HALIFAX — Hesitant to settle for chickens, Halifax councillors decided to include all egg-laying fowl in the rules on backyard birds in residential areas.

Council voted on Tuesday to tell planning staff to start drafting bylaw amendments, with only Councillor Russell Walker voting no, citing concerns about rodents.

A planning report to council recommended allowing chickens across Halifax Regional Municipality, but didn’t propose a limit on numbers or ban roosters, the louder male chickens.

Councillor David Hendsbee, who’s long advocated for new rules around hens, hoped the amendments would provide clarity around the rules.

“I’m hoping that as we move forward, that we level the playing field for residents — no matter if they’re urban, rural or suburban — that may have the capacity to raise chickens.”

Current rules vary across the municipality. The report said land-use bylaws in peninsular and mainland Halifax and Bedford are silent on chickens, “which has led to confusion in how to deal with compliance cases regarding keeping chickens in those areas and a general lack of direction for regulators.”

They’re specifically prohibited in Dartmouth and residential areas of Sackville. In many suburban and rural areas, they’re only permitted where agricultural use is allowed, usually on big lots.

The current draft Centre Plan — the long-awaited set of land-use planning documents designed to guide growth in the centre of the municipality for the next decade — allows chickens in urban areas.

“I’m looking forward to council’s support on this and hopefully we can move it forward and, someday, we can crack an egg or two,” Hendsbee said.

Councillors voted in favour of Councillor Shawn Cleary’s amendment to broaden the types of birds to be considered.

“I like the idea of actually adding all fowl,” Cleary said. “Guinea fowl are very popular right now and in fact very good, especially in suburban and rural areas, because they like to eat ticks, as I understand.”

Hendsbee raised concerns that Haligonians could raise geese and ducks or even emus and ostriches.

“I consider guinea hens part of the chicken family, so the question is what is a chicken?”

Councillor Bill Karsten did not want to allow turkeys.

“That would be the next step, somebody says, ‘Let’s get some young turkeys and raise them.’ I’m not comfortable with that.”

Municipal planning director Kelly Denty said, in past reports, staff referred to the Latin order Galliformes, which refers to a “heavy-bodied ground-feeding bird” and excludes emus and ostriches.

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Councillor Matt Whitman wanted to be sure the amendment only covered egg-laying fowl, because he doesn’t want “any roosters of any poultry stock.”

Planner Ben Sivak, one of the report’s authors, said it was lacking specifics because it was meant to initiate the next phase of policy writing.

“The next report to council would have all that more detail, in terms of considering rural versus suburban versus urban areas, considering setbacks, considering numbers, roosters, hens, all those details.”

Hendsbee hoped the next report would come to council before Easter 2020.

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