A. There is an annual registration fee of $25. The hens will need a protective structure, and premade ones can cost hundreds. Old doghouses or sheds can be converted to chicken coops, or you can find one on Craigslist. Williamson County resident Carrie Wilkins’ husband built their coop with $400 in materials.
He knows another dozen Oak Bay residents who also want to raise egg-laying chickens. It’s all part of a growing movement towards food security, which involves growing some of the food you eat – something he said the new council “is gung ho about.”
Roy Thomassen, director of building and planning, recommended the lot size be reduced to 557 square metres – large enough for three chickens and down from the previous 745 sq. m minimum which allowed for a coop and five chickens. The existing bylaw allows for up to 10 chickens on lots larger than 4,047 sq. m.
Last week, a dozen or so chickens and about 120 people crowded into the auditorium of the Memphis Botanic Garden’s Goldsmith Civic Garden Center for a program on keeping poultry in your backyard.
Laws regarding having live chickens in your yard prohibit keeping roosters, presumably because of the noise. Acor and Pudwell think it’s a shame because roosters are important for having happy hens.
If you grew up on a farm or had close relatives who lived on one, you may think of chickens as producers of fresh eggs and fertilizer, and even as companions.
