[Toro]

I forgot how nutty the leftist COPE is in Vancouver.

$1:

Vancouver City Council has approved a controversial proposal to allow residents to keep up to four chickens in their backyard for home-fresh eggs.

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.

The report cites increasing attention to issues of "sustainability, food security, and consumption of locally grown food" as the source of enthusiasm for urban chickens.

Chicken keepers would be required to register with the city, and provide chickens – hens only, roosters will not be allowed -- with adequate food, water, light and veterinary care.

http://www.ctvbc.ctv.ca/servlet/an/loca ... lumbiaHome

[DerbyX]

Why is this nutty? Sounds very reasonable to me. They are allowing people to keep chickens for egg production and some people obviously want that. It sounds pretty reasonable that they would set rules and regulations to prevent full on egg mills in urban areas and they are being forward thinking by setting up a place for any wayward chickens instead of expecting local SPCAs and animal shelters to deal with.

What about this do you find so nutty?

[PimpBrewski123]

Oh c'mon.

No need to get chicken clucking around in the ''city'', there is plenty of open farm lands in rural areas for that.

[RUEZ]

I think it's an interesting idea. As long as it doesn't disturb the neighbours. Everyone should be allowed to be self sustaining.

[DerbyX]

PimpBrewski123 PimpBrewski123:

Oh c'mon.

No need to get chicken clucking around in the ''city'', there is plenty of open farm lands in rural areas for that.

Ever watch Seinfeld?

People could probably save a small amount of money by farming their own eggs. It serves as a food source and a hobby, like having a vegetable garden. Some people say that the eggs you buy in the store are from stressed chickens who lay them in egg mills and that free range is much better.

[BeaverFever]

I think urban farming is a great idea when it comes to produce but the animal element is another problem. I think there will not only be plenty of animal cruelty issues, but issues with predators in the city and possibly sanitation issues as well.

Just wait until all the Homer Simpsons of Vancouver come home with a duffel bag full of chickens and then realize that they'd rather not spend the money or the time building a proper coop or properly feeding and looking after their new pets. Then what?

That being said, I guess if you were going to allow back yard chickens, this would be a responsible way to do it.

Funny though that some would be considered a "nutty leftist" idea, considering its repealing a law prohibiting activity on private propert.

[PimpBrewski123]

DerbyX DerbyX:

People could probably save a small amount of money by farming their own eggs. It serves as a food source and a hobby, like having a vegetable garden. Some people say that the eggs you buy in the store are from stressed chickens who lay them in egg mills and that free range is much better.

There is no problem with people producing their own source of food.

Simply that an urban area is not exactly the place to do so. There are vast unoccupied spaces outside the city to do so.

[DerbyX]

Its not as if people will set up coops on their balconey. Plenty of people have good sized backyards even in urban settings.

BTW, where is your current avatar from? It looks like the "love you long time" girl.

[PimpBrewski123]

Not sure really, found it and figured that it would make for a cool avatar but had to reduce the filesize for the original was too big.

[Toro]

DerbyX DerbyX:

Why is this nutty? Sounds very reasonable to me. They are allowing people to keep chickens for egg production and some people obviously want that. It sounds pretty reasonable that they would set rules and regulations to prevent full on egg mills in urban areas and they are being forward thinking by setting up a place for any wayward chickens instead of expecting local SPCAs and animal shelters to deal with.

What about this do you find so nutty?

$20k for a chicken shelter. And that's just to start. It will cost money to upkeep the homeless chickens. Vancouver must have money to burn.

How many people do you know want to raise chickens in their backyard? Soon, you'll have wild chickens all over the place. You'll need to pay people to hunt down all the roaming chickens on Burrard.

But why stop there? Maybe we should allow people to have cows and pigs too. We can slaughter them in the backyard. And if people find that they don't like pigs and cows, we should build shelters for homeless pigs and cows too. Goats too.

[DerbyX]

Toro Toro:

$20k for a chicken shelter. And that's just to start. It will cost money to upkeep the homeless chickens. Vancouver must have money to burn.

How many people do you know want to raise chickens in their backyard? Soon, you'll have wild chickens all over the place. You'll need to pay people to hunt down all the roaming chickens on Burrard.

But why stop there? Maybe we should allow people to have cows and pigs too. We can slaughter them in the backyard. And if people find that they don't like pigs and cows, we should build shelters for homeless pigs and cows too. Goats too.

20000 is pardon the pun, chicken feed. Like I said it stands to reason if they will allow chicken ownership that they would have a plan to deal with wayward and discarded birds.

I don't know how many people really want to do this but Vancouver is the city I'd expect a larger % of people to follow the free range, self sustaining philosophy.

There are urban farms and farming co-ops right. In fact it only takes about 26 hours for a chicken to lay an egg and a family owning just a few chickens can obviously farm enough eggs for their use.

