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‘It’s the stupid foodies. We’re just sick to death of it’

It’s been two years since Vancouver passed its bylaw allowing backyard chickens — and the law is quite thorough, said Geoff Urton, manager of stakeholder relations at BCSPCA: Residents can only own four hens and no roosters. There’s a minimum distance from your neighbour’s backyard that you can build a chicken coop, and that chicken coop needs to protect the fowl from predators like coyotes and raccoons. The chickens need to be registered online, and an inspector could drop in on you at any time. Urban chicken farmers are also barred from slaughtering the birds themselves, he said, in order to curb botched jobs.

Since chickens only lay eggs for two years, Mr. Urton expects to see urban chickens trickling into animal shelters soon.

“We’ll need to keep monitoring the situation to make sure as time progresses we don’t end up with an influx in chickens because of this fad,” he said.

But Ms. Cartwright believes good bylaws, such as Vancouver’s, can help curb urban chicken abandonment because the farmers will be more dedicated and educated about what responsible chicken farming entails.

Right now, the Canadian Federation of Humane Societies is just beginning to tell its shelters to keep an eye out for chickens and be prepared should any come into their care, Ms. Cartwright said.

“It’s been about since 2009 that the conversation has cropped up in the media here and there as there’s a larger and louder call for municipalities to alter bylaws and move to the locavore concept,” she said. “What’s happening with the chickens? We’re not wholesale seeing an abandonment issue yet.”

But they’ll try to be ready for it if and when it comes.

National Post

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