I was working on a Harley tank yesterday when this came over the radio…
Councillors voted almost unanimously in favour of a 32-page staff report detailing everything from coop sizes to the creation of a $20,000 shelter for abandoned chickens.
I thought it was the solvents talking.
So…it all comes down to “Responsible chicken ownership,” eh! I would be tempted to smuggle in Roosters for a bit-o-tail feather fun, but just occasionally. My brother had chickens and the local dogs and coyotes would get them. Chicken feathers everywhere the next morning. A farmer we know speared a great horned owl with a pitch fork when he caught it steeling chickens from his coup. PETA would have gone loco over that one. I’d want to get in on the chicken registry and the displaced chicken hostel action as well – there’s suckers born every minute you know. And yep, there’d be chicken fingers n chicken strips n chicken kabobs n roasted chicken n chicken delight n chicken fricassee n chicken ala king n….
Abandoned chickens?? AKA pot pie!
“McConnachie calculated dietary requirements, veterinary costs and coop upkeep at about $400 per year – enough to buy roughly 70 cartons of free-range organic eggs.”
I live in Langley, just outside of Vancouver and have a hobby farm where we have chickens, horses, lamas, dogs, cats, birds and a donkey.
Lisa McConnachie is a fool. I listened to her on the radio the other day. While you do have to build a coop(very inexpensive for 5 chickens) and you do have to feed them and keep the coop clean we have NEVER taken a chicken to the vet(In fact the vet told us NEVER to bring in a chicken)We do however, have substantial vet bills for ALL the other animals. If they are sick you chop their head off. If they are old and don’t lay anymore you can still eat them. Instead of a homeless chicken shelter give them to the Gospel Mission who will feed the homeless.She even said they make a lot of noise. I’ll bet she has never touched a live chicken.She is, after all , with the Humane Society whose sole purpose is the fund raise-for what hasn’t been revealed.
What you have in Vancouver is the “ill-informed” advising the “un-informed”.
They are misinformed because they read newspapers.
I really think it’s a crime what KFC does to chickens.
I know it’s not fair to generalize but:
B.C…. you can keep it.
In case anyone wonders WHY the City of Vancouver decided to legalize urban chicken farming, it’s because so many Asian folks decided to do like they did back home, and raise chickens for fresh eggs and eating.
I can’t wait to see the shit hit the fan when some elderly Asian lady gets busted for lopping the head off one of her cluckers!
Go chicken ranchers,go!
Wow man, like (puff puff) did you like see that bird!
Yeah, like, far out (puff puff) man.
Like, what do we do man…like (puff) call the chicken rescue center…
Man, are you ever a blast when you’re stoned…a chicken rescue center…a ha, a ha ha ha, a ha ha ha ha ha….
BC is a great place……except for all the unionists, envirowhackos, leftards, and those that are entitled to their entitlements (FN anybody?)
eastern paul, out here, we can’t figure out why you guys keep electing liberals, so be careful where you lob your volleys…….
It’s not just the loony coast. Edmonton and Calgary are looking into this too. At least there is no talks of $20,000 shelter…yet.
“Edmonton mulls urban chicken coop”
http://www.edmontonjournal.com/news/Edmonton+mulls+urban+chicken+coops/2786201/story.html
Is it still OK to crack our own eggs for an omelette?
Is there going to be a position as the director of the Shelter for Abandoned Chickens?
1. Every new government enterprise requires a new expanding group of fascists, er I mean bureaucracy. Creating fake jobs for fellow travelers. Hence the shelter for abandoned chicken which keeps members of council from being labeled as heartless bastards and animal killers!
2. Pigs would never be approved as it might, a ruffle the burqa of some members of your neighborhood.
3. Common sense – not common at all.
This is how a 20,000 dollar turns into a trillion. All the flakes want their own special projects to make a bigger bureaucratic empire. With your money. All going to Nieces, nephews family, & political cronies.to no goods to make a 150,000 a year pushing paper. Gold pensions plus travel all over the world.
The small useless departments morph into giant money eaters.
