Next year could see the return of chickens to Toronto’s backyards after a 29-year hiatus
An end to Toronto’s backyard chicken prohibition could be in sight, depending on the contents of a city staff report expected next year. The report will make a series of recommendations on whether urban chickens, outlawed in 1983, should be allowed to peck and scratch their way back into the city’s backyards. The news came courtesy of councillor Joe Mihevc in an interview with the Toronto Sun (which once again unleashed a torrent of terrible poultry puns).
From the Sun:
Chickens are allowed in most U.S. municipalities and several Canadian cities are starting to hatch plans to allow limited numbers of egg-laying hens, Mihevc said. “It’s part of an urban food movement,” he added.
Mihevc pointed out Toronto Public Health officials say allowing the chickens wouldn’t create a human health issue. “There is no public health reason why it couldn’t go forward,” he said.
Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon, who pitched the idea at the last marathon council meeting, is “egg-static,” according to the Sun, which points out that others are not as “egg-cited.” The paper quotes Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday dismissing the whole affair, wishing city council would “apply their talents to trying to solve our budget woes.” As for Rob Ford, he voiced his disapproval in 2010 as a mayoral candidate, pointing out that Torontonians are “not living on the farm….This is the city.” While that may be true, Toronto Chicken and the small legion of other, quieter chicken keepers out there don’t seem to have a problem bringing a bit of the farm inside city limits. Heck, even the New York Times is on board with urban hens: the Grey Lady selected a $650 coop for its holiday gift guide this year.
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An end to Toronto’s backyard chicken prohibition could be in sight, depending on the contents of a city staff report expected next year. The report will make a series of recommendations on whether urban chickens, outlawed in 1983, should be allowed to peck and scratch their way back into the city’s backyards. The news came courtesy of councillor Joe Mihevc in an interview with the Toronto Sun (which once again unleashed a torrent of terrible poultry puns).
From the Sun:
Chickens are allowed in most U.S. municipalities and several Canadian cities are starting to hatch plans to allow limited numbers of egg-laying hens, Mihevc said. “It’s part of an urban food movement,” he added.
Mihevc pointed out Toronto Public Health officials say allowing the chickens wouldn’t create a human health issue. “There is no public health reason why it couldn’t go forward,” he said.
Councillor Mary-Margaret McMahon, who pitched the idea at the last marathon council meeting, is “egg-static,” according to the Sun, which points out that others are not as “egg-cited.” The paper quotes Deputy Mayor Doug Holyday dismissing the whole affair, wishing city council would “apply their talents to trying to solve our budget woes.” As for Rob Ford, he voiced his disapproval in 2010 as a mayoral candidate, pointing out that Torontonians are “not living on the farm....This is the city.” While that may be true, Toronto Chicken and the small legion of other, quieter chicken keepers out there don’t seem to have a problem bringing a bit of the farm inside city limits. Heck, even the New York Times is on board with urban hens: the Grey Lady selected a $650 coop for its holiday gift guide this year.
• Chicken runs for Toronto [Toronto Sun]){kind=link}
Please for the love of god don’t bring back the chickens! As someone who has battled my neighbors for years over illegal chickens in the backyard,this fills me with dread. I live right downtown, where all the houses are extremely close together. (Did I mention my microscopic backyard?) In the heat of the summer it is impossible to enjoy my tiny garden due to the overpowering stench of chicken coop coming from the neighbor’ s yard.
As much as I am a champion for going local, the romantic notion of raising chickens in a city setting just isn’t practical or considerate.
Stinky, I have the same problem with my next-door neighbour’s dog. Can we ban him too? Personally I’d rather have chickens, at least they do something useful.
Anon, leave the city if you don’t like dogs. Move to the country and get yourself some chickens.
@Stinky – the proposed chicken keeping by-laws would actually HELP you, as they speak to cleanliness, number of chickens (and NO roosters, so you can sleep in!)
Trouble with by-laws is the manpower to enforce them. Are they going to have chicken police checking the state of every backyard? If my neighbors have been getting away with it for years when its illegal, forgive me for not having a lot of faith in the ability of the city to be on top of it. Chicken poop is not really the most pleasant odor. Especially when you can smell it from your kitchen window.
I’m really not a chicken hater. If I lived somewhere with lots of land and could have a coop of my own,that would be great. I too would love to fetch some eggs out of my own backyard from chickens I raised myself. In theory it’s lovely,
Just not practical for city living.
Weren’t Chickens invented by Colonel Sanders? Are people going to have mini factories in the back yard? Will these mini factories be federally inspected? CFIA? HACCP certified? BRC?
EW! What is the city thinking with this DISGUSTING idea?! Didn’t we learn anything from our disastrous run-ins with SARS and bird flu? I can practically hear the coughing from Dundas and Spadina now…yuck!
Dear Mary Margaret, please go to your farm if you miss chikens soooo much and leave us alone!
Have to agree with Anon RE: dogs.
They’re great…if you have the space. My neighbour’s dogs drive me CRAZY with their barking and I often encounter dog poop on the sidewalk. Keeping a dog in a condo is cruel, a backyard should be the least amount of space required to own a creature that loves to be outdoors, running around. If you want a dog, move to the burbs.
It’s the same old story … don’t put your garbage in my back yard, said Torontonians … Is it better to put the chickens in large corporation hen houses in poor living conditions where you can’t see or smell them, or to a have a few in the backyard and take responsibility for your own food and waste? Go Local Food enthusiasts. Keep challenging us. BTY, I’m born & raised on the farm. Your nose can get used to it.
Chickens do not belong in the city. They smell. They make noise. There is the potential for bacterial infection. I was driving recently on McNiccoll Avenue and saw a wooden structure containing rabbits…and I doubt that they were pets. It’s repugnant. If you want to raise livestock, go buy a farm.
I agree with going local, blah, blah, but considering eggs are dirt cheap, for heavens sake, just go to the store and buy them there.
Iola. Guess why eggs are dirt cheap. They come from battery hens, raised in such a small space that they can`t even turn around. The cages are piled up and their excrement drops onto the hens in the cages below them. Can you enjoy eating your cheap eggs knowing how they were produced?