Published: March 10, 2009 7:00 PM Richard Rolke - Vernon Morning Star
A Vernon woman is hoping backyard chickens will officially take roost. Sam Zaharia petitioned city council Monday to amend the sanitation bylaw so she and other residents can raise hens in their properties as a source of food. “It’s a small change but it makes a difference,” she said of her family trying to become self-sufficient. Zaharia has been raising chickens at her 27th Avenue home for three years. “There have been no complaints about sanitation which is the basis of the bylaw which prohibits chickens,” she said, adding that the manure is dealt with through a composting process and there is no odour. However, the city became aware of her operation after a resident lodged a complaint about noise. “Our roosters were crowing at 4 a.m. We understand so we’re making arrangements for them to go. But the hens are harmless,” said Zaharia. Some animal welfare organizations have expressed concern that backyard chickens may be abandoned once people tire of them, but Zaharia says there is growing interest in raising eggs locally. “People want chickens,” she said, pointing out that backyard hens are good for the environment because there is a smaller footprint than commercial eggs. “Urban hens are being raised in hundreds of communities across North America.”
Zaharia has done considerable research on communities that do allow backyard hens. Among them is Esquimalt, which permits up to four hens on a single-family residential property. Esquimalt’s bylaw requires:
- a minimum enclosed area of four-square-feet per hen and setbacks of 1.5 metres from any properly line
- a maximum of one structure containing hens
- the ground underneath the structure is kept clean and dry
- hens are not permitted to run at large. No slaughtering of hens occurs on the property
- structures must not be located in the front yard setback unless screened by vegetation
Besides reducing food costs for her family, Zaharia insists she’s also able to give back to the community with the eggs. “If our neighbours are having difficulties, we’re able to help them.”
Council will consider Zaharia’s request for a bylaw amendment, and some politicians are willing to look at changes. “As long as we craft the bylaw well, we can allow hens without having an impact on neighbours,” said Coun. Buffy Baumbrough, who has advocated for sustainable food sources for the community. “By having eggs, you have a source of protein.” Coun. Shawn Lee was impressed with Zaharia’s presentation. “I can see where some neighbours may be upset but it wouldn’t bother me,” he said.
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Editorial Morning Star Published: March 10, 2009 7:00 PM Backyard chickens worthy of review
Sam Zaharia’s proposal to legalize hens in Vernon’s residential backyards seems like an unusual request, but historically there’s some relevance to it. For decades, chickens were a common sight in many yards throughout the Okanagan. They were an easy source of protein and a way for families to keep their grocery bill down. But as the valley grew, more urban concepts came into play and backyard livestock largely disappeared. However, there appears to be a resurgence in the concept not only in Vernon, but across North America. The latest example is in Vancouver where council decided to study allowing residential chickens and to draft a bylaw. And it makes sense for Vernon to look at the issue further as more people show interest in where their food comes from and are concerned that the general process of mass producing food in a few locations and trucking it across country to a store has a large carbon footprint. It should also be pointed out that one of the focal points of Vernon’s OCP is agriculture and food sustainability.
Obviously, though, there have to be some rules in place so problems related to chickens don’t get out of hand. But Vernon could learn from other communities that have gone through the process. For instance, Esquimalt has a limit on the number of hens, bans crowing roosters, prohibits slaughtering and establishes guidelines for sanitation. Raising chickens for eggs won’t be an attractive proposition for many residents, but for those that want to go that route, they should be allowed to take flight.
15 comments:
Council might as well spend their time talking about chickens-they certainly know nothing about the economy or what might help our community.
City chickens help to combat the effects of a struggling economy, which in turn helps the community.
Every little bit helps.
What about the slaughter of chickens? I for one, do not wish to see or hear chickens being done in!
Great idea. Now how many more bylaw enforcement officers are you going to need to deal with all of the noise complaints. If you wanna grow chickens buy some land out in the rural areas and fly at it.
Maybe Council will approve a community coop to go along with community gardens. Set it up in front of City Hall, like Vancouver. At least the chickens'll wake up the bureaucrats in the morning.
These hens are being raised for eggs only; the bylaw would almost certainly prohibit slaughtering and roosters. Hens make very little noise, with the exception of some excited clucking when they lay an egg, once daily. Of course they would be noisy if being attacked, but so would a cat or most other pets. Moving to a rural area doesn't necessarily come with permission to raise chickens. Residents of Lavington are also denied what is really a universal human right to use their land to feed themselves.