JMO
I’m just wondering if running a Texas style “Chicken Ranch” would be allowed in Lotusland?
For those who don’t get the joke, look up LaGrange and chicken ranch.
You have to remember that Vancouver’s mayor Gregor Robertson thinks turning the city hall lawns into vegetable plots is a good idea. He is a west-coast flake.
Very soon when the chicken coops become popular with the 100-mile diet crowd we will have a rat infestation and all the Jemimas and Gregors will wonder how that happened.
Vancouver will be well-known for its rats, raccoons, bed bugs, public heroin shoot-up galleries and leaking roof gardens as the full extent of lefty weirdness is exposed.
Welcome to our progressive city. Wanna buy a condo with heat recovery from the sewage, roof gardens, childcare centre? Only $1000/sq.ft. The city will sell you one. Think I’m kidding.
ricardo: We used to drown the barn kittens when they got overpopulated — all the farmers did it.
=================================
Yup. My dad would put them in a gunnysack and take them down to the river.
Add this to the pet rock and pot-bellied-pigs-as-pets fad. Inevitably some starry-eyed urban peasant wannabes will start keeping chickens in their back yards, then find out that they’re constant work, and that they stink, and that four chickens aren’t cost effective on any level. Then they’ll set them “free” in the woods around Stanley Park where the cats will get ’em or they’ll end up as road kill. Then the city bureaucrats will demand all chickens be licensed with leg bands etc., etc., etc., . . . oh, gaaaawd, how I long for the days of common sense.
Chicken and pig rearing were banned in cities and towns for a very good reason – sanitation and infectious disease prevention.
Either this issue has disappeared or the urban populace has forgotten that there was a problem. I suspect the latter. If so then this will ultimately end badly. Hopefully no one dies.
does that mean you can be sued for violating the rights of the unborn when you break an egg?
Probably not the same circumstances but just a while back Halifax had city counsel yacking about the same thing. The difference was not so much the eco-urban granola eaters as dealing with folks that were rural until the Halifax Regional Municipality encompassed all the surrounding area and called it city. (Tax grab IMHO)So you are out in the boonies with acres and maybe a chicken or two or a horse and all of a sudden you are a city slicker. Stupidity is a sad side effect of politics (or vice versa). So far no shelter for battered chickens yet.
Next thing you know sheep will be included within the Vancouver city limits.
And rubber boot sales will soar.
Where is the Canadian Food Inspection Agency on this? Back in the days of the Avian flu scare-du-jour GPS was required on all chicken rearing buildings, in case there was an outbreak of bird flu, so they could move in and destroy the birds in a radius of the diseased poultry.
And the word at the time was all poultry must be kept in doors at all times (no more free range birds) to keep the domestic birds away from wild migrating ones.
This is my most favorite part:
“And though the guidelines suggest making it illegal for owners to kill their own chickens, she worries that could prove difficult to enforce.
“We have all kinds of bylaw enforcements — that doesn’t mean people abide by them,” McConnachie said. “You can’t force somebody to drive to Venables Street to bring their chicken to a slaughter plant.”
After saying she thinks people in arguably the most technologically advanced nation in the entire world are incapable of looking after a couple of chickens, she becomes even more perturbed at the thought of [gasp!] -unauthorized- chicken killing.
A chicken might meet its demise from a chef’s knife on some suburban back yard picnic table instead of a government approved and inspected chicken slaughter house. The horror.
A more perfect summation of the Liberal/liberal/NDPee world view I could not make.
Louise @ 6:56- Yeah, coming from a fairly large brood myself, those gunnysacks are no picnic to extricate oneself….especially with that 20 pound rock inside!! 😉
But I’m over it now…
I’m just wondering if running a Texas style “Chicken Ranch” would be allowed in Lotusland? -Texas Canuck
Great, now I can’t get Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds songs out of my head.
I read Kate’s post this morning, and just knew I had to come back later to read the comments
thanx folks, they were great:-))))
Killing them is easy. You just stretch their necks across a chopping block and use an ax to cut off their heads. They may run around for awhile but they’ll drop before they go too far.
