Backyard Chickens

[beachwear]

Bad news...Just got off the phone with Fenton. Apparently he got a job delivering newspapers on the weekends now so he's N/A for crime fighting. Anyone know what Mermaid man is doing?

Cal

Ummmm .... what do Fenton and Mermaid Man (whoever they are) have to do with Backyard Chickens?

I'm Shocked GF. You don't Know who Chicken Man or Mermaid man are? I'm going to have to rethink my plan to have you as chief of the Chicken Police!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XcQfy1SavdQ

[gordon_as]

Sorry folks........ I can't imagine why which side of the chickenwire a candidate sits on would possibly sway you on who to vote for to run a multimillion dollar business that you all invest in every July. Is this really about sustainability , or is it more about not liking government telling you what you can and can not do on your property. Dogs and cats are enough of a nuisance already. And that would get even worse when they start going after the chickens. Personally , I would like to have a goat or 2 in my back yard , they mow and fertilize at the same time , but I bet my next door neighbor wouldn't be as excited about it. My sister in law would also like to be able to have her horse at home instead of paying to pasture it at someone else's farm.

[grammafreddy]

I don't have a problem with pigs, goats, horses, a milk cow or chickens in town. People used to, you know. The issue is always about responsibility and doing whatever you can to minimize the smell, noise, etc.

Dogs and cats running loose are a problem because irresponsible people own them. If the neighbour's dog came onto a chicken-owner's yard and went after the chickens, the dog owner is at fault, not the chicken owner. Dogs are not supposed to be off their own property unleashed.

We don't ban all dogs and cats because stupid people own them, so why ban other animals?

[gordon_as]

I can see your point GF , but what's to ensure all chicken owners would be good chicken owners. I can just see it becoming a problem , however I don't really believe that very many people would take advantage of the opportunity to own chickens.

[Captain Awesome]

I didn't realize that chickens are such hot button issue.

[grammafreddy]

I can see your point GF , but what's to ensure all chicken owners would be good chicken owners. I can just see it becoming a problem , however I don't really believe that very many people would take advantage of the opportunity to own chickens.

What's to ensure all dog and cat owners will be responsible? We already know a lot aren't - but we don't ban them in town, do we?

I agree that there will probably not be many who would get chickens - I guess at about 50-100 families perhaps, spread over the entire city in all areas.

So do we say -"Hell there's not many of you, you are not worth bothering us big important city councillors and staffers about. No. Go away. To hell with you."

Or do we say, "Gee, is that all? Why don't we let them and see how it goes. We'll just do a minor rewrite on the Dog Bylaw for a couple years and give it a go."

[grammafreddy]

I didn't realize that chickens are such hot button issue.

Well, the FourChange group has just declared it a hot issue - they mention it on their site as one.

[The Green Barbarian]

shouldn't you be using the politically correct term "Urban Hens" - makes backyard chickens sound ever so much more sophisticated, new age and hip.

[Nom_de_Plume]

It doesn't matter what you call them.
I finally had time to go to KelownaKluckers and post a response to your initial link (sorry GF I've been stupid busy)
The one thing I found even more telling about the whole issue was not who supports and who doesn't, but more who didn't even bother their backside to respond.
"THAT" right there tells me who will be a good council member and who won't.
Keep in mind councillors/mayors and hopefuls ....
This is a service position you are applying for. Hence the reason why it's called civil servant.
Your job is/will be to represent the interests of the people of Kelowna.
If you don't feel a constituent's question is important enough to take up your time, why should I feel you're worth mine to make my mark beside.

[grammafreddy]

New updates have been posted to the survey of election hopefuls. I'll be doing a short version and sorting them into categories (yes, no, etc - no response will be treated as a no vote) Monday or Tuesday for taking to the Forum Tuesday evening at the Rutland Centennial Hall from 7 to 9:30 pm.

This will be a forum with a difference - each of the candidates will have tables to display their "wares" and will be available to the public to answer questions you may have - kind of like a display booth at a trade show.

[grammafreddy]

RESULTS OF QUESTIONNAIRE AS OF NOVEMBER 7, 2011

YES (or wanting a referendum or public survey)

Sharon Shepherd
Cal Condy
Tasha Batt
Doug Cass
Kevin Craig
Mary-Ann Graham
Robert Hobson
Charlie Hodge
Bobby Kennedy
Angela Reid-Nagy
Scott A. Ross
Michele Rule
Simon Shaw
Daniel Thorburn
Dayleen VanRyswyk


NO (bold text answered the question, light text did not respond)

Walter Gray
Ken Chung
Kim Ouellette
Colin Basran
André Blanleil
David Boyko
Maxine DeHart
Elizabeth Fehr
Darrin Fiddler
Michael Fraser
Gail Given
Will Gow
Carol Gran
Shane Herrington
Erik Jack
Graeme James
Tisha Kalmanovitch
William Kovacic
Rob Mabey
Peter McFadden
James Murphy
Andrew Powell
JC Rathwell
Ron Ready
Gail Scanlan
Mohini Singh
Luke Stack
Mark Thompson
Andrew Ulitvlugt
Gerry Zimmermann

[grammafreddy]

For those who are interested, the last time the City of Kelowna dealt with the Backyard Chicken/Urban Hen issue, the decision was made to wait until the City of Vernon's new Urban Hen bylaw, which had been approved November 22, 2010, had been in effect for a year and to see how it had been working for them.

