Krsiten Mann is seeking a change to the city's responsible animal ownership bylaw to allow citizens to raise chickens in their backyard. Mann is pictured delivering a presentation on the benefits during a public meeting Monday.--NEWS PHOTO BRENDAN MILLER
bmiller@medicinehatnews.com
Advocates seeking to raise hens in their backyards are not asking the city for a long drawn-out process that could potentially include lengthy pilot projects and studies, they just want council to change the wording of an existing animal bylaw to include chickens.
During open council Monday, Krsiten Mann delivered a presentation to councillors citing benefits that include self-sufficiency, composting, landfill reduction and fertilization, as well as animal companionship, similar to having a pet cat or dog.
“They are a choice that people should be able to make on their own property,” Mann told reporters. “Nobody tells me whether I can have a cat or dog.”
Alongside several smaller municipalities that allow backyard hens, larger cities such as Calgary, Edmonton, Red Deer, Airdrie, Grande Prairie and St. Albert also allow citizens to raise a limited number of chickens in their backyards.
The issue has come before council on municipal occasions over the past decade, and Mann says several municipalities across Canada have already taken the steps to conduct studies and collect data on raising hens in urban backyards.
“I think we are putting too much thought into it, chickens are just like having cats,” Mann told council. “You need a safe place for them to live, you need to clean up for them, you need to keep them safe and you need to help them, but they’re just like any other pet.”
Advocates like Mann are asking councillors to make amendments to the city’s current animal ownership bylaw to include hens.
“As people become less and less secure in their budget, obviously food production has been at the forefront of many people’s minds, and having a chicken in your backyard is a good way to ensure protein, as well as the composting benefits,” explains Mann. “I think that between food production, their ability for waste disposal and then the educational opportunities, I think those are all really good reasons why we should be working towards allowing urban hens.”
It is notable, advocates are not asking council to add roosters to the bylaw due the noise disturbances they cause.
Mayor Linnsie Clark said raising backyard chickens aligns with libertarian principles.
“That’s another reason to support urban gardening and farming and food production on a small scale that is consistent with living in the city,” she said.
Several council members showed support for the idea of making changes to the bylaw without spending more time and resources on “best practices.”
“We don’t need a master’s program kind of study to figure out whether or not we can allow chickens,” said Coun. Andy McGrogan. “I will just say again, my son has chickens or hens in Calgary, and there’s just absolutely no problem, so I support it.”
Coun. Alison Van Dyke echoed McGrogan’s statement.
“I agree that a pilot project is completely unnecessary, and just changing language within existing bylaws and potentially having to possibly create another bylaw, I think that would be suitable.”
However, not all councillors felt chickens should live within city limits.
“I just cannot get behind having chickens, hens, roosters, any kind of livestock in that realm, in the city limits,” said Coun. Cassi Hinder, who says she would not appreciate her neighbours raising chickens next door.
“There is a smell, there is a sound. I have (always felt) if you want to have this type of thing in your life, then you should probably not live within city limits.”
Due to the likelihood of the wording, staffers say they would have to introduce a new bylaw to allow residents to raise hens.
A motion was passed to direct city staff to present council with a new draft bylaw on backyard hens by the end of the year, a bylaw that will be voted on by the next council.
