Diamond Valley residents given the nod to keep egg-laying hens in their backyards are clucking with excitement.
Three residents in Black Diamond and two in Turner Valley were approved to participate in a 12-month backyard hen pilot project starting Aug. 1 and ending July 31, 2015. A third approval in Turner Valley is pending. The deadline for applicants was in late July for both towns.
Turner Valley resident Margaret Krichbaum said she won’t have time to build a chicken coop for her backyard until late August, but she is eager to get going.
“I’m excited about designing the perfect coop and trying to put together all of the information we gathered,” she said. “The main motivation for me is I like chickens because they are fun. I miss having them and I love getting the eggs.”
Krichbaum is a member of the Diamond Valley Canadian Liberated Urban Chicken Klub (CLUCK), the group that brought the idea to both Towns last fall. She plans to purchase four hens – the project’s limit per household.
“We’re only allowed four so I’m going to get four,” she said. “I definitely wouldn’t want any less.”
Krichbaum has spoken with her neighbours about her participation in the project and said for the most part she is supported in her decision.
“One is completely unconcerned about what I’m doing and another young family is interested in having chickens themselves, but not right now,” she said. “Another neighbour is probably not that excited about me having them, but I’m going to do my best to make sure she isn’t disturbed by them. Hopefully she won’t notice they are there and everything will be fine.”
When Krichbaum and other members of Diamond Valley CLUCK brought the idea of a backyard hen pilot project forward, it was met with mixed emotions.
Several residents were opposed to the project due to concerns of noise, smell, sanitation and predators, but many others supported the idea.
Krichbaum said she expected more people to take on the pilot project due to the amount of support expressed, but figures only three applied in each town because of the time commitment and work involved in keeping hens.
She said Red Deer’s pilot project had about 30 participants, so Diamond Valley lines up proportionately.
“Three is enough to get a feel for what it’s like,” she said. “I’m happy with that. I think it’s going to go great because we are all prepared and everybody is motivated to have a positive experience.”
Verna Staples, Town of Black Diamond legislative services manager, said a Town employee or peace officer will be designated to conduct quarterly inspections on the properties of those participating in the program, as well as a survey for participants and neighbours to gather information that will help council determine what to do at the end of the pilot project.
“We want the neighbours’ input as the project goes forward so we know if it’s a good thing or bad thing,” she said. “With three people we are really assuming these are going to be crčme de la crčme with hen owners.”
Staples said she expected to see more applicants for the pilot project at the start of the journey, but was not surprised to have only three submissions despite the cap being at 20.
“As we got closer I thought we probably wouldn’t have anything near that,” she said. “At some point along the way the conversation changed a little bit and it became more apparent that people were wanting others to have the right do to it, rather than own them themselves.”
Black Diamond participant Berri-Lynn Levert looks forward to the experience of having her own hens, including healthier soil, organic eggs and the education it will provide her three children.
“My kids just love animals and I think the entertainment will be good,” she said. “A lot of chickens are pretty entertaining – just things that they do and their personalities. On a personal level I just want to learn as much as I can about what they can do for us.”
Levert said she will buy her chickens and bedding from local farmers and shop locally for her supplies.
“Someone had mentioned before that we are taking away business from local farmers, but I’m actually giving them more than I would otherwise just buying their eggs,” she said. “I’m shopping locally for everything that I need.”
Levert hopes as the months go on people will become more accepting of the idea of having hens in an urban setting.
“Hopefully (it will show) people that it really isn’t a big deal and it’s not going to affect the neighbours or anything like that,” she said.
Levert said the Diamond Valley CLUCK group will hold monthly meetings for hen keepers and people wanting to learn about keeping backyard hens.
“We’ve met other people around who are in the foothills who are just starting out as well,” she said. “It broadens our education that way.”
Those interested in attending the monthly meetings can contact Berri-Lynn Levert at 403-993-1745.
