A Port Moody woman whose family is raising chickens in her back yard says she’s disappointed by a staff recommendation that the city ban the activity.
Dana Dunne said such a prohibition doesn’t show “any foresight with respect to climate mitigation.”
She’s kept five egg-laying hens in a coop in the back yard of her Heritage Woods home for more than a year as a way to teach her three sons about food security and sustainable agriculture.
Last May Dunne made a pitch to Port Moody councillors to update city bylaws to allow the practice.
To support her cause she started an online petition to “save the Dunne chickens” that collected more than 700 names after the family received a letter from the city advising them their urban chicken farm ran afoul of a city bylaw that only allows chickens or other livestock if they’re “kept within a dwelling unit.”
But in a report to be presented to council at its meeting on Tuesday (Oct. 26), Port Moody’s policy planner, Jess Daniels, said the provincial Conservation Officer Service (COS) has expressed concerns permitting backyard hens would hinder its efforts to prevent conflicts between wildlife and humans as hungry bears could be attracted to coops, their feed and their inhabitants.
Todd Hunter, the sergeant of the Fraser North Zone for COS, said in a letter to the city any increase in wildlife conflicts would “further strain resources for the COS to respond effectively to already high call volumes across the zone.” He pointed out that officers already respond to about 400 wildlife conflict calls in Port Moody every year, most of them involving black bears.
“I have seen a steady increase to conflicts arising with conflicts involving black bears preying on chickens,” said Hunter, who’s responsibility also covers North Vancouver, where chicken coops are allowed. “Adding more attractants would be counterintuitive to the work that’s been done,” including consulting with local officials about bylaw changes and educational efforts to help make communities more aware of things they can do to keep bears safe.
In her report, Daniels also cited city concerns about increased noise from hens, the disposal of their waste, the potential unregulated sale of the hens and their eggs, breeding and escaping birds.
Dunne said her birds are anything but noisy and their droppings are composted for use in the family’s garden that grows beets, carrots, peas, strawberries, blueberries and an apple tree. The family freely shares eggs they can’t eat with neighbours.
Dunne added the hens retreat to a secure coop overnight and there’s never been a raid by a bear or even cougar searching for an easy meal.
In her report, Daniels did leave the door open for council to still allow backyard chickens, but it would take considerable research on several policy and bylaw considerations including:
- updating zoning bylaws to define what can be allowed for raising backyard chickens, such as dimensions of the coop and run, their locations on a property and composition, as well as requirements for maintenance
- restricting urban chicken farming only to certain areas of the city
- determining which bird species could be allowed
- limiting the maximum number of hens as well as outlawing roosters
- amending city noise bylaws
- considering a license fee to regulate backyard chickens
