ottawa foodies

Yea, or nea?

I'd like to have one here in the Parkdale Market area, but the city won't let me. I believe the smell and noise of a few chickens for personal use would be less than my neighbours 3 huge dogs. I have enough spent grain over the course of a summer that I could easily feed them at no cost to me, and slaughter them in the fall so I don't have to worry about overwintering them.

If regulated, hygene would not be an issue - certainly less so of an issue than the irresponsible dog owners who leave poo everywhere - so obvious this time of year.

i like it. so long as there are standards to properly containing (cooping?) them.

seems Vancouver may be somewhat receptive to the idea!

www.cbc.ca

Zymurgist, I find it really unfortunate that you can't do it. You raise a great point about dogs in my opinion. All those dogs living in flats downtown have to take care of their business somewhere...

One way you could easily get around the regulations (warning: controversial suggestion ;) would be to have a rabbit hutch. I've thought about this before, we had pet rabbits as kids in a suburban setting, they were very clean, provided lots of fertilizer and ate veggie scraps. Of course we didn't eat them, but you could. A well designed hutch could keep you with a pretty regular supply of meat...unfortunately no eggs though!

Hmmm, not a bad idea with the rabbits. Though part of the point of the chickens is that I have an enless supply of free food for them (spent brewing grain), so they'd be next to free to feed.

I may just do it for the sake of raising the issue.

Trachino & Zym - Thinking (out loud here) that the Rabbits would probably raise the ire of the SPCA... I think they probably allow in town hutches for HousePets... Hassenpfeffer not so much.

As for the Chickens, I'm guessing that too is a no-no because they are deemed "agriculutural" when you raise them for consumption (eggs or meat) same rule I'm guessing would apply to the aforementioned rabbits.

Add to that all the stuff about "bird flu" and well I'm thinking this is no-contest.

City of Ottawa = 1 - Zym the Food Naturalist = 0

Bird flu comes from the super-duper cramped environments of the feed-lots of chickens. It does not come from small time coops. Of course, unbridled fear-mongering has never stopped anyone before from making the right decision.

My Uncle kept chickens a couple of summers when I was a kid. There are a lot of pest problems - things that like to eat chickens that your neighbours would probably complain about. Plus the noise. If you had a rooster out there and I lived next door I'd plan a midnight raid myself lol.

this is a great site for information on how to do it..not much in terms of legal info because it is US based..but I know they had a similiar problem getting information from city about urban chicken coops ( if you do a quick search on the site you should find it).

www.homegrownevolution.com/

I too having been thinking about a rabbit hutch. I grew up having one in the backyard, it was easy to maintain and the rabbits had a fair amount of room to move around.

My dad has been doing it for 30 some years but not in this area.

Anyone know what the legal mumbo on them in Ottawa (Orleans)?

I've been dying for an urban chicken coop - I just wish we could get cracking with this (pun fully intended!). I'd raise the happiest chickens in Westboro!

You can keep up to five adult rabbits, but for pets only (not for food).

Here's the bylaw:
www.ottawa.ca

Section 81:
No person shall keep rabbits in an area of the City where the zoning permits residential land use unless:
(a) no more than five (5) rabbits over the age of seven (7) weeks are kept on the property of any dwelling unit,
(b) the rabbits are kept as pets only,
(c) the rabbits, if routinely kept outside, are kept in a properly constructed hutch or cage that is so constructed as to prevent escape by the rabbit, and
(d) all lands and premises where rabbits are kept, are kept in a sanitary condition at all times, and all waste materials are disposed of in a manner that will not create a public nuisance or health hazard.

Section 82:
Section 81 shall not apply to a person keeping rabbits where such person resides on lands zoned agricultural, general rural, rural, rural-agricultural or marginal resource in the applicable zoning by-laws of the old municipalities or any successor by-law thereto.

This same bylaw covers chickens - it's a bit clearer:

Section 74:
(1) No person shall keep livestock in any area of the City unless the area is zoned for that purpose or is lawfully used for that purpose.

The definitions section confirms that chickens count as livestock.

