The District of North Vancouver’s backyard real estate market has been a tough egg for chickens to crack but that may be about to change.
Council is set to debate a new pecking order that would allow six hens per backyard, provided they’re registered with the municipality and safely ensconced in a chicken coop located in a single-family residential zone.
The coop would need to be at least two metres tall and roomy enough that each flightless bird can stretch her wings. The hens must be confined to the coop from dusk until dawn and each coop “must be constructed so as to prevent the escape of chickens,” according to the District of North Vancouver draft bylaw.
Each chicken must also be at least four months old.
The proposed bylaw doesn’t come without some red tape. The district is contemplating a $200 fine for killing a chicken, $75 for burying a chicken and a $250 penalty for keeping feathered friends in the front yard.
Also, aspiring poultry profiteers are warned the hens are “for personal use,” and that backyard farmers are not permitted to: “sell, trade, or barter, eggs, manure, meat, or other products derived from the hens.”
While chickens got to the other side of municipal rulebooks in the City of North Vancouver in 2012 and West Vancouver in 2015, the District of North Vancouver has been comparatively sheepish, despite years of lobbying by the Canadian Liberated Urban Chicken Klub, or CLUCK.
Besides establishing a closer tie to our food network, the healthier chickens tend to lay eggs with a higher percentage of omega 3 fatty acids, according to a CLUCK representative. The North Shore Black Bear Society has endorsed the plan.
Anyone who doesn’t feel like chicken can voice their concerns or support at dnv.org/programs-services/share-your-thoughts-backyard-hens until April 7.
