NORTH BRANFORD, Conn. (WTNH) — The rising cost of eggs is forcing some Connecticut residents to come up with creative solutions to save money, with some people going so far as to rent a chicken.

According to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the national average of a dozen large eggs was $1.93 in January of last year. By Dec. 2022, that carton cost more than $4 dollars.

Ida and Joe Defrancesco said they have an egg-cellent solution to cutting costs at the store and saving you a couple of bucks. They started renting out chickens in 2019 and are seeing a 20% increase this year.

“It’s still early in the season, so I expect that we will sell out sometime [in] early April,” Ida Defrancesco said.

They expect to rent 75-to-100 coops, which range in price based on a family’s needs.

The Defrancescos said they bring their customers everything they will need to care for the chicken from the coop, to the water dish, food and treats until the chickens are picked up in the fall.

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“One happy chicken will give you about one egg a day, and so you think about what you guys eat around the house over a week. Do you need one dozen? Do you need two dozen? Then we set you up how you’re going to be able to use it,” Ida Defrancesco said.

The Defrancescos said one of the benefits of renting is that you know what’s in your eggs. The eggs go straight from your own backyard to your table.

“You literally can’t get any fresher when you go out to the coop and pick up the egg yourself,” Ida Defrancesco said.

Some renters decide not to chicken out and adopt their hens permanently.

“After a couple of months, people are not even interested in the eggs anymore, they are actually more interested in a pet,” Joe Defrancesco said.

Before renting a chicken, check with your local municipality to see whether it’s legal to have poultry on your property.