So much for the politicians. The chickens on the other hand will have to be euthanized at an abattoir.
Arty, LOL!!
Kate McMillan with a funky beat,
Rockin it down and keepin it sweet.
Kate McMillan is on the attack,
Makin’ them claims and eatin some snacks.
Kate McMillan grrr rar rar,
Has a truck, she don’t drive no car.
Kate McMillan aint into wind,
its just for ‘stinkin fans’, no plans to rescind.
Kate McMillan is on the loose,
A scientist of everything, and she makes no excuse.
Kate McMillan with a non challant ‘I don’t read all the comments attitude’ ,that’s a total lie, she’ll read this in five minutes and delete it!!!
Kate McMillan is gonna be dancin’ to my rhymes, picture her gettin down…ALL THE TIME!!
Vet care for chickens? I have a magic wand with a metal talisman on the end that can deliver any chicken from its suffering in no time flat.
$20,000 is chickenfeed – just think what it will cost for a shelter when they legalize cows for the milk.
Unintended consequence #409 …
On chicken grifters:
http://vancouver.en.craigslist.ca/bnc/grd/1685617257.html
This reminds me of a crank e-mail:
“From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 21 May 2009 10.16am
To: Helen Bailey
Subject: Pets in the building
Dear Helen,
Thankyou for your letter concerning pets in my apartment. I understand that having dogs in the apartment is a violation of the agreement due to the comfort and wellbeing of my neighbours and I am currently soundproofing my apartment with egg cartons as I realise my dogs can cause quite a bit of noise. Especially during feeding time when I release live rabbits.
Regards, David.
From: Helen Bailey
Date: Thursday 21 May 2009 11.18am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Pets in the building
Hello David
I have received your email and wish to remind you that the strata agreement states that no animals are allowed in the building regardless of if your apartment is soundproof. How many dogs do you have at the premises?
Helen
From: David Thorne
Date: Thursday 21 May 2009 1.52pm
To: Helen Bailey
Subject: Re: Re: Pets in the building
Dear Helen,
Currently I only have eight dogs but one is expecting puppies and I am very excited by this. I am hoping for a litter of at least ten as this is the number required to participate in dog sled racing. I have read every Jack London novel in preparation and have constructed my own sled from timber I borrowed from the construction site across the road during the night. I have devised a plan which I feel will ensure me taking first place in the next national dog sled championships. For the first year of the puppies life I intend to say the word mush then chase them violently around the apartment while yelling and hitting saucepan lids together. I have estimated that the soundproofing of my apartment should block out at least sixty percent of the noise and the dogs will learn to associate the word mush with great fear so when I yell it on race day, the panic and released adrenaline will spur them on to being winners. I am so confident of this being a foolproof plan that I intend to sell all my furniture the day before the race and bet the proceeds on coming first place.
Regards, David.
From: Helen Bailey
Date: Friday 22 May 2009 9.43am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Pets in the building
David, I am unsure what to make of your email. Do you have pets in the apartment or not?
Helen
From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 22 May 2009 11.27am
To: Helen Bailey
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pets in the building
Dear Helen,
No. I have a goldfish but due to the air conditioner in my apartment being stuck on a constant two degrees celcius, the water in its bowl is iced over and he has not moved for a while so I do not think he is capable of disturbing the neighbours. The ducks in the bathroom are not mine. The noise which my neighbours possibly mistook for a dog in the apartment is just the looping tape I have of dogs barking which I play at high volume while I am at work to deter potential burglars from breaking in and stealing my tupperware. I need it to keep food fresh. Once I ate leftover chinese that had been kept in an unsealed container and I experienced complete awareness. The next night I tried eating it again but only experienced chest pains and diarrhoea.
Regards, David.
From: Helen Bailey
Date: Friday 22 May 2009 1.46pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pets in the building
Hello David
You cannot play sounds of dogs or any noise at a volume that disturbs others. I am sure you can appreciate that these rules are for the benefit of all residents of the building. Fish are fine. You cannot have ducks in the apartment though. If it was small birds that would be ok.
