Refund Policy
 
We want every family, school, library, and senior community we work with to have a great experience with our animals. If something isn't right, we'll do our best to make it right. Here's how that works.
For specific terms and replacement values, your signed Rental Agreement or Event Agreement governs. The summary below is meant to set clear expectations before you book.
 
24-Hour Grace Period
Changed your mind right away? If you cancel within 24 hours of placing your order, we'll give you a refund minus the credit card fees — no questions. After that, the policies below apply by program type.

Rent The Chicken
Once that 24-hour window closes, your deposit is non-refundable, but it isn't lost. We'll typically apply it toward a future rental within the next 12 months, or through the following calendar season. So a deposit from a 2026 booking can be used in 2027 — but not beyond.

Once your hens, coop, and equipment have been delivered, the rental is in motion and we do not offer a refund. If rental life turns out not to be for your household and you'd like us to come pick everything up early, please reach out. We'll work it into our delivery schedule. Depending on your location, there may be additional transportation costs — we will discuss that through with you at the time so there are no surprises.
 
Hatching Programs
We'll be straight with you on these: our hatching programs are not cancellable and not refundable as a rule. The signed Rental Agreement spells that out. Here's what that means in practice:
Once we're within 8 days of your scheduled delivery, your animals and supplies are already lined up specifically for you, and we can't resell that spot. So at that point we cannot offer a refund or a rebooking.

If you need to cancel further out than 8 days, contact us as soon as you know. We may — no promises — be able to rebook your spot with another family. If we can, we'll work something out with you.
If mid-program you decide hatching isn't for your household, give us a call and we'll arrange to pick up early on our schedule. Ideally, we need to wait until after the hatching occurs. As with rentals, there may be extra transportation costs depending on where you are.
 
School, Library, Eldercare & Sponsored Events (Community Connections)
For our visits at schools, libraries, daycares, senior living communities, and sponsored community events, the cancellation schedule below applies. This matches the Customer Event Agreement.
Cancellations must be in writing — email is fine.

• More than 30 days before the event: $250 deposit is forfeited. Any additional payments beyond the deposit are refunded in full.

• 15 to 30 days before the event: Deposit is forfeited. 50% of any additional payments beyond the deposit are refunded.

• Fewer than 15 days before the event: No refund. Customer is responsible for the full event fee.

Weather happens. If conditions on your event date make outdoor activities unsafe or uncomfortable for our animals, your guests, or our staff, we'll work with you to move indoors or reschedule to your rain date or another mutually agreeable date. Details are in the Event Agreement.

If we have to cancel an event on our end — animal welfare, severe weather, or anything beyond our reasonable control — we'll either reschedule with you or refund the full fee, deposit included.

Sick or Injured Animals
If one of your animals isn't doing well, contact us first thing — don't wait. Animal health is our top priority. We'll talk you through what's happening and figure out the right next step. The right answer depends on the situation, so we won't promise the same outcome every time. But we'll be straight with you and we'll work it out together.
 

How Refunds Are Issued
Approved refunds go back to the original payment method whenever possible. Once we've processed it on our end, allow 1–2 billing cycles for it to show up on your statement, depending on your card company. We'll send you an email when the refund is on its way.

A couple of honest notes on how this actually works in practice:

• Time-limited refunds. If too much time has passed since your original payment, your credit card company may not allow us to put the money back on the same card — most card processors close that window after a few months. When that happens, we'll mail you a paper check instead. Just allow a little extra time for the postal mail to find you.

• Credit card processing fees. When you paid by card, our payment processor charged us a fee on that transaction. Those fees typically aren't returned to us when we issue a refund. So in most cases the refund amount will be reduced by what we paid in processing fees on your original charge. We'll always let you know the exact amount before we send it — no surprises.

Late or Missing Refunds
If you don't see your refund yet:

• Check your bank account again.

• Reach out to your credit card company — refunds sometimes take a bit before they post officially.

• Then contact your bank — there's usually some processing time on their end too.

• If you've done all that and it's still missing, please reach out to us and we'll double check on our end.

Returned Payments
A $35 fee applies to any check, credit card, or other transaction that's rejected after processing.

Questions?
We'd rather hear from you than have you stew over something. Call or email anytime.

Rent The Chicken Refund Policy
Last modified: 5/6/2026