Calgary Chickens

Having spent the best part of the weekend out in the garden, (aside form the few hours spent fly fishing on the mighty Columbia River), the case for Urban Chickens in the Kootenays came through loud and clear. The hours spent weeding and preparing garden beds for vegetables could have been minimized with a few well placed fences and allowing a couple of chickens the run of the place for a couple of days.

This letter to Calgary City regarding chickens came to my attention over the weekend

I would like to propose that the city make a minor change in its bylaw that prevents people from having a few hens in their yard. It may involve treating hens as “pets” rather than “livestock”. With three hens in an urban backyard, a family could provide themselves with healthy, organic, grain fed, free run eggs to sustain themselves, throughout the year. These hens could eat some of their waste, provide some fertilizer for the vegetable garden, and provide an education for children about their food and animals, while making little to no noise, or detriment to the urban landscape.

This is not a unique concept. There are many cities in the United States including New York, Portland, San Francisco, Houston, Chicago, Seattle, as well as Victoria BC that allow chickens.

Source: MAMMACOMIC: urban chickens calgary - aldermen

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It will be interesting to see what the reaction from Calgarians and their elected officials is to this idea.

Would you want chickens? Would you mind if your neighbours had chickens?