A Pennsylvania couple has come up with a solution to soaring US egg prices: rental chickens.

RentTheChicken.com is the brainchild of Jenn and Phil Tompkins, of Freeport, Pennsylvania, north-east of Pittsburgh. More than just a cost-beater, they see their business as a way to change how people think about food.

“It changes the mindset of people when they know where food comes from,” said Jenn Tompkins, 38. “Pretty soon they’ll have tomato plants and be turning the chicken manure into compost.”

Since starting their home-based business in the summer of 2013, they have rented chickens, either directly or through affiliates, to about 200 customers in 12 US states, as well as Ontario and Prince Edward Island in Canada.

Interest has been spurred by an 85% surge in egg prices in June after an outbreak of bird flu led to millions of laying hens being culled nationally, the Department of Labor’s data shows.

For about $400, depending on location, the service provides two laying hens for the four to six warm months of the year, plus a chicken coop and a guidebook.

The hens typically produce eight to 14 eggs a week, and at the end of the rental period customers can either buy the chickens or return them.

The venture is one of a handful that have sprouted in the past few years, capitalizing on renewed interest in local food production.

Hope Stambaugh, 37, and her husband, Paul, 40, rented four hens this year for $600 which they are raising with their four young children in Export, a Pittsburgh suburb.

“I love the idea of knowing where my food comes from,” Hope Stambaugh said. “How special for my kids to see that food does not necessarily come from the store.”

Municipalities vary widely in their attitude towards urban chicken farming. Philadelphia bans it, Tompkins said, but earlier this month Pittsburgh relaxed its licensing requirements to allow small numbers of chickens, ducks or hornless goats to be raised on minimum-size lots. Beekeeping was also approved.

Stambaugh plans to buy the chickens, named Jessie, Fluffy, Lacey and Princess, and is thinking about moving further into the country to add a few more.