Foul Play

Kamloops will not be welcoming Urban Hens this spring as City Council has voted against our pilot project in favor of keeping the status quo and their heads buried in the sand. Granted, we did win over a few more councilors, some of whom have become very enthusiastic supporters. It was also encouraging that they debated our case for a full hour (visibly longer than Mayor Millobar wished to endure) and the vote ended in a tie which means a defeat. Once again the meeting room was packed out with chicken supporters, some sporting hen shaped tea cozies or paper-mache chicken helmets on their heads - I'm not sure if this actually helped our cause, but it showed spirit nonetheless. By-laws department was raked over the coals for their negative recommendation that lacked a revised pilot project option which it was supposed to include.  Also absent from the recommendation was any positive insight that might have been gained had they contacted other large cities that have made urban hens work. After the motion to allow the project was defeated, Councilor Wallace - possibly wanting to have the last word - launched into a speech about how we were doomed to fail from the beginning. She declared that she used to have chickens (many, many years ago) and advised everyone against them and shame on us for expecting by-law officers to have to stick their heads in smelly coops....etc. We were all shuffling out by then.

Our next move has yet to be decided, but one thing is for sure, it is just the beginning for the Urban Hens Movement in Kamloops.  

Chicken Ambition

This is a sketch of what a "Chicken Tractor" can look like. It is a must have for the city dwelling hen and is most likely what will be widely used if Kamloops catches up to other future friendly cities like Burnaby, Victoria, New York, Portland, and Seattle who all allow chickens on properties smaller than one acre.

It's purpose: to be able to move the chickens to areas of your yard that you want "mowed", fertilized, weeded, cultivated and removed of insects. 

My ambition is to make raised garden beds in corresponding size to the base of the chicken tractor and fill them with kitchen and garden scraps. I would then place the tractor over a bed until the chickens have turned, fertilized, and devoured any weed seeds they could find in it. Then I would move it to the next one and so on. The beds would soon be premium, organic, locally sourced soil for growing my own fruits and vegetables. Just think of the fabulous acorn squashes I would have next fall!

Hen Huggers

My employer's daughters Sonja (top), and Erika with their beloved chickens. This family lives in Kamloops on property bigger than 1 acre. There are a dozen hens in their coop and I have the pleasure of feeding them once in a while and collecting their eggs. The hens are well looked after and greet you with happy clucking noises when you open the door to their coop. I can report first hand that they do not stink! Sometimes I am given the excess eggs to take home and enjoy. The yolks of these eggs (free-range, organic) are a deep orange and contain one third less cholesterol — and one fourth less saturated fat than commercially produced eggs. Comparison also shows free-range, organic vs. commercial may contain: 2/3 more vitamin A, 2 times more omega-3 fatty acids, 3 times more vitamin E, and 7 times more beta carotene. Chew on that for a while.

Creating a Fuss

I never thought I would be an activist and yet, here I am. No more armchair ranting. It's time for public action.

The city of Kamloops will not allow me, or anyone else with property less than an acre, to have chickens for the purpose of collecting and eating their nutritious eggs. 

We the "Urban Hens Movement", organized by TRU student Bonnie Klohn, packed out a meeting room before Mayor Peter Millobar and City Council on December 9th, 2008 to propose our experimental pilot project. 

This was the proposed project:

"About 40 families will go through a series of courses about hen husbandry, public safety, disease prevention and coup building during the winter. In March 2009 each family will acquire 3 hens and keep them for 6 months. The aim is to create a group of educated, responsible hen owners in Kamloops and to improve food security/sustainability within the city. It will help to get people thinking more about where their food comes from and what is in it. After the pilot an evaluation will be done and a by-law proposal will be put forth to the city that is tailored specifically to Kamloops needs, keeping in mind what worked and what did not in the pilot."

Council proposed to amend the project and asked By-law council to look it over and make recommendations. It was not a defeat.....yet.

The current situation is as such; According to sources within the city, there is very little support from upper management (Including the Mayor, who has already said he is against it). They are also recommending the number of pilot families be reduced to 20. The Council makes their final vote on January 27th, 2009. There is little time left to rally support, but it must be done. Council must be made to understand that many people are in support of this and we will not go away quietly! 

If you live and the city of Kamloops and support eating local and believe we should have the freedom to use our own land for our own food production, please take a few minutes and write an email to our Mayor and council at info@kamloops.ca 

You can also help by writing to our local news papers at letters@kamloopsnews.ca and editor@kamloopsthisweek.com