Allowing for backyard chickens is great, but the city needs to loosen its knickers when it comes to the regulations, council heard Monday night.

Riverdale resident Christina Calhoun told council she does not have a problem with the limit of six hens, nor the prohibition against the noisier roosters.

But when it comes to the proposed age limit, it's completely unnecessary to require all hens on the property be more than four months old so bylaw officers can make sure they're girls and not really boys, Calhoun said.

When somebody orders laying hens, they come that way.

She said insisting chicken droppings be treated the same as dog poop and disposed of in the household waste container and not in the compost bin simply does not make sense.

Dog poop, like cat poop and people poop, is waste that needs to be disposed of. Chicken manure, conversely, is among the best compostable products on the planet, and highly sought after for use in gardens, Calhoun told council.

She said restricting the height of back yard chicken coops to two metres is inconsistent with restrictions for sheds and garages.

Given the interior wall height would be much lower than two metres, Calhoun added, it gets hard on the back when you try to get in there and clean.

Preventing the sale of extra chicken eggs or chicken manure for composting could be seen as a barrier to an alternative but minimal source of revenue, and particularly hard on families who could benefit from selling a dozen eggs here and there, Calhoun said.

She suggested providing neighbouring property owners with a veto over whether she can have chickens is right on the edge.

"I do not feel your neighbour has a right to say ‘no,'” Calhoun told the members of council. "I know my neighbours would not, but I do not feel my neighbour should have the ability to say ‘no.'

"I can't say ‘no,' you can't have a dog, or a cat, or an ATV.'”

Coun. Dave Stockdale noted the proposed changes under the Animal Control Bylaw are still very much under review and open to public discussion.

City council approved first reading of the bylaw that includes the back yard chicken regulations. Second and third readings are scheduled for July 9.

A handful of proposed changes to the Animal Control Bylaw have been dovetailed to go forward with the massive overhaul of the city's Zoning Bylaw, the revised version of which also received first reading Monday night.

A public hearing into the new zoning provisions, which are sweeping in nature, is scheduled for June 25, at which time council will also be receiving input on the chicken regulations.

Calhoun kick-started the whole discussion about permitting back yard chickens when she came forward last year after learning she was in contravention of the city bylaw by raising her laying hens.

Though she lost her bid to keep her chickens pending a review of the bylaw, city hall did promise a review and has subsequently recommended hens be allowed.

Coun. Florence Roberts was the only member of council to offer up any defence of the proposed regulations.

Allowing for the disposal of chicken manure in the composting bin could send mixed messages. It could also confuse the issue of whether it's OK to place regular pet feces in the composting bin, the councillor said.

She suggested the two-metre height limit works well with the two-metre height limit for back yard fences, and the intent of the bylaw is not to create a market for eggs.

Right now, said Roberts, the intent is to open the door for residents who want to raise chickens to provide a food source for personal use.

Calhoun pointed out that under peak production, a family could generate two or three dozen eggs a week from their six hens, which are most productive from eight or nine months old to two years, or three years at best.

What would be wrong, she wondered, with selling extra eggs to a neighbour, particularly for a family would could use a little more, however much more?

What would be wrong, Calhoun asked, with selling a hen for soup once she's past her prime, or making a deal with the neighbour who wants chicken manure for his garden?

She said when she was unknowingly living on the other side of the law in Riverdale, she used to barter with neighbours who were more than happy to make a deal.

Raising chickens in the back yard is by no means a commercial venture, but once in a while there may be a little extra to go around, Calhoun suggested.