North Bay farmer crying fowl over backyard chicken bylaw

North Bay farmer Brent Johnson found out the hard way that his city doesn't look kindly upon backyard chickens.

The notice arrived at his house one March afternoon.

"My wife gota hand-delivered letter from our bylaw officer," Johnson said. "It said to take measures to have all chickens removed or a summons would be issued."

"So I re-homed them about a hundred miles away later that night."

Johnson, who "re-homed" his four chickens to a place in Sturgeon Falls, has started an online petition to convince North Bay's council to revisit their bylaws regarding backyard chickens.

The rules, Johnson says, are "ambiguous" and "outdated."

"They need to be a little more progressive, like other cities," Johnson said.

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Johnson said other communities are seeing the value in having residents be allowed to keep chickens, with some, like York Region and Hamilton, going as far as to establish food charters that recognize the importance of small backyard growers.

"In B.C. Vancouver, Saanich, Westminster [allow chickens,] here in Ontario, even Orillia has a pilot project underway," he said. "And Guelph and Kingston have long had [bylaws]in place with no friction between neighbours, with provisions put in place to have informed owners and humane housing practices."

Chickens cluck for four minutes, but dogs bark anytime

Johnson thinks the bylaws come from a "preconceived notion" about chickens' behaviour, like their sounds and smells.

"The roosters crow, and that's a problem," Johnson said. "But if we look at it, we've got four hens. A chicken will cluck for about four minutes, and that's only when they're laying an egg in the morning."

"The clucking is at 60 decibels. The average dog barks at 110 decibels, and they'll vocalize at any time of day."

And Johnson said that a properly-cleaned coop leaves little stink around the neighbourhood.

"A chicken will poop two ounces a day," Johnson said. "A dog three quarters of a pound per day."

"If the four chickens are properly cleaned you'll never know they're there."

Vague bylaws confusing

Johnson said after reading the North Bay bylaw, he was surprised how vague the authors left the wording.

"They state 'domestic fowl,' but not which dictionary that comes from," he said.

"And there's no mention of any emu or ostrich being a prohibited animal, so if [the bylaw] does not get passed my grandkids can saddle up the old ostrich or emu and ride around here."

Johnson hopes the support he's raising through the online petition is enough to convince city council to reconsider the bylaw.

"There's a lot of people in support of this," he said. "Well over 200 people saying 'hey, I'd like to do this as well.'"

"In the interim, I'll just have to be patient and abide by the bylaw."

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