West Nipissing council looking at potential backyard chicken bylaw

West Nipissingcouncil is considering whether to permit and regulate the practice of keepingchickens in urban residential areas like Sturgeon Falls and Verner.

During a council meeting earlier this week, staff prepared a memo to the mayor and council outlining the results of a public consultation that was conducted in April.

The memo consisted of a number of considerations related to the pros and cons of keeping chickens, also known as "backyard chickens,"in urban residential zones.

The public survey received 442 responses from residents, and 79 per cent of respondents supported having chickens on urban residential properties. 92 per cent support having chickens on rural residential properties.

However, the keeping of roosters, the number of chickens permitted, and cleanliness were the top three concerns that residents expressed in the survey.

While there's overwhelming support for backyard chickens from the public, some members of council are wary about the idea.

West Nipissing councillor Daniel Gagn says chickens should be kept in rural and agricultural areas.

"I don't think chickens are pets," he told council.

"Chickens should be in the outskirts of the downtown area. I'd like the number of chicken, depending on the size of your property, to be limited."

Under current bylaws, keeping chickens is only permitted in agricultural and rural zones in West Nipissing.

LISTEN / Councillors in West Nipissing are weighing the possibility of a chicken bylaw:

Morning North7:12West Nipissing considering allowing chickens to be kept in backyards

Backyard chickens were a hot municipal issue in the northeast a few years ago. Only a handful of towns went ahead. Now though, West Nipissing could be the next town to allow them.

Mayor Kathleen Thorne Rochon said managing backyard chickens is challenging for people living in multi-residential properties.

"What if the guy who lives in the basement doesn't want chickens and the guy on the main floor does? And where does the landlord sit with this? Do you need landlord permission if you're in a rental property?" said Rochon.

"It's easy to say everybody should be able to have chickens if they want them. But when you actually start to look at some of the more detailed nuances of how to manage that, I think it gets a little complex."

But councillor Kris Rivard argued that there are already many people keeping chickens illegally in West Nipissing and not ruffling any feathers with their neighbours.

"If we can find a way to make it work for everyone and help these illegal chickens get permanent residency in West Nipissing," he said.

"Just finding a good in-between."

Considerations in the report

The advantages of backyard chickens are slim in the report: food security and the educational value of raising chickens are the only two considerations.

Whereas there are almost a dozen disadvantages listed in the report from noise and waste levels, potential for disease, and veterinary capacity in the municipality.

In Ontario, only 26 municipalities out of 444 permit backyard urban chickens.

While many communities in northeastern Ontario have looked at loosening the rules around where you're allowed to keep farm animals, only a couple have done it.

A few years ago, North Bay and Greater Sudbury decided against permitting people in urban areas to keep chickens.

Backyard chickens are only permitted in smaller northeastern Ontario towns like South River and Powassan.

In South River, a bylaw passed in 2022 requires a one-time $100 license to keep chickens in the village. The municipality says there are currently only five licensed chicken coops.

In Powassan, besides the factthat people aren't allowed to have roosters due to noise levels, the bylaw has been working, said Mayor Peter McIsaac.

"It's not been not an issue in the municipality at all since we've done this. It's not something that I hear about where people are complaining, and most people that have the chickens, respect the bylaw and do things properly, so there's usually no issues to it," he said.

West Nipissing council is set to continue debating a potential chicken bylaw at its next meeting.