07-15-2015, 12:19 PM
The people who are into keeping hens now without approval are going to be doing an above-average job at it because if they didn't they'd surely raise the ire of neighbours and by-law. Imagine if dog-owning wasn't allowed, the people that still kept dogs would be very good at keeping them quiet and out of sight. But since anyone can own a dog we all have to deal with the consequences of all kinds of dog owners. I doubt that urban chickens will ever be as popular as dogs are but non-dog owners are paying for the humane society and all the other costs so some people can have the fun of owning dogs while other people get puppies and dispose of them or worse abuse them.
There's a relatively small number of people that want to keep chickens but the costs to set up a proper licensing scheme as well as the infrastructure to deal with unwanted chickens from people who don't realise that chickens can live 5-10 years but only lay for 3 or 4 on average. Are these people all going to be able to slaughter their own birds at home or should they have the chickens inspected like any other farming operation that sells meat for human consumption does? People say that "factory farm" eggs can be dirty and diseased yet someone that reads a few blogs and buys some chicks at the feed store is now qualified to produce food safely?
Here's a chicken vet's perspective that has some well-reasoned arguments against changing the bylaws. He cites 2lbs of manure per week per bird, among other issues. In the comments he mentions cases of salmonella outbreak in Vancouver that was traced back to restaurants using ungraded, farm-gate or backyard eggs. The CDC in the US has documented rising salmonella outbreaks that correspond to increases in owning backyard chickens. It's possible to set up safety programs to prevent this kind of thing but again who is going to pay for it all? Just saying that because the few people who keep chickens now do it well enough that no one is getting sick isn't really a convincing argument since people in other places are getting sick from backyard hens and/or their eggs.
There's a relatively small number of people that want to keep chickens but the costs to set up a proper licensing scheme as well as the infrastructure to deal with unwanted chickens from people who don't realise that chickens can live 5-10 years but only lay for 3 or 4 on average. Are these people all going to be able to slaughter their own birds at home or should they have the chickens inspected like any other farming operation that sells meat for human consumption does? People say that "factory farm" eggs can be dirty and diseased yet someone that reads a few blogs and buys some chicks at the feed store is now qualified to produce food safely?
Here's a chicken vet's perspective that has some well-reasoned arguments against changing the bylaws. He cites 2lbs of manure per week per bird, among other issues. In the comments he mentions cases of salmonella outbreak in Vancouver that was traced back to restaurants using ungraded, farm-gate or backyard eggs. The CDC in the US has documented rising salmonella outbreaks that correspond to increases in owning backyard chickens. It's possible to set up safety programs to prevent this kind of thing but again who is going to pay for it all? Just saying that because the few people who keep chickens now do it well enough that no one is getting sick isn't really a convincing argument since people in other places are getting sick from backyard hens and/or their eggs.