Councillor crazy about coops

Don Plant 2009-04-06 Kelowna Courier:

Kelowna city councillors will be clucking today over an urban bylaw that would allow hens in residential back yards. Counc. Michele Rule is proposing a one-year trial period in which people can keep up to four hens on any property zoned for a single family home – as long as it’s more than 18 metres across. The chickens would eat bugs and weeds, provide garden fertilizer and yield organic eggs, she said. “You know what the chickens are eating. It fits into our model of a green, sustainable community.” New York City, Seattle, Portland, Victoria, Burnaby and Richmond all allow backyard hens. Vernon council has directed city staff to draft a bylaw similar to the one Rule is proposing. Residents can now keep up to 10 hens or rabbits if they own at least half an acre in the right rural zone. Those with more than an acre can have as many as 20 hens or rabbits.

The key is no roosters. Most of the phone calls and emails Rule has received are from people concerned that roosters make noise and would wake them too early in the day. “I totally agree,” she said. Another concern is the smell. Dog poop smells “way worse” than chicken poop if you keep a few hens, she said. The coop would have to be at least nine metres from your property line. You can use the excrement to fertilize your garden, Rule said. Chickens eat weeds and fruit flies. They can aerate your lawn and eat your carrot peelings. Fears of another avian flu outbreak have forced a three-kilometre quarantine around chicken farms in the Fraser Valley. The risk of an outbreak in Kelowna is minimal because so few hens are together on one property, Rule said. “There’s no issue with avian flu in small flocks in Vancouver and other urban areas where it’s been approved. The issue is when you have hundreds or more chickens crammed together.” The BCSPCA has opposed a chicken bylaw in Vancouver, arguing some people lack the expertise to raise hens humanely. The birds could be easy targets for raccoons or coyotes and may attract rats. There may be a shortage of veterinarians able to care for poultry. Kelowna councillors are to vote on a motion asking city staff to draft a chicken bylaw this afternoon. Once written, they would continue the debate.