Okotoks town council is considering a bylaw that would allow one more hen in backyard coops, but would not allow them the freedom to peck around free as a bird.
Okotoks Protective Services municipal enforcement administrator Angela Clay and Protective Services director Scott Roberts brought an urban hen bylaw to council July 17 for first reading.
The bylaw allows for one more hen, or four hens, for each family with a backyard chicken coop.
However, it doesn’t allow for the chickens to roam around backyards, restricting them to a coop and a caged run.
“It was determined that hens can fly, despite a number of things, including clipping their wings,” Clay said.
The bylaw still requires two more readings by town council to come into affect.
Members of the Okotoks chapter of the Canadian Liberated Urban Chicken Klub (CLUCK) asked they be allowed five hens and the ability to allow their chickens to roam free.
Cluck member, Jenni Bailey, said the bylaw is heading in the right direction, but said she will write a letter to council asking them to reconsider allowing supervised free-range time.
“People in the program have been proven responsible,” she said.
Bailey said some chickens are better able to take flight, but said they are not likely to.
“When I’m out having a cup of coffee they are at my feet,” she said. “These are domesticated animals.”
As long as the owner is in the backyard, it would be very difficult for any of the chickens to escape, she said.
“In all my years of backyard chickens, not one has left the yard,” Bailey said. “It’s just not a concern. But to have them eat fresh grass and get bugs in my yard is a need and want for chickens. They like the open space and to wander. When they’ve had enough, they head back in the run on their own.”
Neighbouring communities have rules that allow for free-range urban chickens, she added.
“The program in Black Diamond and Turner Valley stipulates a clipped wing on one side and have free ranging,” said Bailey. “They have no flighting issues.”
Bailey said she likely won’t be adding another hen unless the Town allows the chickens to leave their pens and coops.
She said her outdoor run is not big enough for another hen.
The urban hen program started as a pilot program in April 2015 after Bailey’s backyard hens were reported to municipal enforcement.
It was approved as a permanent program in October and is only open to 18 households. Bailey said she believes that number has now been reached.
The Town charges $30 for a hen permit fee.
