Citizens in Regina, Saskatchewan, deserve to have the same rights as citizens of other Canadian cities. At least forty Canadian municipalities now allow residents to keep a small number of hens (not roosters) as pets and/or for their egg production, and more are joining this growing movement each year. It's now Regina's turn! 

Chicken-keeping is great for several reasons, including food sovereignty, environmental protection, animal welfare, and health.  Read on about the many advantages of keeping hens and answers to several frequently asked questions that debunk urban hen-keeping myths and concerns. Citizens of Regina, if you believe that Reginans should have the option to keep hens, sign and share this petition! 

WHY KEEP CHICKENS? 

There are several benefits to keeping a small number of urban hens.  Firstly, they provide us more of an education into food production, something that many of us have lost in recent generations. For instance, hen keeping means you learn that roosters are not necessary in order for hens to lay eggs, and that many breeds of chicken lay one egg every day. 

Keeping hens also means increased food sovereignty – people have more control over their food sources, giving them a sense of power and self-sufficiency. Keeping hens means having an increase in food security, especially meaningful when grocery stores experience food supply issues as we’re seeing more and more these days. There’s that thrill of finding eggs in your coop’s nest box, a joy and satisfaction similar to that of growing and eating vegetables from your own garden.

In addition to providing eggs, a small flock of hens carry other practical benefits. For one, they reduce food waste as they love to eat kitchen scraps. They also scavenge for bugs, keeping your yard's insect levels down. And everything they eat they turn into an excellent local source of fertilizer. Unlike dog or cat poop, you can add chicken droppings to your own compost (not the city’s green bins), greatly benefiting your garden. We also can feel good about reducing the environmental impact of our diet by eating local. There’s no need for refrigerated trucks to transport our eggs. Finally, for anyone concerned about the suffering of animals in large-scale farm operations, there’s peace of mind knowing that the eggs you eat come from chickens living good lives, not those stuck in inhumane battery cages and killed as soon as their egg production declines. Besides, happy, well-fed hens produce more nutritious eggs.

Then there are the psychological benefits of chicken-keeping. Chickens provide wonderful entertainment and companionship. Many people see them primarily as pets, not food producers. They bond with their people. In the book How to Speak Chicken*, the author writes about how she’s learned what their noises mean, can communicate with them, and has even discovered that chickens come up with their own names for their people. They are smarter than we give them credit for, and they live highly interesting and social lives. They have quirky personalities and are fun and relaxing simply to watch as they go about their business. In this way, they provide psychological well-being. In fact, some people keep chickens as therapy pets, and some doctors even prescribe them as support animals!**

At the broader, societal level, urban chickens are great for community building and breaking down stereotypes. They have the potential to bring neighbours together. People, especially families with kids, love to come and visit. There’s also the trading or gifting of eggs that brings people closer. One participant in a study on urban hen legislation says, “I don’t know a better way to build community than to share food.”*** According to this study, those with small urban flocks can breakdown misconceptions about chickens and people who keep them. Notions of chicken-keeping may come from experience with rural, large-scale farms, which have very little in common with what keeping only 3-6 birds looks like. While backyard chickens can be a polarizing issue when discussed theoretically, in practice, many who may at first oppose the idea come around to them when they see how inconspicuous they are. They certainly create a lot less of a nuisance than dogs and cats often do.

In fact, having an urban hen bylaw can reduce many issues that potentially exist where no bylaw is in place. People are now keeping chickens “underground,” and so those households are not registered or monitored for safety and animal wellbeing. For example, when avian flu is circulating, having a list of registered households with chickens means that the city can put restrictions in place to prevent the spread of infection, such as restricting chickens to their coops.

For these and many other reasons,**** Regina citizens should have the option to keep up to six hens should they so desire. 

*How to Speak Chicken: Why Your Chickens Do What They Do & Say What They Say. Melissa Caughey. Storey Publishing, LLC; Illustrated edition (Nov. 28 2017)

**The Calming Effect of Therapy Chickens​ / Therapy Chickens Combat Isolation and Loneliness

***Urban hen legislation: Exposing an unexpected public health problem

****Farming in the City: Investigating the Policy
Implications for Urban Farming in Regina. March 10 2017.

 

BACKYARD CHICKEN FAQS*

Question: Aren’t chickens dirty and smelly?

Answer: Chickens spend hours each day dust bathing and meticulously preening themselves to maintain good hygiene. Chickens do not smell – animal waste smells. All animal waste smells. When managed properly, no odors emanate from a chicken yard or coop with a small flock of only six hens. Different from dogs and cats, chickens produce valuable waste that can be used as a rich garden amendment. Six hens produce approximately six ounces of valuable garden fertilizer daily compared to the average dog that generates approximately twelve ounces of pathogenic, unusable feces a day. In addition, under bylaw, coops must be maintained in a clean condition and kept free of odors. With only six chickens, a typical backyard should never present odor problems.

Question: Aren’t chickens noisy? 

Answer: Hens are not ordinarily noisy, and roosters will not be allowed. The following are average noise levels that give a sense of how loud chickens are: 

Barking dog at 1 metre = 70-100dB

Lawnmower at 1 metre = 107dB

A frightened hen at 1 metre = 70 decibels maximum 

Human conversation at 1 metre = 70 decibels.

A hen under normal circumstances at 1 metre = nearly silent

Intermittent daytime noises are a normal part of living in any community. Nobody is entitled to live in a silent neighborhood. Any concerns about chicken noises should be addressed in the same manner other noise complaints are addressed, including barking dog noise. Hens are actually very quiet animals. In many cases, people with hens living next door don’t even know about them. Right after laying an egg they may make a triumphant call, and the other hens may join in. Another time they make sounds is if they feel threatened by a predator such as a cat or hawk. When this happens, they will warn the others to take cover and watch for trouble. These infrequent calls stop quickly and never approach the level of a dog bark. People may worry about noise more at night, but chickens are silent overnight. They naturally go to their roost and settle down for the night at dusk. 

