(© Can Stock Photo / alkerk)(© Can Stock Photo / alkerk)
Chatham

Not clucking around: Urban chickens are back up for debate in CK

Chickens could be coming to a backyard near you.

During the June 15 council meeting, Chatham-Kent Councillor Mark Authier announced that he would be bringing forward a motion regarding backyard hens at the next meeting, set for June 29.

Authier's motion requests that urban areas in Chatham-Kent allow up to six chickens with no roosters. It would only be applicable for single-dwelling residence and not in apartments or multiplex homes.

Currently, chickens are only permitted on premises that are zoned agricultural under the municipality's zoning by-law.

This isn't the first time the idea of backyard chickens have come to council in recent years. In January 2013, Chatham-area Councillor Marjorie Crew (who was also a CK Councillor in Ward 6 at the time) requested that staff investigate a by-law to permit the keeping of egg-laying hens in urban areas.

However, the staff report that came back in June 2013 recommended that the by-law not be approved, citing concerns about smell, noise, and an increased presence of rodents.

"Furthermore, it is the concern of this department that allowing hens in urban backyards would open the door to other animals such as geese, pigs and goats, which are clearly an agriculture use," stated the report.

At that time, council members voted 17-1 against moving forward with the by-law.

Crew said at the time she wasn't necessarily for or against it but simply wanted to look at the possibilities. She said it's a concept she would support of it's able to be done in a viable way.

"Chickens -- laying hens -- don't make a lot of noise. They are very quiet. It's roosters that make a lot of noise. I would never support having a rooster in an urban setting at all," she said. "The smells and those kinds of things, I think there are standards that would have to be met. How they're kept and kept clean."

Crew added that the attitude towards the concept may have shifted in the last seven years.

"I think that last time people were looking at it as a less expensive way to eat. But that wasn't the case at all. It was people want to know where their food's coming from. This time around I've received a few letters of support to me and I'm sure the other councillors as well," said Crew. "People want to know where their food's coming from and that they have sustainable food. Not one person mentioned to me that they want a more inexpensive way to eat. They're looking at sustainability. "

Sustainability is the main benefit of having backyard chickens, according to Chatham resident Ben Srokosz, who has been advocating for urban chickens for the last several months.

Being self-sustainable, buying local and being more knowledgable of where a person's food is coming from are trends that Srokosz believes sociality is increasingly moving towards.

"Keeping chickens is a pretty major part of that for a lot of examples. As far as creating your own compost and the bird eating your kitchen scraps so you're not putting them into your garbage...There are a lot of benefits to keeping chickens if you want to be sustainable," said Srokosz. "There's nothing wrong with educating the public and making sure we do it correctly and safely."

As the concept of urban hens grows in popularity in cities across North America, Crew said she believes there is now more information available on how to successfully and safely implement a program than there may have been back in 2013.

"I would look at what is working in other communities and what doesn't work," she said.

Srokosz is not alone in his push for urban chickens. An online petition created titled "Make backyard chickens legal in the city of Chatham, Ontario" had garnered over 1,700 signatures as of Thursday morning.

"Hens are very quiet animals. As for smell, it's true that any animal leaves behind waste. Just as dog owners are expected to clean up their pet's waste, so should chicken owners," read the petition description.

Srokosz said he plans to make a deputation on the issue when it comes before council. He also said he's been reaching out to every municipal councillor in Chatham-Kent individually to educate them on the topic and address some common misconceptions.

"I want to make sure councillors just didn't have a knee jerk sort of opinion on it. We all hope our councillors take the time to research before they vote but I just didn't want to take that chance," he said. “This is our big chance to have this happen and move towards more sustainability, less waste and frankly just knowing more about where our food comes from and being responsible for our food."

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