Backyards, Not Barnyards. Chickens smell Chickens are noisy Chickens are farm animals and do not belong in the city
I take it none of the people who have commented here have chickens for a neighbour like Ms Forhan.
So you think there is no impact on neighbors? Those of us with prior experience raising chickens know you can’t disguise the smell of chicken waste that has saturated into the boards in chicken coops or into the soil. The presence of chicken waste, spilled feed, undiscovered eggs and “home food waste” will attract mice, rats, squirrels, possums, raccoons, and foxes. Even if you don’t inadvertently purchase a rooster, the presence of any of uninvited creatures or even neighborhood dogs can cause a racket in a hen house any time.
The presence of backyard chickens will impact neighbors and add pollutants to storm runoff.
The only notable related case was R v Smedley, (2008 NSSC 397), where a family had kept chickens in their backyard in very “luxurious” coops. The family was charged pursuant to section 4.12(a)(ii) of the Land Use By-law for Beaver Bank, Hammonds Plains and Upper Sackville within Halifax Regional Municipality (PDF). Section 4.12(a)(ii) stipulates that accessory buildings (such as coops) shall not be used for keeping livestock except where agriculture is a permitted use. The family argued that these chickens were their beloved “family pets” and although they did not keep them for the purposes of egg production, the eggs were a “happy coincidence”. The family had spent $2,500.00 to build the coops and had put extreme efforts into ensuring the coops were aesthetically pleasing, and moreover, not a nuisance to their neighbours. On appeal, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court affirmed the decision from the Nova Scotia Provincial Court stating that “fowl”, a category of livestock prohibited in non-agricultural urban residences, included chickens, whether or not the owner saw them as “family pets”.
Although the R v Smedley case was primarily concerned with statutory interpretation rather than Charter rights, it has provided aspiring backyard chicken owners with an understanding of how to recognize the strict nature of urban livestock regulation that is inherent in every municipality. And now with the recent Hughes decision given on September 5th, 2012, those municipalities across Canada that have not yet legislated permissive backyard chicken provisions may rely on the Honourable Judge Skene’s decision to justify their position that backyard chickens will continue to be defined as livestock not appropriate for urban raising.
Recent Comments
I take it none of the people who have commented here have chickens for a neighbour like Ms Forhan.
So you think there is no impact on neighbors? Those of us with prior experience raising chickens know you can’t disguise the smell of chicken waste that has saturated into the boards in chicken coops or into the soil. The presence of chicken waste, spilled feed, undiscovered eggs and “home food waste” will attract mice, rats, squirrels, possums, raccoons, and foxes. Even if you don’t inadvertently purchase a rooster, the presence of any of uninvited creatures or even neighborhood dogs can cause a racket in a hen house any time.
The presence of backyard chickens will impact neighbors and add pollutants to storm runoff.
The only notable related case was R v Smedley, (2008 NSSC 397), where a family had kept chickens in their backyard in very “luxurious” coops. The family was charged pursuant to section 4.12(a)(ii) of the Land Use By-law for Beaver Bank, Hammonds Plains and Upper Sackville within Halifax Regional Municipality (PDF). Section 4.12(a)(ii) stipulates that accessory buildings (such as coops) shall not be used for keeping livestock except where agriculture is a permitted use. The family argued that these chickens were their beloved “family pets” and although they did not keep them for the purposes of egg production, the eggs were a “happy coincidence”. The family had spent $2,500.00 to build the coops and had put extreme efforts into ensuring the coops were aesthetically pleasing, and moreover, not a nuisance to their neighbours. On appeal, the Nova Scotia Supreme Court affirmed the decision from the Nova Scotia Provincial Court stating that “fowl”, a category of livestock prohibited in non-agricultural urban residences, included chickens, whether or not the owner saw them as “family pets”.
Although the R v Smedley case was primarily concerned with statutory interpretation rather than Charter rights, it has provided aspiring backyard chicken owners with an understanding of how to recognize the strict nature of urban livestock regulation that is inherent in every municipality. And now with the recent Hughes decision given on September 5th, 2012, those municipalities across Canada that have not yet legislated permissive backyard chicken provisions may rely on the Honourable Judge Skene’s decision to justify their position that backyard chickens will continue to be defined as livestock not appropriate for urban raising.