I wrote to the City of Vernon on November 5 and asked them how their Urban Hen program was working for them, if there had been any complaints and how many residents were keeping Urban Hens.

I received a response today from Clint Kanester, Manager - Bylaw Enforcement.

He wrote:

Hi XXX – There seems to be a bit of confusion in your message regarding the difference between general poultry keeping (Chickens, Turkeys, Ducks, etc…) and the Urban Hen program. In our bylaw, they are definitely two different definitions and have differing regulations. The keeping of Poultry is not allowed on a residential lot, but Urban Hens may be if they can meet the requirements of the bylaw.

“Poultry” means any domestic bird, including chickens, roosters, turkeys, geese, ducks, pigeons, or game birds, owned for any purpose, but does not include urban hens;

“Urban Hen” means domesticated female chickens that are at least four months old that are kept on a property other than an agricultural use as defined in the Zoning Bylaw and are as regulated under the provisions of Schedule A of this bylaw.

I will try to answer your questions in order:

We have not had a lot of participation in the Urban Hen program to date. We have two participants at the moment. Of course we have many agricultural properties in Vernon that have poultry or the ability to keep chickens, but we do not keep track of these in any specific way.

We have had lots of inquiries in the Urban Hen program, but not a lot of participation, so there may be those operating underground, or some who may not have decided to participate. There is a large difference between a farm on a large agricultural lot that may keep many chickens, including roosters, and the Urban Hen program. The Urban Hen program does not require that your coop be 50’ from your dwelling, or 50’ from a property line, as it may in an agricultural zone, but rather there are two regulations that apply;

An owner of urban hens shall keep them on a lot that has:

a) at least one single family detached dwelling on it; You cannot have a henhouse/coop on a vacant lot.

b) a frontage of at least 12 meters; and, The lot it is situated on must be at least 39.37 ft wide

c) a depth of at least 20 meters. By 65.61 ft long. This is a very small lot within the City of Vernon. Most are at least 50’ X 75’ or larger.



Rear Yard Siting of Coops

a) If a property line is 23 (75.45 ft) meters or more from any neighbouring residential structure (this is not your house, but your neighbours house), a coop shall be located a minimum of 1 meter from the rear lot line. You can attach the coop directly to your house if you wish, but the minimum from your neighbours rear lot line must be 1 meter, if their house is 75 ft or further away.

b) If a property line is less than 23 meters from a neighbouring residential structure, or the neighbouring lot is vacant, a coop shall be located at least 3 meters from the rear lot line. Again the coop can be against your house, but if your neighbours house is closer than 75 ft to the location of the coop, it must be moved so that it is 3 meters away from your property line.

c) Every coop shall be located at least 3 meters from any side lot line of the lot on which the coop is located.

The coop must be about 10 ft away from your side yard property lines.

This ensures that neighbourhood complaints are kept to a minimum and that there is some distance between the laying hens and your neighbours.

All of these regulations may be found at the rear of the bylaw in a schedule that is applicable only to the Urban Hen (as defined) program, which only applies to residential single family dwelling zones.

The idea behind Urban hens is that they are able to produce eggs solely for the owners consumption. Allowing baby chicks to be hatched on a property just increases the numbers of hens/roosters that may be on the property, and also increases the chance that individuals will attempt to keep them rather than just keeping their allowable 3 hens. Note that roosters are NOT allowed at all through this program, therefore any eggs produced to be brooded would not be fertile in any case, unless obtained from elsewhere. There are multiple ways to obtain young hens from farmers, etc… that will allow a person wishing to have urban hens the opportunity. Note: I had asked about raising day-old chicks as part of the Urban Hen program, not brooding eggs. I will write him back for further clarification about this.

Of course if you have a large agriculturally zoned piece of property and can keep poultry under the bylaw requirements, then you can hatch them yourselves, you can have roosters, raise meat birds, etc…

Hope this helps…. Any further questions, please let me know.

Clint Kanester
Manager - Bylaw Enforcement
City of Vernon

Vernon, according to their website, has a population of 36,000.

Two people are, to date, participating in their Urban Hen program.

It's probably time to stop the scare mongering against Urban Hens.

