Backyard chickens to head back to city council
The chickens haven’t flown the coop; the idea of urban hens is again bouncing around city hall.
An exemption to the Animal Control Bylaw will be presented at a City Council meeting Monday. If passed, a Livestock Exemption Permit could be issued allowing up to 10 properties to have backyard chickens for a 1-year pilot project.
City Enforcement Services Manager Chris Manuel says, right now, the chickens are only permitted in rural areas and if the permits were to be issued, people would have to do some peckin’ and scratchin’ to get hens on their property.
“A person seeking a livestock exemption permit would have to meet a variety of conditions found in the urban hen keeping guidelines including neighbor notification, site requirements, chicken coop requirements and those sorts of things,” said Manuel.