If we take your argument to extremes we should not allow people to own pets like dogs and cats because then we'd have to make allowances for owning bears and elephants.

[Toro]

Bears and elephants are far more dangerous. We've domesticated dogs and cats. We haven't bears and elephants. Or at least I haven't. If you have, I'm impressed.

The idea behind the chickens is not so much "free range" farming. You can buy free-range eggs. Its localized farming. So why not have pigs and goats? Its logically consistent with having chickens. OK, maybe cows are a little extreme, but why not pigs and goats? I used to work in a slaughterhouse. It took us about 10 minutes to strip a hog bare. Once you learn how to use a knife, its not hard to cut a hog apart. Why not have a shed in your backyard where you can kill and gut the pig? It, like the chickens, is localized farming.

Most people in the city don't want to live beside farms. Barnyard animals would lower the value of property, especially in places where people live on top of one another and the yards are postage stamps. If I'm shelling out $1 million to buy a house in Vancouver - the average price these days - I want to protect my investment. We have all sorts of zoning laws that restrict activities to protect the quality of living for people in the neighborhood, even if the effect is merely aesthetic - can't build a cell tower in your backyard!

[DerbyX]

Toro Toro:

Bears and elephants are far more dangerous. We've domesticated dogs and cats. We haven't bears and elephants. Or at least I haven't. If you have, I'm impressed.

Well bears and elephants was a bit glib. My point was that considering chickens in the same vein as cows and pigs is like considering cats and dogs to be bears and elephants. They don't equate right.

Toro Toro:

The idea behind the chickens is not so much "free range" farming. You can buy free-range eggs. Its localized farming. So why not have pigs and goats? Its logically consistent with having chickens. OK, maybe cows are a little extreme, but why not pigs and goats? I used to work in a slaughterhouse. It took us about 10 minutes to strip a hog bare. Once you learn how to use a knife, its not hard to cut a hog apart. Why not have a shed in your backyard where you can kill and gut the pig? It, like the chickens, is localized farming.

I disagree. Plenty of people who would do this do think about the free range factor. Hell people who shop think about that and I kinda distrust the wall of "free range" egg cartons.

To me its not unreasonable to think people want to do this. My parents vegetable garden in their backyard produced so little the cost made it about 5 bucks a green bean but they loved it.

Toro Toro:

Most people in the city don't want to live beside farms. Barnyard animals would lower the value of property, especially in places where people live on top of one another and the yards are postage stamps. If I'm shelling out $1 million to buy a house in Vancouver - the average price these days - I want to protect my investment. We have all sorts of zoning laws that restrict activities to protect the quality of living for people in the neighborhood, even if the effect is merely aesthetic - can't build a cell tower in your backyard!

Perhaps. In fact cities grapple with the problem of dogs and dog waste as well. I doubt if you are buying a house for 1 mil you need to worry about your next door neighbour farming eggs.

I think it is less of a deal then you think is all.

[DrCaleb]

DerbyX DerbyX:

Toro Toro:

$20k for a chicken shelter. And that's just to start. It will cost money to upkeep the homeless chickens. Vancouver must have money to burn.

How many people do you know want to raise chickens in their backyard? Soon, you'll have wild chickens all over the place. You'll need to pay people to hunt down all the roaming chickens on Burrard.

But why stop there? Maybe we should allow people to have cows and pigs too. We can slaughter them in the backyard. And if people find that they don't like pigs and cows, we should build shelters for homeless pigs and cows too. Goats too.

20000 is pardon the pun, chicken feed. Like I said it stands to reason if they will allow chicken ownership that they would have a plan to deal with wayward and discarded birds.

I don't know how many people really want to do this but Vancouver is the city I'd expect a larger % of people to follow the free range, self sustaining philosophy.

There are urban farms and farming co-ops right. In fact it only takes about 26 hours for a chicken to lay an egg and a family owning just a few chickens can obviously farm enough eggs for their use.

If we take your argument to extremes we should not allow people to own pets like dogs and cats because then we'd have to make allowances for owning bears and elephants.

I like the idea of people keeping 'pets' that pull their own weight. I'm a big fan of people knowing and experiencing where their food actually comes from.

That said, $20,000 for a shelter for wayward chickens is nuts. I can get a pot at the kitchen supply store for under $50. Problem solved. And it was Yummy!

[herbie]

What's funny is how they all voted for it, but Toro wants to blame the leftists.
Almost as funny as citified morons worrying about shelters and euthanisizing unwanted chickens.
When it stops laying or you just don't want it anymore, you wring it's neck and pop it in the stewpot, stupid.
It's a fucking chicken, about the stupidest things on Earth, like carrots that walk. Cut off it's head and bury it for compost if you want, who gives a shit!

Then there's the even stupider, the bean counter worshippers shitting over a $20,000 shelter. You can't lay one more square of sidewalk for $20,000 in 2010.... jeez....