Eggs are among the least expensive forms of protein to buy. Unless of courseyou were eating several a day, which, in any case is not a healthy choice.
Will the SPCA be asked to attend poultry cruelty cases?
Organic free range eggs cost $3-5 per dozen, yielding about 72 g. of protein. The cost per pound of protein, at the low end, is $18. A pound of organic lean ground beef yeilds 80 g. of protein and sells for $2. The cost per pound of actual protein then is, at most, $12. Healthful eggs are easily as expensive as other protein sources.
The hens in a factory egg barn live in cages less than 0.5 sq. ft. in size. Free run egg layers get about 1 sq. ft., and SPCA certified get 2 sq. ft., still barely enough room to turn around or spread their wings. They never see the light of day and are able to express little if any natural behavior.
Many people who chose to raise backyard poultry do so because it ensures them a source of cruelty free food.
check out the comments on the tyee on-line re this issue. It is more complex than one would think. Think back to the avian flu epidemic...how would you quarantine households?
For many cultures keeping chickens is not some warm and fuzzy back to the land project, it is not always pleasant.
the cost of the hen enclosure is a factor to be considered. It will take a while to recover those costs.
The chicken run will need to be completely enclosed, racoons will soon discover them and are clever. I heard of someone wanting to dispatch owls and hawks who preyed on their backyard chickens.
The best intentions often present unforseen consequences.
Factory farmed birds are started in sterile environments, crammed full of vaccines and antibiotics, and then left to wallow in each others waste, beak to beak in huge barns with poor ventilation. The UN's Food and Agriculture Organization has identified these conditions as the perfect breeding ground for disease.
Our backyard flock is raised in a deep-litter system, which is a live, slow burning compost that produces microbes which in turn produce Vitamins B12 and K, natural antibiotics and immune-enhancing substances.
Backyard chickens have naturally stronger immune systems than factory farmed birds. Intensive factory farming practices remove the natural obstacles to transmission that prevent the virus from becoming dangerous.
The USDA's leading bird flu researcher confirms that there has never been a recorded emergence of an HPAI virus in any backyard flock or free-range poultry operation.
A good chicken tractor can be built for $50-75. It's a simple and moveable structure that provides ample protection by day with one end fully enclosed for nesting and safe roosting at night. Homegrown eggs cost about $2 per dozen on all natural feed, compared to $3 to $5 retail. Four hens will produce sixty dozen eggs in a year, realizing a savings of $60 over retail so the tractor pays for itself in the first year.
Ms Z really should read the tyee comments.
There are many other options rather than factory farmed eggs that can be purchased at a couple of dozen regional outlets, from Safeway, Quality Greens, Simply Natural, Nature's Fare, the German Bakery on Kal Lk rd etc.
You also need to factor in the cost of an electric water-warmer or other device since the drinking water will freeze for several months of the year.
concerns raised in the "comments" of the following Tyee article ought to be considered:
http://thetyee.ca/Blogs/TheHook/Municipal-Politics/2009/03/06/Backyard/
Regarding the Tyee article and avian flu, backyard flocks simply don't offer the same opportunity for disease. Please see this article:
http://www.hsus.org/farm/news/ournews/avian_flu_free_range.html
The only verified cage free eggs in Canada are certified organic or SPCA certified. Both cost about $5 per dozen, compared to $2 for home raised, putting healthful food out of reach for many consumers. All other alternatives to factory farmed are, in fact, not much better in terms of how the birds are treated. Please read this article:
http://www.humanefood.ca/docs/cage-free-eggs-new-logo-v4.pdf
Regarding drinking water, between the heat generated by the deep litter method, solar gain from south facing windows and the body heat of the birds we rarely have a problem with waterers freezing. During recent very cold weather we've managed by filling the waterers with very warm tap water in the mornings. Most of these issues that might be cumbersome in a large operation are very easily managed in a small backyard flock.
Looking more closely at the Tyee report and the problems in Jakarta, it becomes evident that what is proposed here is not even remotely the same as the situation in Indonesia. Just one vendor in a traditional market in Jakarta might butcher and sell 4000 to 5000 animals in a single day from a 250 square meter pen. There are over 1.3 million poultry kept in and around the residential areas. Even if every private dwelling in Vernon (16,515 in 2006) kept 10 hens each we're still only talking about 165,000 birds and it's pretty safe to assume that a majority of households will not keep poultry. Certainly, these birds will not be hauled off to the farmers markets and butchered there. It would be a more fair debate if we could compare apples to apples, please.
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