Bring on the hens

Who says Toronto city council never gets anything done? After mulling the idea for oh, a decade or so, councillors are on the verge of giving the go-ahead to allowing people in a few neighbourhoods to keep chickens in their backyard.

This page, never one to shrink from a controversial issue, has been firmly pro-chicken for years. Keeping a few hens can be a great way to get in touch with local food production. Plus, there’s eggs.

The latest proposal, championed by Ward 5 councillor Justin Di Ciano, is for a pilot project that would allow people in four wards (including his own Etobicoke-Lakeshore district) to keep up to five chickens in their backyard if they have a “suitable space” for them.

Di Ciano points out that lots of other cities — including Vancouver, Montreal, New York and even Brampton — allow residents to keep a few hens. It’s all part of the movement toward urban farming — connecting cosseted urbanites with where their food actually comes from.

Of course, the idea has quite a few people in a flap. They worry about the noise and, especially, the smell from a crowded coop. And certainly that’s a risk if owners aren’t responsible and don’t clean up properly.

But city council should focus on the upside and support the pilot project when it comes up for a vote, probably in the fall.

Hens raised in your own backyard will produce a steady stream of fresh, organic eggs for the cost of (literally) chicken feed. It can be a healthy source of food that has the added benefit of educating kids about farming and the environment.

Toronto already has a small but active underground urban chicken movement (check out the website torontochickens.com). It’s high time for the city to bring it out of the shadows.

Hens raised in your own backyard will produce a steady stream of fresh, organic eggs for the cost of (literally) chicken feed