Helen
From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 22 May 2009 2.18pm
To: Helen Bailey
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pets in the building
Dear Helen,
They are very small ducks.
Regards, David.
From: Helen Bailey
Date: Friday 22 May 2009 4.06pm
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pets in the building
David, under section 4 of the strata residency agreement it states that you cannot have pets. You agreed to these rules when you signed the forms. These rules are set out to benefit everyone in the building including yourself. Do you have a telephone number I can call you on to discuss?
Helen
From: David Thorne
Date: Friday 22 May 2009 5.02pm
To: Helen Bailey
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pets in the building
Dear Helen,
The ducks will no doubt be flying south for the winter soon so it will not be an issue. It is probably for the best as they are not getting along very well with my seventeen cats anyway. .
Regards, David.
From: Helen Bailey
Date: Monday 25 May 2009 9.22am
To: David Thorne
Subject: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Re: Pets in the building
David, I am just going to write on the forms that we have investigated and you do not have any pets.
Helen”
http://emailsfromcrazypeople.com/2009/07/28/no-pets-clause/
Stan….
OUTSTANDING!!!!!!!!
Anything that allows urbanites to become self sustaining is a good thing. If you cant stand the sight of a few chickens or garden crops in a back yard (the way it was before regulatory tyranny made cities people-hostile, then lock your ass behind some anal retentive gated community.
Animals?
If you hang your clothes out to dry in some of our Western neighbourhoods instead of using the dryer, you are likely to get a brick through your picture window at 3am.
Don’t fool with MY property value or….
I Keeeel You!
Keep yer prison condo. It’s a bush cabin for me, any day, but with a small town apartment for comic relief and a shower.
Oh, ricardo and Louise @6:56, don’t say things like that. I’m a city girl and I wuv puddy tats. If you’re thinking of drowning any more kittens please just mail them to me instead. I think I’m going crazy anyway, so starting a large cat collection probably makes sense for me this point.
Speaking of – maybe I should take Mr. Fluffy to this chicken sanctuary for his birthday.
Black Mamba:”I’m a city girl and I wuv puddy tats”
Me too, but of course we were talking about killing barn cats — which are semi-feral, and often carry diseases like toxoplasmosis which can render you blind. My son got toxoplasmosis on the farm when he was a baby and is totally blind in one eye today. Probably because somebody got the bright idea to put one of those “cute little puddy tats” in his crib with him.
I’m sorry about your son, ricardo. Only a lunatic would put a cat in a crib with a baby.
I suppose it isn’t logical, but certain mammals mean a great deal more to me than others. As for non-mammals – well, chickens are just lizards with feathers. Unlike cats, they won’t even pretend to love you.
I once drove out an hour and a half each way to some friends’ farm to de-flea their barn cats. They were a nice colony, I thought.
Black Mamba —“If you’re thinking of drowning any more kittens please just mail them to me instead.” — I tried that,doesn’t work, as the stamps often fall off,even when stapled. The best way to move kittens is by fax. It requires a little ingenuity,(soaking overnight is essential),however practice makes perfect. BTW,Homer Simpson has noted that all religions share the same feelings towards chickens,unlike the cow,pig,shellfish,etc.
wallyj, I think Black Mamba is going to wag her finger at you.
Thank you to all of you. Reading your comments has been a great way to enjoy a Sunday evening. This blog is what all media should be; enlightening, engaging, entertaining. And,for the record, my cat just lawyered up.
“Vancouver will be well-known for its rats, raccoons, bed bugs, public heroin shoot-up galleries and leaking roof gardens as the full extent of lefty weirdness is exposed.”
cascadian @ 6:39
yeah right “will be” …. droll….
Aaaaah…. the wet coast….land of fruits & nuts.
My Mother didn’t like the axe method since the chickens tend to linger and splatter their surroundings. She prefers the neck twist indicating it’s all in the wrist.
Words can’t describe how absolutely grateful I am for the HyVee seven miles up the road.