Presentation by Mat Redsell to Byahm Council October 2, 2008

Members of council and others present:

I have reviewed the document on the subject of animal control bylaw, Number P21008-019 written by Paul Greneveld. Unfortunately Paul does not mention anything about having a good reason for enforcing the bylaw which reflects the sad state of our bureaucracy!!

You will notice that in the beginning background section there is a complaints heading. While a number of persons have complained about chickens there is actually no reason listed for the complaint other it is perceived to be against the bylaw nor has Paul brought to my attention any sound reason for these complaints.

Under the section entitled Legal Opinion the nameless legal adviser “suggested the current regulations could be enforced on the basis that keeping chickens in an urban area is not normal” Again we come upon that same argument that does not use any reason against chickens other than this is not normal today but about 50 years ago it was normal for many people to have chickens. In my research, there is no reason not to have chickens that I can find other than in a discriminatory way.

Under staff comments “Staff suggests the rationale for implementing or not implementing regulations for controlling such animals would be whether the community as a whole wants animals raised and housed in urban areas versus the safety and other impacts.” Again if there is no good reasons for implementing the bylaw then we are being discriminatory without sound reasoning. Democracy is not tyranny of the masses, there should be good reasoning for any bylaw! Again I find that Paul has spawned a note of hesitance with his “versus the safety and other impacts” Obviously Paul has not done any research on backyard chickens or other animals but leaves this open to our imagination which for most persons who are not familiar with animals spreads fear.

Chickens have existed in cities since the dawn of time, and they still exist all over the world. Benefits to raising hens in the villages of Bayham include:
1. Fresh, healthy, delicious eggs, free of pesticides and antibiotics.
2. Chickens eat table scrapes, reducing municipal solid waste.
3. Chickens produce a rich fertilizer by-product, high in nitrogen, eliminating the need for petrochemical fertilizers.
4. Educational - teaches children where our food comes from and demonstrates responsible pet ownership.
5. Great pets - Chickens are people-friendly. Their behaviour is interesting and entertaining.
6. Chickens eat bugs, reducing our backyard pest population. In a survey of 21 cities in Canada only four allowed chickens: Brampton and London in Ontario, and Surrey and Victoria in British Columbia. In contrast, the U.S. allows chickens in 53 cities.”

In Niagara Falls, for example, rules for keeping chickens include minimum property size of 30 by 12 metres, no more than 10 chickens per yard and no roosters.)

Websites, including backyardchickens.com and TheCityChicken.com, offer direction and inspiration to city farmers.

Did you know that eggs from hens raised on pasture compared to factory-farmed hens contain more of the good stuff and less of the bad stuff?
1.1/3 less cholesterol
2.1/4 less saturated fat
3.2/3 more vitamin A
4.2 times more omega-3 fatty acids
5.3 times more vitamin E
6.7 times more beta carotene
Source: www.motherearthnews.com

Waterloo city council recently agreed to study a proposal from Matthew Bailey-Dick and a new organization he had formed, the Waterloo Hen Association. "We didn't want to quietly do our own thing on our property," says Bailey-Dick, a Mennonite peace educator and father of three young children who doesn't yet raise chickens. "This is a community issue and an opportunity to realize they can contribute to practical food security.

Chickens are omnivores and will feed on small seeds, herbs and leaves, grubs, insects and even small mammals like mice, if they can get them. Domestic chickens are typically fed commercially prepared feed that includes a protein source as well as grains. Chickens often scratch at the soil to get at adult insects and larva or seed.
Chickens as pets
Today, some cities in the United States still allow residents to keep live chickens as pets, although the practice is quickly disappearing. Individuals in rural communities commonly keep chickens for both ornamental and practical value. Some communities ban only roosters, allowing the quieter hens. Many zoos use chickens instead of insecticides to control insect populations.
As for "avian influenza, commonly referred to as "bird flu"... There has never been an incident of bird flu detected in backyard chickens in the United States of America. Avian influenza is most commonly found in commercial birds in 3rd world countries. As for other food born threats to the North American public: Every food threat ever faced in this country came at the hands of commercial growers.
As for noise: Chickens are far less noisy than dogs and chickens never howl at the moon or chase cars all night long.
Backyard chicken farmers don't want to become commercial chicken growers. We detest the steroid filled chickens and chicken products as well as the horrid conditions used by many commercial growers. We detest the way thousands of birds are stuffed into the smallest of spaces and in some cases shackled to the floor for their entire lifetimes which for some growers is measured in weeks rather than the years our backyard chickens enjoy.
We detest that fact that while backyard chickens can lay eggs from 5 to 8 years, commercially raised hens are laid-out after only 2 years through the use of artificial lighting, steroids and chemical feeds whose long term effects on humans aren't yet known.
We enjoy the fact that chickens rid our yards of fleas, tics, grass destroying grubs, Japanese Beetles, mice, rats, slugs and a myriad of other vermin. And they do so without the need for pesticides which are currently contributing to the destruction of all bees in North America and putting our ENTIRE food supply at risk.
Backyard chickens save tax dollars by eating things (table scraps, etc.) that would ordinarily go into our garbage cans and on to landfills where the city pays by the ton to bury our garbage. and the only byproduct besides eggs of backyard chickens is organic pesticide free fertilizer for our yards and gardens.
Preventing Rats and Vermin
One of the questions people often ask about keeping chickens at home is "Do chickens attract rats and other vermin?" The problem isn't so much that chickens attract rats and vermin themselves but that vermin are attracted by the chicken's food. The same goes for people who feed birds.
Mice are not so much of a problem although they will happily eat chicken feed, they are small and can be killed and eaten by the chickens. This tends to keep them away, just as the cat keeps out of the dog's garden.
If you've got chickens in your backyard or garden you really don't want rats running about so you need to take some action to avoid attracting them.
The first thing is to keep the area clean. Apart from deterring rats, good hygiene will keep your poultry healthy and avoid unpleasant smells annoying people.
Don't leave food lying around. If you overfeed your hens so that they leave grain and other foods at the end of the day the rats will appear to eat your hen's left overs.
Be careful how you store you poultry feed. You may feel it is safe in a wooden shed but rats and mice can gnaw through wood quite easily to get a meal. Buy a storage bin, a plastic dustbin with a close fitting lid designed for outdoor use is ideal. Not only will it stop the rat from getting to the food, usually, but it will reduce the smell of the food that attracts them in the first place.
Collect eggs daily as soon after laying as possible as these are another food source for the rat.As for smell: Backyard chickens, when properly managed don't smell. If you can smell your neighbor's backyard chickens them please contact your local humane society and not the municipality as your neighbour is abusing their chickens.
I can't attest to the idea that eggs from backyard chickens are healthier than six month old "fresh" grocery store eggs but I can without a doubt tell you they look and taste far better than any egg sold in the local Grocery store!!!
One must also consider the future of our small villages in Bayham. There is very little employment and with many job losses coming in the near future any family with a few chickens will have the ability to have some healthy eggs with very little upkeep. Gwynne my 81 year old neighour in Port Burwell said that years ago most everyone in Port Burwell had a few chickens!
My suggestion is to keep the bylaw as is, but have any complaint in writing with a well defined problem that has been also submitted to the owner of the chickens. If the owner and person complaining about the chickens can't come up with a solution then Paul can mediate.