Perhaps the most empowering concept in any paradigm-challenging movement is simply opting out. The opt-out strategy can humble the mightiest forces because it declares to one and all, “You do not control me.”

Herd Mentality Won’t Fix Food Problems
by Leigh Davis

The “food revolution” has become the news of the day, but recent developments at the local, federal, and international levels begs the question of “whose revolution?” Read More

There are many flat roofs in Highland Park, from apartment building to office and retail establishments. Wouldn’t it be great if we could get more roof gardens going? We could begin to offset the carbon impact of that big green, plastic rug covering the football field.

By Catherine Rolfsen
Vancouver Sun
March 6 2009

It’s no yolk as city welcomes chickens home.

Two of three feathered friends sent off to a Langley farm will come back to roost in Kitsilano backyard.

Now living in exile in Langley, the two birds will soon be legally allowed back in their coop in Chauvel’s Kitsilano backyard after Vancouver city council voted unanimously Thursday to change city bylaws to legalize the keeping of urban hens.

“I think they’re probably dying to come home,” Chauvel said.

He explained that his family had three birds in their Kitsilano backyard for about a decade, despite bylaws forbidding the keeping of chickens in the city.

“They were friendly, innocuous, they really didn’t bother anybody, and they produced eggs,” he said. “My kids at the time were six and eight, or eight and 10. They named the birds and they kind of bridged being pets and livestock.”

But one day, a bylaw officer called and Chauvel ended up in court twice, fighting for his birds — two of which he argued weren’t actually chickens at all but some sort of exotic bird breed.

“The first time I lost, the second time I won, but it was just becoming too much of a hassle for my wife,” he said.

So the birds went out to pasture at a Langley farm. One has since died, but Chauvel says he’s eager to bring the other two home.

He’ll have to wait a few months, while city staff amend the city’s bylaws and draft guidelines on how to keep the birds safely and humanely.

With Thursday’s motion, moved by Coun. Andrea Reimer, Vancouver is the latest municipality to jump on the urban chicken bandwagon. New York City, Seattle, Portland, Victoria, Burnaby and Richmond all allow backyard hens in some way or another. Online resources and how-to books abound touting the joys of fresh and sustainable eggs.

But not everyone in B.C. is enthusiastic about the keeping of backyard hens. The BCSPCA and the Vancouver Humane Society both spoke against Thursday’s motion.

“While we sympathize with the interests of local people who want to keep these hens for the sustainability interests, we have concern that not everyone who is interested in keeping these chickens has the necessary knowledge or expertise to raise them humanely,” BCSPCA animal welfare coordinator Geoff Urton told The Vancouver Sun earlier Thursday.

Urton said he’s worried urban chickens could be easy targets for coyotes or raccoons and attract rats. What’s more, he’s not convinced that Vancouverites will be able to find a vet able to care for their birds or even know where to buy the right kind of feed.

BC Poultry Association president Ray Nickel called the motion “ridiculous” and said it flies in the face of food safety concerns.

“What if AI [avian influenza] started to happen with some of the flocks?” he asked, explaining that an urban outbreak could potentially affect export opportunities for his entire industry.

In Victoria, where backyard chickens have long been legal, the feathered fowl have caused some problems, but nothing major and no animal cruelty issues, said Ian Fraser, a senior animal control officer with Victoria Animal Control Service.

“When I get a call about it in Victoria, [usually] the chicken owner has made themselves a really cheap chicken coop,” Fraser said.

“It’s usually noise, smell, flies, ‘chickens are in my yard and they’re scratching up stuff.’ ”

Fraser said he gets about 12 poultry-related calls a year. But he said there’s no reason urban dwellers can’t successfully keep a few chickens, so long as there are some regulations.

Fraser has a few regulatory tips for the city staff tasked with drafting Vancouver’s guidelines: build a decent chicken coop, keep them in at night, ensure there is adequate yard space, and make sure city folk aren’t trying to sell eggs for profit or, worse, slaughtering their chickens themselves.

Chauvel said he expects the few Vancouverites who will get chickens will care for them exceptionally. “If you were a chicken you would be imploring the animals rights activists and the city council to approve this bylaw, because it’s the best thing that can happen in terms of chicken welfare,” he said. “Any resident that has two to four chickens, that means two to four chickens less in a battery cage environment.”

So you want to get chickens? Here’s a four-step guide to successful ownership for the uninitiated.

Heather Havens recently taught a backyard chicken workshop in Richmond that she said was filled beyond capacity — with half the attendees from Vancouver.

Here are her steps to successful chicken ownership:

Havens recommends Chickens in Your Backyard: A Beginner’s Guide by Rick and Gail Luttmann, Chicken Tractor by Andy Lee, and the websites justfood.org, poultryone.com and backyardchickens.com.

You can buy pre-made ones from Southlands Farm, or plan your own with help online. It must be secure enough to keep out raccoons and rats, but well-ventilated.

The henhouse should have 1.5 square feet per chicken, and the birds should have eight square feet each of outdoor space.

Available at commercial feed stores across the valley. Feed is available at Tisol pet food stores. There are a variety of ways to find chickens, which can range from free to hundreds of dollars for a specialty bird. Havens suggests talking to your local feed store or 4-H club, or even try Craigslist. There are also poultry auctions in the Fraser Valley. Havens recommends newbie owners get young or adult birds rather than chicks, and start with a flock of three to six. A hen in her prime will lay about two eggs every three days.

Some forums at Garden Web which might be useful:
Container Gardening
Small Spaces/Urban Gardening
Balcony Gardening

Then the farm hired a director of agriculture to expand the agriculture using sustainable methods, and a field manager to plot and care for about two acres of vegetables it will be growing — mostly heirloom varieties from organic seeds. The farm also increased production in the antique greenhouse on raised beds and added a plastic-covered hoop house so it can have year-round crops.

For the first time, the farm is running a stand at the Union Square Greenmarket. Every Monday since November, the farm has been selling greenhouse produce — more than 15 pounds of salad greens each week — eggs, honey, frozen heirloom tomatoes from last summer’s abundance, and pork from pasture-raised pigs.

There is an extra-large chicken coop with plenty of outdoor space for scratching and pecking. By the summer there will be several chicken tractors — small hen houses on wheels that enable the birds to fertilize the fields with their droppings and feast on crop-damaging insects.

Adrian Benepe, the commissioner of the city’s parks department, sees the farm’s future in its past:  “It’s a part of a model for how we can be a more sustainable city.”

New York Times, 3/4/09, Annaliese Griffin

Soil Not Oil: Environmental Justice in an Age of Climate Crisis by Vandana Shiva

Food Matters: A Guide to Conscious Eating with More Than 75 Recipes by Mark Bittman

Endgame Vol. 1 & 2 by Derrick Jensen

Last Child in the Woods: Saving Our Children From Nature Deficit Disorder by Richard Louv

Edible Gardens Seeds: Preserving traditional seeds and providing funding for
conservation efforts, community seed banks and educational programs around the world.

No Thyme Productions: Flower, vegetable and herb seeds from quality companies including Renee’s Garden, Botanical Interests, Kitazawa and Southern Exposure Seeds.

Seeds of Change: Based in New Mexico, and originally founded by Nina Simons and Kenny Ausubel of Bioneers. Currently owned by M&M Mars. Certified organic seeds, live plants, tools and supplies. Also offers a donation program.

Eating Locally, Even in Winter