Riverdale resident Kristina Calhoun has been ordered to get rid of the six chickens she keeps in her backyard.

"It is quite disappointing,” Calhoun summed up in an interview Thursday. The previous day, she had received a visit from a bylaw officer informing her she had until Sept. 28 to remove the laying hens.

The city had issued Calhoun with a notice in late August to remove her 12 chickens by Sept. 8 after a complaint was received about her six noisy roosters.

But as the discussion about urban chickens grabbed public attention, the city indicated that she might be able to hold onto her flock until after the upcoming discussion regarding proposed revisions to the zoning bylaw.

The stay-at-home mom said she had been left with the impression the city had agreed to put a hold on the complaint file until after those discussions.

She was told officials didn't want to make her get rid of the chickens if the zoning bylaw was going to be changed anyway, she said.

Up until Wednesday's visit from the bylaw officer, Calhoun added, she was under the impression the file was still on hold.

She said she will approach city council again to ask if it will reconsider. She'll also be looking for a place to board her hens if the request is denied.

But moving them, she said, defeats the purpose of having them as a supply of fresh eggs for her family and neighbours who swap home-baked bread and other goods in return.

Calhoun appeared before city council Sept. 6 to make her case, and explain how raising poultry is a healthy lifestyle choice as well as step toward food security.

She acknowledged the noise issue associated with the roosters, but also told council she slaughtered them prior to the council meeting but had kept her six egg-layers.

While members of council asked questions, there was no decision, discussion or motion at the Sept. 6 meeting or at last week's meeting regarding the possibility of extending Calhoun's reprieve.

Bylaw manager Dave Pruden said Thursday Calhoun was given a temporary reprieve while he waited to see if council would provide any direction on the matter.

With no direction forthcoming, and since it will be months before any changes might be made to the zoning bylaw, which prohibits poultry in urban neighbourhoods, Calhoun was informed she had to remove her chickens, he said.

Pruden said the bylaw department isn't going to go door-to-door looking for other chicken coops in Riverdale, but will respond to any complaints it receives.

Calhoun, a candidate for the Green Party, told council she knows of four others who raise chickens in Riverdale, though she didn't say who they were.

City planner Mike Gau said public consultation around revisions to the zoning bylaw will begin next month. It's expected the initial draft of the updated bylaw will be delivered to city council in December, he said.

Gau said it's difficult to nail down the schedule after that because it will largely depend on how council chooses to proceed.

In any case, he pointed out, the draft bylaw will become public in December. As a matter of standard process, any proposed changes will have to go through further public review and consultation, Gau said.

He said he expects the revised zoning bylaw to be in place sometime next spring.

Calhoun said she's pretty sure she can find a place to keep her chickens in the country because they'll cover their own room and board with free eggs.

But she wants them, she emphasized, explaining she's put time and money in her chickens since they arrived as day-olds in June, and they are just about to reach the age where they'll start laying.

She said when her family moved to Riverdale from the Ten Mile Road off the North Klondike Highway in the summer of 2010, she brought with her four red rock hens.

The eggs were a hit with her neighbours and the chickens were a hit with the kids in the neighbourhood who just lived checking for freshly-laid eggs, she said.

The red rock birds reached the end of their laying prime last April, and were used in soup. Calhoun replaced them with the 12 chantecler chickens. She said the chantecler breed is one of two which are unique to Canada and are bred for colder climates.

Calhoun said there's been preliminary talk of running a pilot program raising chickens in Old Crow to provide the community with a source of fresh eggs and a secure supply of poultry, and she'd like to make her birds available for the four-month trial.

They need to test the cost of raising the chickens against the benefits, but chickens eat just about anything, though they do need some commercial feed, she said.

Her neighbours, Calhoun said, have been leaving buckets of carrot tops and broccoli on her fence all summer for her chickens.

They also eat meat and fish, she said, adding chicken droppings make ideal composting, and all of hers goes into her garden.

Mary MacAvoy, Calhoun's neighbour, also appeared at city council in support of Calhoun.

If the city had an issue with granting Calhoun a further reprieve because she was contravention of the bylaw, MacAvoy suggested, it could simply call it a pilot project.

Backyard chicken coops are permitted in municipalities right across Canada, MacAvoy impressed upon council.

Calhoun said she'll raise the pilot project proposal when she next goes before city council.

It's a huge misconception to think if one resident is allowed to do it, the entire city will want chickens, she said.

Raising chickens, Calhoun emphasized, is a chore and an expense, not to mention if you want to go anywhere, you have to find a chicken sitter.

Calhoun said she accepts she's in contravention of the zoning bylaw, but it's not like she's burning tires in her backyard.

No harm will come of it if city council permits her to keep hens until the debate over the zoning bylaw is complete, she said.

Calhoun said it appears, however, that council is stuck behind the rigid words on a piece of paper.

"It's just that to me it seems so negotiable, and it seems easy to reach some sort of compromise.”

By Chuck Tobin

Star Reporter