Re: Rabbits, there is at least two farmers I know of locally including one in bells corners *cough* that let my friend's father rear them by what seemed the tonne to slaughter and sell to local restaurants. I imagine you can set up a deal with a local farmer.

Re: Chicken Coops. The last time I lived in Victoria I think it was legal and I'm pretty sure it had good success there victorialocalfoodfest.ca will have info on it or a link. Last year they were talking about it in Waterloo maybe that fell through not sure look it up.

I'm not falling down the rabbit hole of looking up municipal bylaws and qualifications to them etc etc it's a minefield at the best of times

buuuuut this entry seems overly vague
"Section 74:
(1) No person shall keep livestock in any area of the City unless the area is zoned for that purpose or is lawfully used for that purpose. "

'lawfully used' I'm sure probably is meant for stuff like live chickens at food fests/markets or even a cow for a cow chip bingo but there may be ways to get a pilot project for urban coops approved that way to lead towards fully amending bylaws to 100% permit them with restrictions in the future.

If you want my thoughts on how to frame a discussion with city councilors on this PM me and I'll shoot you what I'd do in the same boat but you'll have to do all the heavy lifting of reviewing and re-reviewing bylaws. (usually finding a friendly ear in the relevant city department helps)

GT is a bit right here, about the pilot project and so forth. I can possibly talk to my old co-workers in Bylaw to see how one could/would go about this with some degree of speed. Or if anything like it has been tried.

Generally, if you know someone in the office it helps because then you can find out who is active on the relevant city committee (which is always 100% needed to be on board) or if there are any department heads or city officers with a related interest/experience.

Provided there is nothing explicitly prohibiting it (or the current council thinks there is) you can usually find a way to get a pilot project approved via a committee vote without the whole council needing to be on board if it's within their discretion, it would be rare that a department itself would have that level of discretion; but every city varies and I am promising nothing.

I can come up with a checklist of what I think is needed but a lot of it is common sense, you always start by identifying municipalities where it has worked and contact them for any and all info they're willing to hand over. It works best if they're in the same Province so it would be interesting to see what happened in Waterloo but a major municipality in another province is the next best thing.

*addition* definitely if you want this to happen let me know because I can also think of a local environmentalist who lives in Old Ottawa South and this would fall 100% within the parameters of current projects he's working on re: sustainability and urban greening and if he wanted to spearhead this you could probably get a lot of doors opened for you via him.

I'm more of the type who begs forgiveness rather than asks permission, but I am 100% into doing this one way or the other. As already mentioned, I have a steady supply of free chicken food from my brewing friends. Why would I not?

k well if you want to go at it that way; I'd suggest you look up and contact David Chernushenko, davidc.ca and livinglightly.ca (I think on the 2nd) are two of his sites

He may even be interested in filming your project on another side note

Somehow I knew that would be your contact Turtle - I've contacted him in the past about other stuff. Cheers.

If it's because you perceived me to be a Green Party member you'd be wrong, I met him when I worked as a fundraiser for a local arts organization and he was a candidate in Ottawa Centre running against Richard Mahoney.

I figured this was totally in keeping with his new life as a sustainability activist though. I trust you found him really approachable and accommodating in the past he has been for me.

Bumping this to the top because someone in Toronto is trying an urban chicken coop and the story may be of interest: www.torontochickens.com

Legal in vancouver now

www.torontochickens.com

Pasta Lover & Zym - Interesting... I noted that the primary purpose (only purpose?) listed in the Toronto reference was for "eggs"... no mention of the future possibility of slaughtering the chickens for dinner. ;-)

Thinking though that the PETA nuts would go ape over this one... I mean lets face it their "agenda" is no meat for anyone.

This reminds me in part of my recent visit to Key West... there chickens are really "free range" they roam the whole island (although mostly in Old Town) and no one seems to care... they are just part of the "charm" of Old Key West. They don't seem to be an issue at all... so I would think they'd translate quite well to someone's backyard... but then this can be a "stuffy town" don't think that the whole Rooster in the neighbourhood would go over well here. LOL

Zyu: looks as though there's some local activism on this issue on Facebook already...

www.facebook.com

*bump*

a woman in Calgary was charged with having livestock in the city; she's pled not guilty...I'm curious to see where this will go.

ca.news.yahoo.com

I would LOVE to be able to keep chickens! I would be behind this as long as there were enough regulations in place to ensure that those who were keeping them were doing so in proper conditions.

