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SOMBA K'E/YELLOWKNIFE
An Earth Week tour of some of Yellowknife's local chicken coops has brought the city into a national discussion involving the possibilities of raising the birds in urban areas.

Jack Panayi, 11 with a chicken on Peace River Flats. - Simon Whitehouse/NNSL photo

Jamie Bastedo led a group of about 15 to 20 curious spectators to two chicken coops Saturday morning, including his own at his home on 39 Street.

Bastedo was fun and engaging with the audience, offering kids the chance to walk inside the cage of his coop and look at his five ISA Brown chickens, which he bought last year. His coop structure, which he designed himself, is attached to a greenhouse and includes a compost bin that takes the chicken waste.

The roof has a sloped groove to keep the snow and rain off and material includes corrugated tin and a lot of wood from the dump. He has a heated dog dish, lizard lamp and insulation to keep the birds warm during the winter and a trap door from the outside of the cage, which allows him to access daily fresh eggs. Daily maintenance is minimal, he says, which includes spending a few minutes to check food and water, and every week cleaning up poop.

Informally, his co-op is known as the Back Bay Co-op, he says, because he tries to include people in the neighbourhood when taking care of them. For example he offers up eggs for harvesting to different households.

Neighbours Jack Panayi, 11, and Ella Kokelj, 9, were on hand and excitedly showed guests the birds from their experience engaging with the animals.

"We have a pretty strong community," Bastedo said noting that neighbours' support to raise the birds is important. "The way to generate controversy, though, would be to have roosters that are noisy and to not clean the coop. Part of what we wanted to do today was clear up misconceptions."

He said chickens are not noisy or smelly, as many might believe.

City councillor Paul Falvo was on hand during the tour and was actually given one medium and two large eggs discovered during the tour.

"After six years on council I knew there would be a perk," he said jokingly as he received the eggs. "I didn't get a ride in a helicopter like Peter MacKay. "

The tour also included a walk to a chicken co-op on Willow Flats. There, Dwayne Wohlgemuth, Eric Diller and Dr. Kelly Gallins told guests about their plan to raise 26 chickens, bought as chicks in February from a hatchery in Westlock, Alta.

The structure is largely finished, as spectators had a chance to peek inside the door to see a number of the birds under two small heating lamps. Wohlgemuth said a coop run and some wiring needs to be completed to finish the living quarters for the birds.

As well, Wohlgemuth made a case for having chickens in an urban environment.

"A lot of us want local food as much as we can and we realize that chickens can eat a lot of the compost that we might otherwise throw out. "

City Mayor Gord Van Tighem said the issue has not been as contentious in Yellowknife compared to other jurisdictions in Canada. Whitehorse, for example, has a ban on urban chickens.

"There doesn't appear to have been anything that has gone as far as a bylaw other than the fact that if you have animals, you have to keep them contained," said Van Tighem.

He said the only concerns are with noise and collected animal droppings. However, there are also jurisdictions in Canada that are promoting the urban animal because it helps encourage local food consumption.

Falvo, who ended up giving away the eggs, said he didn't foresee any problems with having urban chicken farms like the ones on the tour.

"We haven't had that specific discussion at council that I can recall. My guess is that unless there are complaints, I don't think there will be a reaction from the city.

If people follow the good sense that was (exhibited) on our excursion - consulting neighbours, doing things properly, and there isn't odour - we aren't likely to get too many complaints and nothing is likely to happen about it. If there were complaints received, it might be a different story."

Van Tighem says there is no clear rule on how many chickens should be in an urban setting, either, much as with dogs. Often too, it can depend if there are neighbours complaining or not, he said.

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