Report help! update:) first page

[dntd]

We were given a copy of the report that will be going befor counsel, it it no that well done, though it does say they don't recommend keeping chickens, mainly rat and fly issues along with illnesses, take a look and see if you can help us. we get to speak on monday, hopefully we atleast make it to a public meeting http://www.stcatharines.ca/en/documents/documentuploads/agendas/doc_634166183738624280.pdf

Councel has agreed to allow chickens now we are drafting a better bylaw that the one that was offered, hopefully getting the distance regulations and the amount from 4 to 6 because many people would like 6 and since its cold here in the winter 6 would be better. I was so shocked, of course this isnt set in stone there is going to be a public meeting still but we are going to pack the house so that no negitive people get to speek much

 

[saginawmom]

Good Luck! It does seem like they are against the idea of hen husbandry. And I hate they the think all chickens and chicken owners are nasty and are not going to take care of these PETS!! Remind them that they are that, just like a dog or cat. You wouldnt let ur dog walk around in a run full of poop, why would you a chicken? They actually earn their keep. And they mention commericial (factory) farming, maybe get a picture of hens at a battery.

 

[nonseq]

The Salem site in favor of chickens in the city has a packet that addresses those concerns. It has info on smell and noise and poop production. You should really take a look at it. http://www.salemchickens.com/

 

[Go Eggs Go]

I used part of the Salem groups in my presentation and it was very useful. Good luck to my neighbor to the north!

 

[ChickLover98]

Hope it works out! Everyone should be able to enjoy having chickens!!! Good luck!

We're rooting for you!

 

[Brook]

These are the informational posters we use in Calgary to get the word out...

It is hard to get people to listen to reason, instead of giving in to uneducated fears.
Hope all goes well for you!

 

[Arcane Araucana]

this is part of my post from another thread. I think its a persuasive argument to add:

20 years ago NOBODY considered a pot bellied pig a "pet." And now pot bellied pigs are widely recognized as pets and are specifically allowed in many HOA rules, deed restrictions, county and city zoning ordinances, etc. (they are in mine - however "poultry" are not). Backyard chicken raising is facing the same learning curve as pot bellied pigs did. There is a huge difference between chickens raised as "pets" and chickens raised as a commodity for meat/eggs. Exactly the same difference between raising a pot bellied pig versus a sow. The point is this: my birds were hatched in an incubator, they lived in my guest room for the first 6 weeks of their lives, they are completely enclosed in an "aviary," they sit in my lap to be petted and they come when called about as reliably as a cat. And as far as keeping roosters goes - crowing is no worse than the garbage trucks, sirens, planes, barking dogs, wild birds, loud music, and yelling children. I'm really sick of roosters getting thrown under the bus just to be allowed to keep a few hens. Its a matter of education and perspective.

Good luck!!!

 

[Arcane Araucana]

I think it would also help to cite all of the products being developed for pet chickens - diapers, leashes, toys, shoulder bag carriers, etc.

 

[onecent]

This might help

Defanging four arguments against urban chickens

On this Earth Day, it's great to see efforts to overturn ham-fisted ordinances banning urban chickens cropping up all over the country (just take a look at the Google News search for "urban chicken laws").

The benefits to backyard chickens are many (pest control, fertilizer, eggs, entertainment), so it makes perfect sense that rational people would seek to legalize the keeping of small flocks of hens (not roosters!) on their own property.

Time and again, however, the rational pursuit of changing the law runs into an emotional barrier thrown up by NIMBYs and others who see urban chickens as a retreat to less sophisticated times. The lack of sophistication, however, is typically found in the arguments against urban chickens that, no matter how specious, still grab the imagination and make perfectly rational members of city government act in irrational ways.

After watching two years' worth of battles to legalize urban chickens, I've identified the four most common myths introduced as fact in the argument against chickens in the backyard:

Chickens produce too much poop - the fact of the matter is that dogs and cats produce way more excrement in a week than a flock of four hens. And while the chicken manure can be converted easily into fertilizer to help your garden grow, for health reasons, you cannot do the same with dog and cat poop.
It'll cost too much to enforce an urban chicken law - the kind of people who want to raise chickens in their backyards for eggs are doing so (mostly) out of a sense responsibility for taking control of their food sourcing and reducing their carbon footprint. These are not the kinds of folks who'll be requiring animal control to come out and bust chicken owners for too many animals making too much noise (see: dogs).
Owning chickens means hosting salmonella in your backyard - the food safety folks have done a great job sensitizing the public to take care in handling chicken so as to avoid salmonella. The simpletons spreading salmonella fears as an argument against urban chickens don't seem to understand that salmonella is a problem of safe food handling, not of responsible pet ownership.
Backyard chickens will spread the bird flu - the fact is, it's through backyard flocks that we might insulate ourselves from the spread of the H5N1 virus and the like that tear through the million-bird in-bred flocks of large-scale agribusiness. But, of all the arguments against urban chickens, this is the point most often deployed as an end-of-discussion "so there."
So, if you find yourself up against any of the above arguments in your own efforts to get urban chickens legalized in your city, read the posts and use the research to help steer the argument away from the sensational and back to the rational

 

[speakup4kids]

I suffer from severe OCD and have 9 chickens... If there was any fact out there that proved chickens caused disease I would have found it. If they were disgusting creatures they would not be anywhere near me. The reality is that when taken care of properly they will greatly reduce your bug problem, reduce thrown out household waste or rotting food in your disposal, can even take care of mice problems, and provide healthy food for your family. Martha Stewart can't be that far off.