Belgian town gives out free chickens

news.bbc.co.uk

Hi everyone.
As you are all probably aware there is currently a ban on backyard chickens in Ottawa under bylaw 2003-77.

I'd like to see an amendment to this bylaw but searches online give me little information on any individual or groups who is already spearheading this initiative.

Justfood.ca sent out a newsletter recently that included a link to a petition which I signed. I did not start this and I have no affiliation with justfood.ca but would like to share it with you.

If you want the right to your own food security and have chickens in your backyard then I'd recommend you sign it. It is free to sign.

www.ipetitions.com

How can you help? Write your MP (if you need a sample letter please email me at lyssa143 @ gmail.com) Find your MP here: tinyurl.com/yg9krm5

Write the Chief of Bylaw Municipal Services in Ottawa (Linda Anderson) she stated that Urban Poultry is not on "her" list to do in 2010 .. urge her to reconsider! Contact: Linda.anderson @ ottawa.ca

Thanks all!
Lyssa

I signed the petition and sent the following email to Ms Anderson, and got a reply back just noting that she got my email. I think it is important to point out like I do in my email that chickens will be far less of a problem than pets that are already everywhere

---snip---

Hi there,

Please add my voice to those citizens who would like to keep urban poultry.

My neighbour has 3 HUGE dogs and I can assure you there is no way on
this planet a few 5 lb chickens are going to make anywhere near the
amount of noise and smell as those 150 lb dogs.

Ha! Not to mention the odour created by the neighbourhood cats roaming free and marking territory on the kitchen door. A few chickens would be nothing in comparison!

I think the biggest beef is with the Roosters.
City slikers like to sleep in. Heck! they have breakfest at noon.
Roosters can make a heck of a racket at sun-up. :-)

refashionista, this is off topic, but i am glad to see i am not the only person dealing with the tom cats at the kitchen door issue. i detest the smell and have found no way to get rid of it entirely.

HFF: All the more irritating, as we are responsible cat owners with "indoor" pets. Ours only go outside if they are on a leash, and only in our yard. It's frustrating.

Have been considering clearing off the porch entirely and soaking with Petzyme.

ETA: Once it warms up, I'm going to start trapping the darn things on my step and turning them over to the Humane Society.

i've considered the trapping and much worse ;)

i think the loose cats are a downtown issue, many are probably strays, though some are put out when the owners go to work.

we have new screen doors on both front and kitchen doors and i had hoped that would help, but they started the spraying back up again. they even targeted our baby stroller on the porch (i cover it with a large bbq cover).

i have been using nature's miracle from pet smart, and it neutralizes the smell for me, but the cat's know exactly where to return too. it is so much worse when it soaks into the wood, damp weather just turns the smell up.

i have tried keeping a large pot of water near the door and if i see one, dumping it on them, but they are surprisingly fast.

We had some luck in warmer months w/ trapping them and hosing them down before setting them free. It's the same 4 or 5 cats we seein our yard, and at this point I'm going to trap them and turn them over as "nuisance" animals. If they're not spayed/neutered and roaming, they're contributing to the cat problem. I have no moral qualms about handing them over to the City.

I'm seriously annoyed that it's legal to let cats roam, yet dogs (rightly) need to be indoors or leashed. Cats are just as dangerous and destructive.

And, no, I'll not try to put this back on topic by suggesting turning them into "urban sausage" or something. ;)

We have a live trap you can borrow - once we get rid of ours of course.

We trapped them a number of years ago and gave them a really good soaking with the hose, then let them go. They learn not to come back. But then someone stole our trap. I bought a new one in the fall but will not trap them in winter because they could die in the cold. And I certainly would not soak them in winter.

