:

To place a Rent The Chicken reservation online in the USA - click here.

To place a Hatch The Chicken reservation online in the USA - click here.

To place a Rent The Chicken reservation online in Canada - click here.

To place a Hatch The Chicken reservation online in Canada - click here.

**For Hatch The Chicken, before reserving it is best to find out what dates are available in your region. Feel free to respond to this email and we'll be happy to send the available dates over to you!

 

Enjoy the sunshine!

Homestead Jenn

Rent The Chicken - Co-Founder 

Homestead Phil - Checking in! Is it garden season yet?

 Hello!

 

Thank you to all who already made your reservation for 2026! For Hatch The Chicken rentals, we'll be in touch about a week before your delivery with more information. For Rent The Chicken rentals, we deliver in either April, May, or June depending on where you are located. Stay tuned for more details!

 

Homestead Phil checking in! I'm the Co-Founder of Rent The Chicken alongside my wife, Homestead Jenn. She asked for me to say hello from her and that she's keeping busy and clucking along! :)

 

I thought I might jump in here and say "HELLO". I am so ready for summer to be here. In Western PA we have had 70-degree days followed shortly after with snow falling. Do I plant my onions, or do I wait another week?

 

I was excited to pull my motorcycle out the other week and take a ride 'around the block', which really means through the township. It felt good to get out and to be in the sun, even if there were still some remnants of snow along the side of the road.  

 

I hope all of you are as excited about the warm weather as I am! I am almost jealous of this last week's weather forecast that I saw from Arizona. If you are there, don't worry, it's a dry heat :-)

 

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At any rate, Homestead Jenn asked me to share more big news!

 

I have more locations to feature and announce as we continue to egg-spand:

 

Rent The Chicken backyard egg-laying hen rentals AND Hatch The Chicken 5-week hatching rentals are available in Raleigh / Durham, NC and Los Angeles, CA in 2026! AND Hatch The Chicken is now available in South Central Kentucky!

 

We previously had Affiliate Partners in both Raleigh / Durham and in Los Angeles. Rentals in these areas are baaaaaaaack! Homestead Michelle & her family are providing Rent The Chicken & Hatch The Chicken to Raleigh / Durham, NC. Homestead Maria & her brother Homestead Juan are providing Rent The Chicken & Hatch The Chicken to Los Angeles, CA! Homestead Jeff & Andrea are providing Hatch The Chicken to South Central Kentucky It's all egg-citing!

 

Here are some links for both Hatch The Chicken and Rent The Chicken:

 

Raleigh / Durham, NC - Rent The Chicken

Raleigh / Durham, NC - Hatch The Chicken

Los Angeles, CA - Rent The Chicken

Los Angeles, CA - Hatch The Chicken

South Central Kentucky - Hatch The Chicken

 

For all other areas:

To see a list of all of our Rent The Chicken locations - click here.

For all of our Hatch The Chicken locations - click here.

 

To reserve:

To place a Rent The Chicken reservation online in the USA - click here.

To place a Hatch The Chicken reservation online in the USA - click here.

To place a Rent The Chicken reservation online in Canada - click here.

To place a Hatch The Chicken reservation online in Canada - click here.

**For Hatch The Chicken, before reserving it is best to find out what dates are available in your region. Feel free to respond to this email and we'll be happy to send the available dates over to you!

 

Sending some chicken love to you!

Homestead Phil

Rent The Chicken - Co-Founder 

Feels like Springtime... but it isn't!

 Hello!

 

Homestead Jenn checking in!

 

Again, thank you to all who already made your reservation for 2026! For Hatch The Chicken rentals, we'll be in touch about a week before your delivery with more information. For Rent The Chicken rentals, we deliver in either April, May, or June depending on where you are located. Stay tuned for more details!

 

Wow... I know people can't stop talking about the snow (and apparently the Half-time Show but that's not what I'm going to chat about that!)! Here in Western Pennsylvania, we had about 18" of snow fall in about a 36 hour period on January 25-26! There's still a lot of snow outside but today's high is 51F (10C) so we are hopeful for a lot to melt today. We are thinking about Spring, baby chicks, chickens, and fresh eggs over here!

 

Yesterday, after all of the frigid temps recently, it was like a heat wave at 32F (0C) and the roads were clear enough for Homestead Phil (my husband and Co-Founder of Rent The Chicken) and I to bundled up and took a 26 minute brisk walk. It was glorious! See below for a photo.

 

In my last message, I mentioned that I had been sick. I felt better and went on a cruise to the Bahamas with my mom, my cousin, her daughter, and 6 of my mom's friends. See below for a beautiful photo I took from the ship. It was warm and lovely! My mom even zip-lined for the first time with some of her friends. I stayed on the ground where I was comfortable! haha Then... I got sick AGAIN when I got home. I'm feeling better now and hoping to not relapse ... again.

 

At any rate, I have more big news! Last time I wrote using this format, I announced that we now have Rent The Chicken rentals available again in New Jersey. Hooray!

