ecoLIVING London

From New York to Los Angeles, Victoria to Niagara Falls; cities across North America are embracing the Backyard Chicken.

Backyard chickens, laying hens to be more precise, are well suited for the urban backyard. Chickens make a great addition to what many people already enjoy in their yard, like a vegetable garden, berry bushes, and fruit trees. Some Londoners remember growing up in the city when having a few chickens in the backyard was commonplace.

There are many benefits to keeping Backyard Chickens. FOOD SOURCE: Three laying hens can provide enough eggs for a family of five. Eggs, especially ‘free run’ are a great source of protein, vitamins and Omega-3. FREE FERTILIZER: Their manure can be composted to provide nitrogen rich fertilizer for your garden and the neighbours will be lining up to take any extra off your hands. RECYCLERS: Chickens enjoy eating kitchen leftovers and extras from the garden. PEST CONTROL: In London there is a ban on pesticide use and chickens are a natural pest control, as they love to eat insects and grubs from the lawn. 

We have become so removed from our food sources over the last 50 years that when you ask a child where eggs come from, they often say ‘the grocery store right?’. Having Backyard Chickens is a great way to reconnect and educate our children about where their food comes from.

In Canada, the cities that now allow the keeping of Backyard Chickens; have set out clear guidelines in their bylaws on how it is to be done to ensure proper care of the chickens, the public’s health and the happiness of you and your neighbours. Some basic rules are: limiting the number of laying hens to a maximum (3, 6 or 10), no roosters, providing a system consisting of a coop and run that is fully enclosed in chicken wire including the top and bottom as well as the sides, and to tuck them into the coop with the door closed from dusk to dawn every day. There are specifics on the cleaning of the coop and run and how often this must be done as well as proper disposal of the waste. The coop must be kept a certain distance away from lot lines, homes, schools and businesses.

Presently in London, Backyard Chickens are not allowed except for a few who are covered by a grandfathering clause. Many Londoners feel that they also should be allowed to keep Backyard Chickens and would like city hall to amend the current bylaws to reflect that. These Londoners have worked hard to bring this to the attention of City Hall and have had little opportunity to express thier position until now.

A Public Participation Meeting has been scheduled for August 16th, 2011 at Centennial Hall, where anyone from London can speak on the issue in front of the Community and Neighbourhoods Committee.

People need to go beyond the knee-jerk reaction of ‘Chickens in the city? No way'’ and really look at the facts. A few laying hens would not be noisy, there would not be an issue with smell when properly cared for and with the hens in a fully enclosed environment there would be no draw for predators as there would be no access to the hens. People should have the right to feed themselves by growing some or all of their food and not having to depend on big business. The United Nations Rights Declaration, Article 25, The Right to Food in International Law states that “The right to food includes the right to have access to the resources and to the means to ensure and produce one’s own subsistence, including land, small-scale irrigation and seeds, credit, technology and local and regional markets…”

Not everyone in the city wants to have chickens, but for those who do want them, they should be allowed to do so. It has been shown in more than 300 cities in North America that it works and can be done in a manner that keeps everyone happy. If you want to see Backyard Chickens allowed in London, I encourage you to come to the Public Participation Meeting August 16th, 2011 at City Hall and voice your opinion on allowing Backyard Chickens in London, Ontario.

Submitted by Lynn Adams (theadamsfamily_5(at)sympatico.ca)