For those interested - update - there should be a short letter to the editor in tomorrow's Ottawa Citizen that I submitted. It will include the petition link and a facebook group towards the cause of legalizing urban chickens.
Thanks for those that have already signed :)
Lyssa

Urban chicken coops were featured in CBC's dinner hour newscast last night. It looks like there is growing momentum. They also mentioned the facebook page with a link to the petition chickenaddicted mentioned in her post above. You can find the info here: www.facebook.com

Urban beekeeping now legal in New York:

cnews.canoe.ca

Vancouver approves it

www.ctvbc.ctv.ca

Alot of cities are starting to come on board with the idea of allowing hens in backyards (with regulations of course!)
Vancouver, now Calgary (doing a 1 yr pilot project), Edmonton is considering it.

The Ottawa online petition now has 370 signatures since going up end of February and growing.

There is a facebook group as well www.facebook.com which is an Ottawa chapter of the CLUCK group that started out of Calgary.

Website with updates www.cluckottawa.co.nr/

Slow but steady. There should be a workshop in May and a showing of Mad City Chickens if anyone is interested in learning more about that should check out the facebook group.

Calgary recently dropped the charges against Paul Hughes and Mary Contrary when they said they would go to court to challenge the law based on Article 25 of the United Nation's Human Rights Declaration. The city not only dropped all charges they did a turn around and ok'd a pilot project!

I signed the petition. Officially I live in Ottawa but really I live in rural West Carleton, not on a farm but large enough property to have chickens IF I want them.

I just read this article in a back issue of Harrowsmith (October 2009) and I thought it might be of interest:

Six years ago, my wife and I welcomed our first laying hens to our comer of the countiyside. As it is for so many who weren't bom to country living, this was our first venture into hobby farming. We were green but full of enthusiasm and confidence, having read volumes on the subject long before the chicks arrived.
We were never more proud than the morning, four months later, when one of the girls, at last fully grown, produced her first egg. It's been clear sailing ever since. Early on, we mastered the basics of food, water and shelter (see "A Bird in the Hand," April 2005) and just like the manuals said, the chickens have hardly been any work at all. But there are a few things the books didn't tell us. I never knew, for example, that you can actually improve the performance of the hens. Not only will you get more eggs,you'll get bener eggs. Their shells are harder and the yoiks are thicker and more colourful. Best of all, you'll notice a fresher flavour. Here's a sampling of some of the things that have come from experience. Advice from a guy who coaxed his chickens into
producing better eggs.

Let your girls lead a stress-free life. On a hobby farm, the most prolific layers are those that are allowed to run free-range, scratching at the soil, bathing in the dust and doing other things that chickens do- They also get a more balanced diet, including insects and grubs. Generally, they won't wander from the coop and have sense enough to come back to the rcxîst at dusk. Two caveats: You'll have to be more vigilant about predators (including the family dog) and be aware that chickens can run roughshod in the garden. Confined chickens can be almost as content, provided they have lots or room to run around in the coop and perhaps a fenced outdoor area immediately adjacent to it.

To get clean, intact eggs that you can find easily, you need to persuade the flock to lay where you want them to, not in a corner among their droppings or hidden between the bales up in the hay mow. That's why it's important to equip your coop with nest boxes. You'll need one for every four hens and they should be mounted a good two feet off the floor. Line the boxes with straw. Once they are trained to lay there, they'll likely maintain the habit, even if they're allowed to wander free-range.

You can make your own omega-3 eggs. Just add flax (one of the best sources of omega3 fatty acids) to the chicken feed: about 5 and a half pounds (2.5 kg) of flax seed to a standard 55-lb (25-kg) bag of layer crumb. Beware, though: Too much can make the eggs taste fishy.

Despite your best efiorts, there will be times when the flock refuses to cooperate and egg production dwindles to a trickle. This will happen twice a year when the birds' metabolism switches from producing eggs to producing new feathers. This can last a few weeks but if you're lucky, you'll have enough birds that the moult will be staggered and you won't notice the decline much. Believe me, nothing defeats the hobby farmer more than finding no eggs in the nest boxes every day. I learned that one the hard way.

ottawa.ctv.ca

CLUCK is making their case known to the city.

chicken coop plans

Many individuals ask myself all the time what the best hen house plan tend to be. this i will go over the chicken coop ideas which i think you'll enjoy. You will find easy to use and come several hen house designs. In case you are only would like a few right up until eventually 4 poultry you will find tiny pens, 7 untill eight you can find medium dimension houses and even fifty more you'll need huge coop.