 

I have three more locations to feature and announce as we continue to egg-spand:

 

Rent The Chicken backyard egg-laying hen rentals are available in all of Salt Lake City, Utah, Dallas / Fort Worth, and Kamloops and Okanagan, British Columbia in 2026!

 

For Rent The Chicken rentals, we've had Affiliate Partners in Dallas / Fort Worth previously as well as in the Interior of British Columbia. Rentals in these areas are baaaaaaaack! Here are some links for both Hatch The Chicken and Rent The Chicken:

 

Salt Lake City & Utah Valley - Rent The Chicken

Salt Lake City & Utah Valley - Hatch The Chicken

Dallas, Texas - Rent The Chicken

Dallas, Texas - Hatch The Chicken

Fort Worth, Texas - Rent The Chicken

Fort Worth, Texas - Hatch The Chicken

Kamloops & Salmon Arm, BC - Rent The Chicken

Kamloops, BC - Hatch The Chicken

Kelowna & Vernon, BC - Rent The Chicken

Kelowna, Salmon Arm, & Vernon - Hatch The Chicken

 

Homestead John & Rachel are providing Rent The Chicken & Hatch The Chicken to Dallas and Fort Worth. Homestead Mollie has been with us for about a year offering Hatch The Chicken to the interior of British Columbia but decided to offer Rent The Chicken as well! Homestead Devin join us last summer to offer Rent The Chicken & Hatch The Chicken to her local area in Utah. It's all egg-citing!

 

To see a list of all of our Rent The Chicken locations - click here.

For all of our Hatch The Chicken locations - click here.

To place a Rent The Chicken reservation online in the USA - click here.

To place a Hatch The Chicken reservation online in the USA - click here.

To place a Rent The Chicken reservation online in Canada - click here.

To place a Hatch The Chicken reservation online in Canada - click here.

**For Hatch The Chicken, before reserving it is best to find out what dates are available in your region. Feel free to respond to this email and I'll be happy to send the available dates over to you!

 

Wow.. I had more to say than I thought! Some of you who know me aren't surprised though! haha Until next time...

 

Stay warm and chat soon!

-Homestead Jenn

Rent The Chicken - Co-Founder 

Is this thing on?

 

Hello!   Homestead Jenn checking in! This post was from mid-January but I forgot to hit "publish" since it has been so long since I used this as a creative outlet! We are clucking along here in the New Year! Thank you to all who already made your reservation for 2026! Wow! We are making a lot of chicken dreams come true this year! For Hatch The Chicken rentals, we'll be in touch about a week before your delivery with more information. For Rent The Chicken rentals, we deliver in either April, May, or June depending on where you are located. Stay tuned for more details.   It has been a snowy and cold winter here in Western Pennsylvania. The snow has melted but we will see more soon... no doubt! Hens lay eggs based on daylight hours. With increased daylight hours, their egg production is slowly picking back up! For those who don't know, I'm quite the fitness junky. I've been sick on and off since Thanksgiving with respiratory issues so my fitness schedule came to a screeching halt! I went for one single run in December which was on Christmas Day. Homestead Phil, my husband and Co-Founder of Rent The Chicken, joined me as the weather was gorgeous! Pic or it didn't happen photo included below. (Well... for winter in Western Pennsylvania!) I'm feeling better and went for 3 walks in the past week so I'm well on my way to start running again. Hooray! At any rate, I have BIG news!   Rent The Chicken backyard egg-laying hen rentals are available in all of New Jersey for 2026!   Homestead Mike & Judy (pictured below with their kiddos, some of their chickens, and kitty) live in South Jersey and are egg-cited to offer Rent The Chicken in New Jersey! Here are links to the Rental Packages: Central / Southern New Jersey Northern New Jersey   To reserve online for a New Jersey (or anywhere in the USA) Rent The Chicken rental of backyard laying hens, click here. If you're in Canada near one of our locations, click here to reserve.   We also have Hatch The Chicken rentals available in New Jersey. Click here for more information. To reserve online for a New Jersey (or anywhere in the USA) Hatch The Chicken program to experience baby chicks hatching, click here. If you're in Canada near one of our locations, click here to reserve our Hatch The Chicken program. Stay warm and chat soon! -Homestead Jenn Rent The Chicken - Co-Founder

New leaf? Old leaf? Leave it? Enjoy the leaves?

Oh friends... old and new!

