AMHERSTBURG, Ont. -- An Amherstburg family may fly the coop after they were ordered by the town to get rid of their backyard chickens.
Sarah and Aaron Lock say they are contemplating selling their home and moving to a more chicken-friendly community if they can’t convince the town to let them keep their four hens.
Sarah Lock said she received a lot of positive feedback as soon as she began blogging about their efforts to get fresh, organic eggs on the dining room table, as well as about the opportunity it afforded to educate their two youngsters on where their food comes from.
But the couple got a visit Tuesday night from an officer after one disapproving neighbour referred local authorities to the Locks’ webpage at www.backyardchickens.com. An order was issued to get rid of the hens by next week.
“They’re quiet, they’re clean, they’re not negatively affecting people ... it’s so sad, so silly,” said Lock.
Before setting up a secured backyard coop and getting the hens in July, Lock said the couple tried for a month to get advice from the same bylaw office. Hearing nothing and noting the town’s bylaw permits household birds, as well as getting to know others who are raising hens, the Locks went ahead.
They learned this week Amherstburg’s bird bylaw does not include chickens.
“We could have three caged emus,” said Lock, adding her four barred Plymouth Rock chickens are quieter than the crickets in the grass of their Golfview Estates neighbourhood, they don’t smell and there is no intention of ever adding a rooster to the mix.
“We will fight to try and change the bylaw. We’ll either get our chickens back or we’ll move to where they’re allowed,” said Lock.
Calls by The Star to the municipality were referred to town CAO Pam Malott, who could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
On the same night as the Locks were ordered to get rid of their hens, a group of Windsor urban chicken lovers that formed after city council refused their request for backyard poultry received a $500 government award to expand their rural operations.
“Every time there’s a new food recall, more people are becoming concerned about their food supply,” said Philippa Von Ziegenweidt of the Windsor-Essex Coop Co-op Collective. The group, which began its egg-laying co-operative in the county in May, plans to expand its operations with more members and more hens after winning one of several grants handed out by the Windsor Essex County Environmental Committee, chaired by Coun. Alan Halberstadt.
Despite the city hall brush-off earlier this year, Von Ziegenweidt said Windsor advocates are “still keen on backyard chickens,” and she guarantees the group will return to lobby council to permit urban hens.
Ten local families belong to the co-op, which is using land offered by an Essex farmer in the spring. Members share in the chores and costs, as well as the eggs produced by 24 hens. The grant will go toward expanding the program to permit more families to join, said Von Ziegenweidt, adding there are no commercial sales.
“That’s how I grew up, with farm-fresh food,” said fellow member Sara Kelley. A Windsorite who was raised on a Harrow farm, she wants her children, ages three, six and nine, to know the advantages of fresh and healthy food and to know where it comes from.
For more on the local urban egg movement, visit the windsorurbanchickens.com blog or CLUCK: Canadian Liberated Urban Chicken Klub (Windsor-Essex Chapter) on Facebook.
