SEPTEMBER 2018 • COUNTRY LIFE IN BC


37


Coop rentals connect urbanites with farming These fresh eggs don’t come cheap but city dwellers enjoy caring for hens


by MYRNA STARK LEADER CHERRY CREEK – In two


years, Marie and Ron McGivern have doubled the number of portable chicken coops they lease to BC residents for laying hens. “We’re full-time farmers on


a hobby farm,” explains Marie of their 6.1-acre farm 20 minutes outside Kamloops at Cherry Creek. Neither were farmers, but the couple wanted their seven children to live outside the city. When the opportunity arose eight years ago to literally swap their urban duplex for a piece of hillside property with a creek below and well water, they jumped. Ron is a senior lecturer in sociology at Thompson Rivers University and Marie was an administrator at the university until this past February. At first, the farm was a


place for Marie’s horses. “Then,” says Ron, “she wanted to adopt a few sheep, then a couple of hens and then I started thinking about this – that if we’re going down this path, then we’re going to take it seriously and run it like a business.” Today, the farm generates enough revenue to sustain itself, primarily from poultry and Dorper sheep, a breed chosen because it doesn’t require shearing. Their animals, each named by Marie, have been gathered through purchases, donations and breeding. They also have a few cows that came to be here through their children’s 4-H projects.


Ron clearly separates the


Ron and Marie McGivern are filling a niche market for city dwellers who would like to have chickens and fresh eggs, but not necessarily all the responsibilities that come along with ownership. MYRNA STARK LEADER PHOTOS


pets and market animals on the profit and loss statements. “I like to think that my job off the farm is to sustain the lifestyle side of it – living here and the horses,” he explains. What’s brought added income is a business Ron discovered online called Rent the Chicken. They are now one of 14 Canadian affiliates of the parent organization, based in Pennsylvania. It


provides support, training, marketing tools and the website, and helps with customer service, such as closing rental orders. “I thought he had lost his mind. Who is going to pay us


to rent chickens?” says Marie. “He wanted me to tell my friends and I was embarrassed.” She came around when she


realized the viability. A certified marketing research


professional with the Marketing Research and Intelligence Association, Ron pegged their potential customers.


See COOPS on next page o


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