Public Eggducation

Bonnie and I were at the "Kamloops' Seedy Saturday" community event (a seed exchange and garden seminar) last weekend with the new Chicken Booth which my husband and I made. We were overwhelmed by the interest and enthusiasm for the Urban Hens Movement! Bonnie had printed up a bunch of post cards for people to sign and send in to our City Council - we ran out in less than an hour. We had oodles of people give their names and info so that we could keep them updated with our progress. 

Since the rejection of our pilot project in January, we have decided to switch gears a bit and focus on educating the public about how chickens in the city can work and what it looks like. The major concerns that I hear from people are still about smell and noise. Interestingly, these concerns come from middle aged citizens who at one point lived with, or near chickens. When I ask them "how many chickens?" the answer is always "a lot!". 

Part of the effort to educate our city is to introduce the idea of small scale poultry farming, involving movable chicken coops for 2 - 4  hens (NO ROOSTERS) called chicken tractors - which I have mentioned before. These coops are easy to clean, mobile, small-predator proof, and allow the hens to be "free range" but not on the loose. It is completely unlike the farmhouse flocks of yesteryear. There is a family in town that have 2 chickens in their back yard and their neighbors didn't notice for almost two years! See: clean and quiet. 

Urban Hens will be at the downtown Farmer's Markets on Saturdays (starting April 18th) and at other community events as they pop up. Keep an eye out for our booth and keep checking "Omelette's for Everyone"(see link to Bonnie's new website) to stay up to date with our events and opportunities for activism. 

Ps, the hen related Kamloops newspaper letters and articles now number over 25. I ran out of fridge magnets!

Hurray for Vancouver!!!

Vancouver City Council just approved a motion to amend their bylaws to allow for backyard hens on properties smaller than 1 acre! Kamloops City Council (those coun. still opposed) eat crow. See for the Vancouver Sun article - http://www.cityfarmer.info/vancouver-city-council-votes-to-allow-chickens-in-yards/

Chick Flick

Our tiny quail chicks hatched yesterday. These pictures show them at one day old. Precious.

Eggs Galore

My husband and I are now the proud owners of three Barred Rock laying hens, two quail, and about 15 incubating quail eggs. We are collecting about two chicken eggs a day and they are superb. The quails have not been regularly laying since their move but I had one of their little spotted delicacies the other day in my soup. 

We are still not legally permitted to have hens on our property so we bought a third of my employer's flock and went halfers on the quail. On the days when I visit the hens to feed them our kitchen scraps and collect their eggs, they tend to lay more than on the days I do not visit. Perhaps it is because I talk and cluck to them and tell them what good girls they are. 

The quail chicks are due to hatch in a few days!

There has been a considerable number (15 or more) of articles and letters to the editor since Jan. 27th regarding the Urban Hen project, all in support of chickens and all upset with City Council. 

In an interview with the Daily News, opposing counc. John O'Fee is quoted saying "People have chickens now, but the city will have to take action if neighbors complain.....the status quo seems to work fine at this point........If it's benign and neighbors don't mind, then it's not an issue worth pursuing" He is implying for us to go ahead and have chickens illegally as we probably won't get caught. This is a dangerous statement. It is like saying "go ahead speed, grow pot, (insert discrete illegal activity here), because unless someone rats you out, you won't get caught". He is discouraging us from our desire to abide by the laws.

At the meeting on Jan. 27th, Mayor Millobar repeatedly mentioned that if we really wanted to have chickens, we could apply for a variance on our property, yet he failed to mention it costs $750 to do so and you are not guaranteed success. 

Counc. DeCicco has said "if you want the country life, move to the country". On this point, my friend and Urban Hen advocate Leslie Welsh observed "He might as well have said 'Let them eat cake'". I cannot imagine a more ignorant statement. The price tag for a hobby farm within a reasonable distance from the city is unaffordable to the majority. It is not an option for us - that is the reason we're fighting to have chickens in the city. Hello?

New terms are beginning to enter our vocabulary such as "The Urban Homestead"and "Backyard Farming". The only way to truly know the who, what, where and hows of our food is to buy local from small farmers that we meet, or if we have a little land to grow and raise our own. I know what my chickens are eating, how they have been treated and how healthy they are. Now that is food security! 

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.