Backyard chicken pilot project touted

A group calling itself the River City Chicken Collective hopes to have a pilot project for backyard chickens in place in Edmonton this spring.

"Chickens are wonderful animals that humans have been living with side by side for thousands of years," said Ron Berezan, a volunteer with the group.

The benefits go beyond having fresh eggs just outside your door, he said.

"Chickens can be a great addition to really managing your own yard in a more ecological way," he said. "They eat a tremendous number of bugs, they can eat pests and slugs."

"You can be taking your kitchen scraps and feeding them to chickens and that is a great waste management argument as well."

The group has been researching the idea for more than two years, he said, looking at the experienceofhundreds of cities in North America and Europethatallow backyard chickens.

The idea has already been launched in Calgary, by a group calling itself the Calgary Liberated Urban Chicken Klub, or CLUCK.

The group's president, Paul Hughes, was issued a ticket for keeping chickens, whichwas cancelled last month. Calgary still has no regulations permitting backyard chickens, but a pilot project is planned.

The Edmonton group has presented city officials with plans for their ownpilot project toallow as many as 10 sites in different neighbourhoods.

"They have a very well-researched proposal, and they know what theyre talking about," said John Wilson, the city's director of complaints and investigations, who received the proposal in February.

The Edmonton group has made his job easier by not going the more aggressive route of the group in Calgary, he said.

"Rather than take the civil disobedience route and force a confrontation, theyre taking a much more cooperative approach."

That doesn't necessarily mean the pilot project will be approved, said Wilson, who has the authority to allow exceptions to city bylaws.

There are many considerations he has to weigh such as "noise, smell, the attraction of predators, the possibility for disease transfer, [and] safe food handling practices."

His office has been getting fairly even feedback from the public on support for the idea, Wilson said, but popularity won't figure heavily in his decision.

The project, if approved, would include guidelines on husbandry, cleanliness andgetting permission from neighbours, Berezan said.

"Definitely no roosters. Some people may not know that it's the roosters that crow and hens are actually very quiet, very easy to care for."