It's been on my heart to put some of my words into my blog again. My last stint of blogging only lasted a month (and I typically would only blog once a week!). I did make the statement that I was not claiming to turn over a new leaf because I didn't know how long I would make it a priority for. So many instead of turning over a new leaf, I'm just going to dig up an old leaf in this blog? I enjoy connecting with others in this way to move to just leave it and I think I'd just like to enjoy the leaves I have here on the blog when I take the time to be engulfed in the process. Wow that was a lot of words without saying much of anything! :)

I think if there's a time in my life that I can make an effort to dedicate back to blogging, now is the time. I go through phases in life where I'm a big hot mess and other phases where I really feel like I'm adulting well and keeping my priorities in order. I'm definitely in a current phase where I feel pretty confident that I'm actively making wise choices, helping others, being healthy-ish, fairly active, a decent wife, and spiritually connected with God. Maybe best ever actually. But you know... when you say bold statements like that, the world comes crashing down around you! So maybe I take back that "best ever". haha

In all seriousness, Rent The Chicken has been growing with more and more amazing Affiliate Partners. We are always actively looking to grow as well. If there's not an Affiliate Partner in your area and you're looking to expand your hobby farm / homestead / farm to have a (or an additional) revenue stream, let's chat! Click here for more details regarding our Affiliate Program.

At our local level, more than a year ago, we brought on Homestead Miranda to help with the phones, emails, supporting various Affiliates, etc. She's AMAZING! Depending on the day you make a call to us, you may chat with Homestead Miranda! Before Homestead Miranda, we hired Homestead Isabella here in Western Pennsylvania to tackle cleaning all of our Hatch The Chicken supplies. Oh my! Homestead Phil was THRILLED to be released from Hatch The Chicken cage and supply cleaning! In the Spring, Homestead McKenna came on board to deliver and pick up Hatch The Chicken rentals. This was part of Homestead Phil's duties as well so he gained another number of hours per week with Homestead McKenna's help. Six or weeks ago, Homestead McKenna added Rent The Chicken Phone Extraordinaire to her Hatch The Chicken Transporter Liaison role. So now when you give us a call or receive a call from us, you might chat with me, Homestead Phil, Homestead Miranda, or Homestead McKenna! With all of the support here at The Homestead, I really feel like I can better support each of our Affiliate Partners, continue to work on tweaking the behind the scenes efforts of Rent The Chicken and Hatch The Chicken, and work on being purposeful with my health, fitness level, relationships, and my faith.

Almost two years ago on this very blog, I outted myself in regards to Intermittent Fasting. I've continued the adventure and I cannot even believe #1 that I've stuck with it and #2 I've continued to slim down and not gain back the weight. WOW! If you've read some blog posts from yesteryear, you may realize that we are "go big or go home" people. Well... I've rephrased it to "go big or stay home"! I blogged previously also about dabbling in some running. I'm back in full force! I laced up my running shoes in August of 2020 when I met a substantial weight loss goal, and I have been running 3-4 days a week since. I still use Jeff Galloway's Run / Walk / Run Philosophy. I LOVE it so much! Of course I sport the Rent The Chicken logo whenever I can!

Because I'm so focused on my next interval cue, and my next step, and breathing, there's ZERO space in my brain for anything else! I perused my older blogs about running and I was injured and still posted my pace times. I'm on average 4 minutes faster per mile now than I was in 2018. WOW! (I mean and nearly 60 pounds less!) I've been participating in some foot races even! I am not out to break records or "win" but I am out there to prove to myself that I can do it and that I can do my best to do better than my last event. In the Spring when I started to accumulate finisher medals, Homestead Phil gifted me with this lovely medal holder. These are all from the last 12 months! Needless to say, I've been wearing out my running shoes and grinning while taking it all in!

I'm in the thick of holiday cookie baking and planning for our Annual Holiday Dinner as well as our Rent The Chicken Owners Conference. Busy and more busy! I'll keep you posted and I promise it won't be so long before my next entry! I mean... I have another half marathon in just over a week and I know you'll be on pins and needles (whatever that means) for my race report! :)

Welcome to 2021!

Hi all!

What a whirlwind of 2021 so far, right?! Every January, Homestead Phil and I host a Rent The Chicken Owners Conference for each of our Affiliate farm partners to be able to focus on growing their business, chat with other Affiliates, and enjoy a weekend away. We've hosted it in Myrtle Beach, Western Pennsylvania, and last year was our favorite - a luxury vacation home near Orlando, Florida! This year, with Covid, and Canada / USA borders closed, we had to make some changes like most other conferences and move to a virtual option. We started our weekend with special guests like Lisa Steele of Fresh Eggs Daily, the publisher of the Fresh Eggs Daily book - Paul Kelly of St Lynns Press, the Head Hen of Cutest Coops - Kathy, and Brad from Coop Dreams. Signe Langford who wrote Happy Hens & Fresh Eggs which is a book we provide in Canada made a video for us to share as she was unable to attend virtually. Oh my goodness, we did this fun activity to recreate the "American Gothic" image. We for sure had some good ones. Take a look:

We dove into "why" we each provide Rent The Chicken and Hatch The Chicken. It was moving as each of us have a different perspective on why we are in this crazy business. Stay tuned as I'm sure we'll be sharing some of the videos on our Facebook page as time continues. We covered parts of a book called Eat That Frog and ways to help reach each of you so you know what we have to offer through Rent The Chicken and Hatch The Chicken! Our friend and business coach, Wendy, joined us for a session as well! Check out the Group Photo!

Looking forward to hugging necks and seeing our attendees in person in 2022!