Below some tips you need to remember before build your coop

Whenever making the hen house, you will also wish to spot gates the location the place that the hens sit on their particular eggs. This will make the gathering associated with ova a simple process and you may not need to disrupt the hens to get.

Make certain you've provided adequate protection against predators in your area. Slide bolts and simple locks are no match for a raccoon that smells chicken. Raccoons are smart and you may need to consider a padlock or other complex lock to keep them out. Hope the tips can help you.

Learn about how to get free chicken coop plan. just visit

1st-chicken-coop-plans.blogspot.com

"Many individuals ask myself" is incorrect use of the reflexive pronoun. It should be "ask me"

Just want to remind everyone that it's still illegal to have chickens in the city.

I find it ironic that some of the largest cities in the US allow a few urban chickens. We fortunate people in Ottawa seem to be run by people who continue to propagate the state of fear and control.

Like many subjects, decisions are made by people who really have no clue on the topic.

On a positive note my egg incubator will be here this week so I can start hatching some of my own layers. My boss was suggesting I offer up free layers to the general Ottawa population to eventually get this nonsense of restrictions addressed.

I would bet Zym a beer that nobody would even notice 3 hens in his yard. Problem is whomever won the bet....we would both have to share the beer :)

If you are offering layers I may take you up on it - and people would notice because I'd invite the mayor over to have a look. But I have a lot of back yard projects to take care of before that one.

I'm at my inlaws right now in rural NS, eating some absolutely fantastic eggs every day from the coop in the back yard. So jealous ...

I like the idea of keeping hens, but I think Frank is right about roosters potentially being a noise problem. When I first moved to Ottawa I lived in a third floor walkup on Flora St. and the damn rooster next door started crowing at 4 am every morning. It's not like the pleasantly pastoral sound of distant roosters at sunrise. A dense urban neighbourhood is quite different. Picture being stuck in a hot airless apartment trying to sleep with all the windows open and hearing a rooster crowing repeatedly about 10' from your pillow every single morning.

It suddenly stopped crowing at the end of the summer, and I assumed it became dinner at that point.

Why does everyone keep mentioning the nuisance of roosters? Am I incorrect in thinking that one can keep hens without having roosters anywhere nearby?

Correct Johanna... but don't you want to keep the hens happy?

Other than the rooster, i'd say noise from the hens is still a concern, as well as the smell, rodents, disease. In addition, I think someone who wants to set up a back yard coop should prove they are competent in raising livestock, like a written exam.

I find the arguments from the conservative Ottawa residents rather amusing at times. A couple chickens in your yard wont stink nor will they attract rodents. Disease becomes an issue when you cramp too many birds in a small area.

One does not need a rooster to keep the hens happy at all. As for the sound of hens, it is less annoying than a neighbor who needs to run their AC on a cool fall day.

This is also the city that thought it prudent to ban clothes lines for the sake of appearance.

Before making uninformed statements or even worse....fear mongering....take some time to do some research and if you are really interested in some truths take a look at the US cities who have allowed urban chickens.

One does not need a degree to raise 2 or 3 hens. Water, feed and some housing for them to lay and spend the nite.

I think the points I made were all valid. Maybe you know what you're doing, but I wouldn't bet that everybody knows what they are doing. Basic answers to questions may not be known by all: what do you feed the chickens, how do you build a safe shelter, what kind of litter to use, what do you do with the birds in the winter, how do I clean the coop, what do I do when the hens stop laying good quality eggs? Those who don't know what they are doing risk neglecting their hens. If it was as simple as you make it, then I would assume it would be legal by now.

What ever happened to "Cluck"?

I thought I heard that CLUCK became Urban Hens Ottawa. They have a facebook group.

