This month on Down the Garden Path podcast, landscape designer Joanne Shaw wraps up "critter month" with the ultimate critter we would all love to have: chickens. Joanne welcomes Homestead Phil, the co-founder of Rent the Chicken.

About Rent the Chicken

Homestead Jenn and Phil are the co-founders of Rent the Chicken. It started as a way to earn supplemental income and is now full-time employment for both stretching across the United States and Canada. They feel blessed to be connected with many hard-working individuals that make Rent the Chicken successful. On their homestead, they raise chickens, meat rabbits, and ducks. Seeing the smiles on their renter's faces is what they look forward to when making deliveries for Rent the Chicken and Hatch The Chicken.

Don't miss Joanne's conversation with Homestead Phil from Rent the Chicken.

Some of the questions and topics covered:

• How did you come up with the idea for Rent the Chicken?
  • Many people thought about having chickens in their garden and the benefits they bring, but what does it take to raise chickens from an egg or a peep?
• Tell us how Rent the Chicken works?
  • How much food do you need each day to feed the chickens?
• How old does the chicken need to be before it starts to lay eggs?
• What are some of the regulations around renting a chicken in the States? What about in Canada?
• Where would you recommend someone go to find out the regulations in their area?
• If there is a problem with the chicken, how easy is it to get a hold of Rent the Chicken for help?
• What happens if a predator or a disease causes the chicken to pass while in a renter's care?
• Phil told us all about the other program offerings like Hatch the Chicken, Coops for Troops and the Give a Chicken program.

You can find Rent the Chicken online here, as well as on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter and YouTube.

Each week on Down The Garden Path, professional landscape designers Joanne Shaw and Matthew Dressing discuss down-to-earth tips and advice for your plants, gardens and landscapes.

As the owner of Down2Earth Landscape Design, Joanne Shaw has been designing beautiful gardens for homeowners east of Toronto for over a decade.

And Matthew Dressing is a horticulturist and landscape designer. He owns Natural Affinity Garden Design, a landscape design and garden maintenance firm servicing Toronto and the Eastern GTA. Together, Joanne and Matthew do their best to bring you interesting, relevant and helpful topics. Their goal is to help you keep your garden as low maintenance as possible.