When council voted unanimously 6-0 against moving forward with an urban hen pilot in late February, Jennifer Walden made a promise that this was not the last the town would see of her on the matter.
The founder of the Cochrane chapter of CLUCK (the Canadian Liberated Urban Chicken Klub) and its Facebook page, Walden is looking to present to council in the near future and to set the record straight on urban hens with facts over feelings.
“We can get into arguments about chickens all day long, but when you look at the facts, I don’t see why we can’t make it work in Cochrane,” said the mother of two who presented to council last fall on the benefits of urban hens and how it’s working in other Alberta municipalities.
Upon recently learning that Airdrie is looking at urban hens and Red Deer has extended its number of hen licences, Walden’s feathers were ruffled but she is confident she can counter what supporters dub as “misinformation and unnecessary fears” over backyard egg producers.
Walden recently set up to talk tail feathers at the Tea with Local Producers event held March 25 at St. Andrew’s United Church. Through that, she gained the interest of more than a dozen supporters of the movement and to date, has 27 names on her list of households who would participated in a pilot.
Through the pilot, roughly 12 hen licences would be recommended for Cochrane, or one for every 1,500 residents; the number of hens was somewhere between a minimum of three and a maximum of six.
Chief concerns brought up by councillors included increased predator attraction; cost effectiveness of building a coop to standard compared to the value of a few eggs per day; and the popularity of urban hens.
For councillors Tara McFadden and Morgan Nagel, the possibility exists for the pendulum to swing.
McFadden, who is typically supportive of sustainability initiatives, said she is more concerned about the “value for the whole community” such a project would have.
Nagel said his vote was based on the community feedback he received – mostly negative at that time.
Known for frequently taking a firm stance on issues and sticking to his guns, Nagel said this is one of the rare council debates where he isn’t firm.
“I see both sides of the argument … but if pressure continues to build and more people are interested in it, you might call me a swing vote.”
Walden aims to come back to council with a thorough presentation to council, addressing concerns with concrete examples based on research in other Alberta municipalities that have hen pilots or bylaws, as well as research with fish and wildlife and bylaw officers to address concerns such as hens attracting more predator.
Nicole Tomes, planner for the town, who presented the recommended action of a one-year hen pilot said that her research indicated no complaints regarding increased noise, smell or predation following the implementation of a hen pilot or bylaw in other jurisdictions.
Paul Hughes, Calgary food accessibility activist, current Calgary mayoral candidate and founder of CLUCK Canada, attended the February council session and was surprised by the unanimous vote and that the decision was “based on opinion and not science-based facts.”
Hughes, who last saw his urban hen pilot struck down by Calgary council in 2015 said it is not unusual for municipalities to present three or four times before getting the green light on urban hen pilots.
