Four weeks ago I had the pleasure of visiting Portland, Maine and took the opportunity to stop by their city council meeting. They were entertaining the second reading of allowing urban chickens in Portland, amidst pressure that many surrounding communities already allow residents to keep chickens in their backyard. The issue was brought to council at the insistence of a 13 year old boy.
Portland is very supportive of local food initiatives, independent business, and food security for its community, and the amendments passed with strong council and community support. Over 150 residents sent email to city council to argue in favour of the bylaw amendment, and approximately 50 people came to the meeting to express their views in person.
While Calgary is seldom in the forefront on initiatives such as these, I hope our city council will recognize the importance of this issue and fall in line with other cities brave enough to legalize these new urban pets. I would pick chickens over a cat or dog any day!
What is the appeal of urban chickens? A local group recently established on facebook, Calgary Liberated Urban Chicken Klub (CLUCK), lists a few of the benefits:
• Fresh, healthy, delicious eggs, free of pesticides and antibiotics.
• Chickens eat table scrapes, reducing municipal organic waste.
• Chickens produce a rich fertilizer by-product, high in nitrogen, eliminating the need for petrochemical fertilizers.
• Educational – teaches children where our food comes from and demonstrates responsible pet ownership (chores).
• Great pets – Chickens are people-friendly.
• Chickens eat bugs, reducing our backyard pest population.
On average, a chicken lays one egg every 24 hours, so a handful of urban hens could easily meet a family’s egg needs. Who wouldn’t enjoy the security of knowing that they have a limitless egg supply at their fingertips?
We are already behind – last week Vancouver city council voted unanimously to change their city bylaws and legalize the keeping of urban hens.
If you feel passionate about urban chickens I would encourage you to get involved…things like this don’t happen on their own. Check out BackyardChickens.com for great resources and information on urban “chickenry”–there are even free coop designs! With groups like CLUCK starting up, Calgary can soon be part of the urban chicken revolution – it’s no yolk!
Image courtesy Scott Sayre with a CC license.
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“On average, a chicken lays one egg every 24 hours” – no not really. That may be true for industrial chickens. But in this type of situation 100 to 200 eggs a year is more realistic. And don’t forget chickens don’t start laying until they are 6 months old, ad that laying varies seasonally and depending on breed and feed.