I think that there are loads of people who could raise backyard chickens just fine, and other folks who would wreck it for them with their complete inability to raise backyard chickens. But one could make the same argument for parenting, driving, or even cooking.

If I had to suggest guidelines for municipalities, I would factor in many of the things suggested above. As for rodents and insects, yes, chickens and their feed can in fact attract rodents and insects. So can garbage, pet poo, and people. There are lots of ways to prevent this though.

Roosters are remarkably quiet until they hit puberty, then they are just the right size to eat. Hens can actually make quite a ruckus every morning when they lay an egg. Our 100 hens are WAY louder than our one Rooster.

And no, hens don't need roosters to lay eggs anymore than women need men to ovulate. The combination of the two IS required for reproduction however! And, there are some scientists that say fertilized chicken eggs are better for you. (this is where captain caper inserts a picture of those almost hatched duck eggs.)

I would wager, at the risk of sounding anti-government, that the reason it is no longer legal (I say no longer legal because not that long ago many kept chickens legally in urban settings) is because of misinformation proliferated by the Egg Mafia, oops, I mean the Egg Farmers of Ontario, Health Units, etc., regarding dangers to public health and so forth.

I can see how it would be concerning if there were people raising chickens that were doing so in an irresponsible way. But as far as I know, you can't legislate common sense or morality. If so, I'd never have to worry about stepping in dog poop in the city, or having to smell cat spray.

I bought 50 chicks, but that didn't work out so I had to go buy 50 more. I don't know what I was doing wrong. I either planted them too deep or too close together.

Rizak, my husband wants to know if you used a mechanical seeder, or did you plant by hand? He says maybe broadcast seeding would have a better success rate.

Concerns about lead in urban chicken eggs:

www.nytimes.com

Those darn hipster foodies....

Backyard Chickens dumped at shelters when hipsters can't cope:
www.nbcnews.com

“It’s the stupid foodies,” said Britton Clouse, 60, who admits she speaks frankly. “We’re just sick to death of it.”

I don't understand.... after the chickens no longer lay eggs, you eat them! Why are they being "dumped" at shelters? Organic chickens...no? That is what we did on our farm when I was growing up.

Poutine....

That makes me laugh! Ms Krusty does not like to hear my talk of taking the older hens and making them into a nice stew. She would rather keep them as pets.

We are still in discussions ;)

krusty This reminds me of a childhood story my Mom once told me. She and her sisters grew up in a rural area so, with space to spare, the mother raised chickens. One year my Mom and her sisters adopted one of the chickens as a pet and they named it. That fall their mother harvested Patty the Chicken for Thanksgiving dinner and told them what she did BEFORE they ate dinner. Neither my Mom nor her sisters would eat their Thanksgiving dinner that year since they were all crying-;) If their mother hadn't told them until after dinner I'm sure they would have enjoyed the chicken regardless.

This article comes from a little closer to home:
www.cbc.ca

For cripes sakes people, EAT THEM!!!

people get attached to these creatures enough to not want to eat them but not enough to give them away...

That's what friends are for ;)

Bumping this up because Gatineau is opening it's doors to urban farming specifically production of hens and honey: ottawacitizen.com

Chickens and roosters are not that loud.
I keep on getting woken up very early by a loud, very loud group of crows who live in the trees across my house.
There has to be at least 50 of those loud birds.

Yeah, but they aren't very good to eat.
Have you ever had crow wings? Yuck.

No, but I almost thought it was a fake recording or someones tv too loud....until I looked outside.

-then there are the hundreds of garbage eating birds you see on the playground and field every morning-those are not as loud but just odd to see so many.
I do know you can get bbq Pigeon at some asian restaurants,one near me used to sell it....apparently there is a fancier term for those birds.

Prettytastyreview, the pigeon that I've come across at Asian groceries have all been labelled "squab".

Not sure I agree with the “roosters are not that loud”, comment, having lived in a place where there were roosters about a half mile away.

I once rented in a house in an area full of roosters. They were loud and relentless.

Also, anyone who thinks roosters only ever do the cockadoodledoo thing at dawn has never lived near a rooster.