The idea of allowing backyard hens in two small communities ruffled feathers a year ago, but there hasn’t been any protest since the pilot project began.
Administration with the Towns of Black Diamond and Turner Valley say they’ve received no complaints since implementing yearlong backyard hen pilot projects in their communities last summer.
The Towns allowed 20 households to participate in the project, but only two signed up to add small flocks to their yards in each town.
On March 18 the Town of Black Diamond presented a report to council reflecting on the first six months of the pilot project that included positive comments from participants, neighbours and inspectors.
“It’s a very positive experience so far for the town,” said Karen Coolen, Black Diamond’s municipal clerk. “We haven’t heard one single cluck from anybody, considering they were clucking like crazy before. I think everybody overthought it. It isn’t as intrusive or smelly as they thought it would be.”
The report shows three households signed up for the pilot project, but only two are currently participating. It states both are in compliance with the requirements for having urban chickens in their yards.
The quarterly inspection includes checking the number of hens, condition of the coop, location, predator situation and hen health, said Coolen.
Participants were also asked if the experience was what they had hoped, if they agree with the four bird limit and if they will continue the program if it becomes a bylaw.
“We just wanted mostly to find out if the experience is what they thought it would be and if they thought it was enough chickens,” said Coolen. “At this point it wasn’t very in-depth, more of a check-in. At the end of the year there will be a bigger report to fill out.”
Seven neighbours surrounding each participant were surveyed, asking if they noticed noise, odours or an increase in predators since the arrival of the hens.
Three people returned the survey giving only positive comments, according to the report
“Most of the neighbours didn’t even comment,” Coolen said. “One guy didn’t even know (their neighbour’s hens) were there yet.”
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Gerry Brunn, who purchased four hens in September, said the experience is exactly what he and his wife expected.
“We were on an acreage years ago and always had chickens then and when this came up I thought, why not?” he said. “The grandkids like it. They enjoy going out and feeding them and picking up the eggs.”
The Black Diamond resident said the hens lay about four eggs a day and they’ve never had problems.
“As long as you maintain their coop there is no problems there,” he said.
As for predators, Brunn said cougars, foxes, coyotes and skunks aren’t unique to the community.
“No matter where you are you are going to have predators around,” he said. “You are going to get predators if you have chickens or not. We had a fox in our yard and they never bothered the chickens.”
Since getting the hens, Brunn said his family has had nothing but positive feedback from neighbours and friends. He said many are interested in the chickens and often bring their children or grandchildren to see them.
Among them is Judy Honeysett.
“The kids that I babysit, we go over there once or twice a week and try and feed them through the fence,” she said. “We are usually there for half an hour at a time.”
Other than a little background noise, she said she doesn’t even realize they are there. While she’s noticed more predators in her yard than in recent years, she’s not concerned.
“We had a fox here for a while and we’ve had skunks,” she said.
Turner Valley administration will present its report to council this month. Bridget Lacey, the Town’s administrative assistant of legislative services, said the Town conducted two quarterly inspections, the most recent last week, involving an administrator and bylaw officer.
“Both of the (participants) in Turner Valley really went the extra mile to make sure the chickens were in really comfortable coops,” she said, adding they added heaters and water heaters for the birds.
Lacey said both households are meeting the standards set by the Town and that there are no offensive odors, no obvious noise levels, no predator concerns, the coops are sufficient and the animals look healthy.
“We would be happy that if the project would go forward that’s the standard that everyone would meet,” she said. “They are going above and beyond what we would have expected. The people have done a very good job of meeting and exceeding our expectations.”
Lacey said the Town hasn’t followed up with neighbours, but from what she’s heard many didn’t know their neighbours had hens.
She said a survey will be submitted to neighbours at the end of the pilot project.
Both Towns will provide an final report to their respective councils in September.