Question: How can we ensure chickens will be cared for properly?

Answer: It is impossible to promise that every person who owns a pet will treat it well. That said, more care-requirements will be in place for people keeping hens than those keeping dogs, cats, or any other pet. Queen City Chickens is recommending that the City require hen-keeping license applicants to first take an online course called "Chickens 101." This course is run by the Edmonton backyard hen group, River City Chickens. In the course, "topics include coop design and requirements; feeding and general care; winter needs and concerns; breed selection, buying hens, and flock introductions; predator and vermin prevention; waste management; disease recognition and control; end of life options; and biosecurity." It is a required course for residents in several municipalities with backyard hen bylaws. Queen City Chickens has been in contact with River City Chickens, and they will be able to offer course sessions specifically for Regina residents. 

In addition to that required training, the bylaw will require people to keep proper care of their small flocks. Its language will include that:

·         that chickens have required amounts of indoor and outdoor space 

·         that their coop will protect them from the weather at all times

·         that the flock contain at least 2 chickens at all times (they are social creatures)

·         that they will have access to a dust bath to help them keep clean and healthy 

·         that their coop and run will be kept clean 

·         that they will always have clean water 

·         that mistreated chickens can be reported to bylaw enforcement, just like for dogs and cats 

Question: Don’t chickens require a lot of land? 

Answer: Chickens require no acreage to be well kept. Residents of many major Canadian cities – including Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Kitchener, and Guelph and many others – keep chickens with no acreage at all. The number a family could responsibly raise in a backyard is much more than most families wish to keep. The recommendation for the bylaw is a minimum of 4 square feet of coop per bird and 10 square feet of outside run per bird.

Question: Don’t chickens spread disease? 

Answer: Small flocks of backyard chickens have minimal risk of transmitting avian flu. This is a concern related to overcrowded commercial operations which cause the birds high stress levels and compromised immune systems. In that setting if one gets sick, an outbreak is imminent.  A few happy birds running on grass are not at risk.   

Like all animals, chickens do carry some potentially harmful bacteria in their digestive tracts, but this is only a problem if the owner doesn’t maintain basic hygiene while handling the birds or their eggs. With education about caring for chickens, these issues do not arise. 

Question: Will backyard chickens attract predators to the city?

Answer: Pet food, gardens, fish ponds, bird feeders and garbage may all attract raccoons and foxes.  Mink and weasels sometimes hunt along the creek. Cats are everywhere already. The fence or run that keeps the chickens in will help to control potential predator problems, and the coop the birds sleep in at night must be predator proof. Chicken owners have no wish to lose birds to predators, and will take the actions they need to take to prevent it. If predators can’t get to the chickens, the presence of the chickens will not encourage predators to be in the neighborhood.

Question: Do backyard chickens attract rodents and other pests? 

Answer: Rodents are already in the city. Chicken feed could attract rodents, but the bylaw would demand that surplus chicken feed be stored in rodent-proof containers. Bird feeders, dog and cat food, garbage and compost all provide plenty of food for the rodent population. While rodents may be attracted to chicken food in the feeders, they do so at their own risk. Chickens love to eat mice, baby rats and a variety of other pests. Ticks, ants, mosquitoes, flies, slugs and grasshoppers are all on the menu. 

Question: Will there be chickens running everywhere?

Answer: The proposed bylaw specifies that the chickens must be kept on the owner’s property at all times. Violations would be subject to fines (like for dogs and cats), and repeat offenders would risk having their chicken license revoked. Chickens that do get loose are quite easy to catch and are no threat to the safety of citizens. Other municipalities report very few issues of escaped chickens. If and when this were to happen, Queen City Chickens has a contact list of local farmers who will take chickens until they can be returned to their homes or rehomed.

Question:  What will happen if people can no longer take care of their chickens or lose their license to keep them?

Answer: Queen City Chickens has a contact list of local farmers who will take chickens which people can no longer care for.

Question: What if the neighbours don’t like living near chickens?

Answer: Some people will be skeptical about it at first, but when they experience quiet, peaceful birds living entertaining lives next door, the chances are good that they will be caught sneaking the chickens treats over the fence. This is a concern of people who have not visited a backyard flock. That said, there are people who may continue to take issue with their neighbours’ chickens, just as some people don’t like neighbourhood dogs or cats. The bylaw will ensure that conflict between neighbours over chickens is kept to a minimum. 

Question: Aren’t chicken coops ugly?

Answer: Most urban chicken owners take pride in their flocks and the coops are often charming, or at least inconspicuous. They want their yard to look nice as much as you do. 

Question: Don’t chickens hurt property values?

Answer: Chicken-keepers view their coops, flocks and yards as a source of pride, landscaping and tending to their cleanliness fastidiously. There is no evidence supporting the claim that backyard chickens hurt property values, in fact, the opposite has proven true. A Forbes list of the Top 10 US housing markets appreciating in value showed all ten permit chicken-keeping.

Question: Who do I contact if I want to know more about keeping chickens? 

Answer: Contact Queen City Chickens at queencitychickens@gmail.com.

*Sources (content taken from): 

The Chicken Chick. https://the-chicken-chick.com/legalizing-backyard-chickens-from/

My Northern Backyard. https://mynorthernbackyard.com/how-noisy-are-backyard-chickens/

This petition is created by Queen City Chickens, a local volunteer group that is advocating for a backyard hen bylaw in Regina. Read about us in the news. If you'd like to help us out or if you have questions, check us out on Facebook or email us at queencitychickens@gmail.com