*********************

Vernon's Urban Hen Bylaw is attached to their Animal Regulation and Animal Pound Bylaw #5252 here: http://www.vernon.ca/index.php/council/ ... 5252-2010/. It is a very simple, easy to understand bylaw that does not get overly weighed down with a bunch of red tape and politi-speak.

Here is the portion of their animal control bylaw that deals with Urban Hens:

SCHEDULE ‘A’
Attached to and Forming Part of
Animal Regulation and Animal Pound Bylaw Number 5252, 2010
URBAN HEN REGULATIONS
1. No owner shall allow his or her urban hen to run at large.
2. No person shall keep more than 3 hens, except as an agricultural use within an
agricultural zone as established by the Zoning Bylaw.
3. An owner of urban hens shall keep them on a lot that has:
a) at least one single family detached dwelling on it;
b) a frontage of at least 12 meters; and,
c) a depth of at least 20 meters.
4. Every owner of urban hens shall provide a coop for the urban hens.
5. All coops shall be located in the rear yard of a lot and shall fully enclose the
urban hens and prevent them from escaping. “Chicken tractors” may be used to
move urban hens to new areas for foraging during daylight hours.
6. Rear Yard Siting of Coops
a) If a property line is 23 meters or more from any neighbouring residential
structure, a coop shall be located a minimum of 1 meter from the rear lot
line..
b) If a property line is less than 23 meters from a neighbouring residential
structure, or the neighbouring lot is vacant, a coop shall be located at least 3
meters from the rear lot line.
c) Every coop shall be located at least 3 meters from any side lot line of the lot
on which the coop is located.
7. Every coop shall be designed and constructed to ensure proper ventilation and
sufficient space for the urban hens and shall be maintained in accordance with
good animal husbandry practices and shall keep all vermin out. Every coop shall
be constructed in such a manner that a person may easily access the coop to
remove feces, clean nest boxes, and undertake other maintenance of the coop
and care of the urban hens.
8. All dead urban hens shall be legally disposed of immediately, and in any event,
within 24 hours.
9. No backyard slaughter is allowed.
10. Hygienic storage of and prompt removal of feces is required. No accumulation of
more than 1 cubic meter of composted manure is allowed.
11. All types of food supply shall be protected against vermin.
12. No person may keep urban hens unless registered with the Clerk or designate
and upon paying the required fees and charges, as outlined in the City’s Fees
and Charges Bylaw, as amended from time to time.
13. If the owner of urban hens suspects any urban hen is infected with a
communicable disease, the owner shall immediately contain the urban hen or
urban hens affected and consult a veterinarian licensed to practice in British
Columbia to diagnose the condition. If the diagnosis confirms that the urban hen
is infected with a communicable disease, the owner shall immediately notify the
Public Health Department of Interior Health and comply with any direction that
may be issued by a Public Health Inspector in this regard.

[GenesisGT]

What about the cost. I am sure that city hall has used up a lot of time having meetings on this issue. The current council has found a reason to postpone a decision until next year, as they typically do. Yes there is a cost, studies, lawyers writing bylaws, training bylaw officers, inspections, all so that maybe 10 people can have chickens (based on numbers from Vernon). But then Angela Reid-Nagy, has her chicken coop ready to go. I sure hope the bylaw doesn't mean she would have to spend any money to refurnish her existing chicken coop to meet any new bylaw.
Stop wasting time on things that make no sense to 99.9% of the citizens, council should be dealing with real issues.
Just say No!!!

[36Drew]

What about the cost. I am sure that city hall has used up a lot of time having meetings on this issue. The current council has found a reason to postpone a decision until next year, as they typically do. Yes there is a cost, studies, lawyers writing bylaws, training bylaw officers, inspections, all so that maybe 10 people can have chickens (based on numbers from Vernon). But then Angela Reid-Nagy, has her chicken coop ready to go. I sure hope the bylaw doesn't mean she would have to spend any money to refurnish her existing chicken coop to meet any new bylaw.
Stop wasting time on things that make no sense to 99.9% of the citizens, council should be dealing with real issues.
Just say No!!!

So a metal bear, something that looks like twisted metal tracks, a new logo, hammering a dead horse that was CD-21..... all cost less and are more important?

"Urban Hens" are part of a green and sustainable society. Something most of council seems to be on-board with (green and sustainable). Ergo - the topic seems to be quite relevant.

[Nom_de_Plume]

Two people are, to date, participating in their Urban Hen program.

It's probably time to stop the scare mongering against Urban Hens.

*********************

Two people on record are participating.
There are actually quite a few more.
I get calls/emails from new urban hen owners (from the Vernon area) all the time asking me questions about their birds.
But if the bylaw dude only knows about two then obviously these others aren't causing a problem.