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.

Chickens could come to roost

Wayne Moore - Mar 2, 2009 CASTANET

At least one member of Kelowna City Council will be keeping tabs on the 'Chicken Bylaw' debate in Vancouver. Two Vancouver councillors are asking that guidelines be drawn up to allow citizens to keep chickens in their backyard. Kelowna Councillor, Michele Rule, a member of the Central Okanagan Healthy Food Council, says she'll be listening with interest to the debate in Vancouver. "I'm really looking forward to hearing what happens in Vancouver. Apparently it has been successful in New Westminster, Burnaby and Nanaimo," says Rule. "Maybe we can have a discussion again on that sometime." A similar bylaw was recently defeated in Kamloops, after Council there was split 4-4 on the issue. Currently in Kelowna, residents who own more than an acre of land are able to keep some farm animals on their property. The bylaw being proposed in Vancouver, which is in effect in other communities, would allow for people to keep chickens on property smaller than one acre. There would be restrictions on how many. "It would have to be amended to make it applicable to backyards." Rule put council on notice that she may bring the issue up in the not too distant future.
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Vancouver Sun Published: Saturday, February 28, 2009

-- Vancouverites squawk over chicken bylaw

A Vancouver woman is petitioning the city to overturn a bylaw that makes it illegal to keep chickens as pets in residential areas. Heather Jarvey has two chickens - Zilla and Cheeks - that she says are her pets, as she cradles one of them in her arms like a baby. Jarvey says they are no different from her two dogs. "You get really attached to them" she said. "They're really fun." The city only permits chickens on properties of at least an acre, which means Jarvey is breaking the law by keeping Zilla and Cheeks. It's why she's working with a number of local agricultural groups to change that law. Earlier this month, Vancouver's food policy council, an independent body that advises city councillors on food and agricultural issues, voted to formally float the issue of allowing city dwellers to keep chickens in Vancouver. South of the border, keeping chickens in urban environments as part of a movement toward sustainable living is an idea that's already taken flight. Seattle, Chicago and New York are just some of the cities that permit the keeping of chickens as pets. In Seattle, for example, residents may keep up to three chickens on an apartment patio.

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Don Quixote Note: This issue will be coming up before Vernon Council on Monday.

The Muppet Show: Nobody But Us Chickens