August 2, 2010

 

Canada's Nanaimo permits backyard chicken raising

Following Vancouver, the city of Nanaimo has also decided to allow residents to raise chickens in their backyards starting this month.

 

Vancouver has even gone so far as to consider a US$20,000 city-run shelter for abandoned chickens. Keeping chickens on urban lots was illegal in Nanaimo until six months ago, when city council voted to revise what they perceived to be an out-of-date bylaw that did not allow any livestock on a property within city limits smaller than one acre.

 

The idea of small animals on urban property has popped up several times in recent years, but city council only seriously considered allowing chickens in Nanaimo last year after the Nanaimo Poultry Collective campaigned and convinced council it would go a long way to reach the goal of local self-sufficiency in food.

 

Under the new rules, Nanaimo residents can keep up to four chickens or ducks on properties less than one acre, but they are limited to two chickens or ducks on properties smaller than 4,843 square feet.

 

City staff will review the bylaw after it's been in place for one year to see if any changes are necessary.

 

There were reasons why the city banned the keeping of chickens and other livestock within its boundaries in the first place many years ago. One of those reasons must have been the overpowering smell from the vast amount of ammonia they knew chickens created in their manure.