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Thumbs down on urban chickens

Norfolk council worries about complaints

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Norfolk’s chickens won’t be moving into town anytime soon.

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For the second time in two years, Norfolk council this week turned down the idea of allowing backyard chickens in the county’s urban areas.

A solid majority were put off by the possibility of complaints as well as the potential health effects of poultry kept in unsanitary conditions.

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Coun. Peter Black has asked Simcoe residents what they think about backyard coops while campaigning for re-election. Black told Norfolk council Tuesday that the feedback is 90 per cent against.

“We know there are people who are responsible and then there are people who aren’t,” Black said. “The latter ruin it for everyone else. I know of people who would be very, very upset by this.”

Coun. Mike Columbus recently investigated a Delhi resident who was keeping chickens illegally within the urban zone.

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A neighbour had complained that odour and flies were making it difficult to sell their home. A county bylaw officer was called in to deal with the situation.

“There was odour,” Columbus said. “And there were flies. This particular property wasn’t kept up very well. But the problem has been taken care of.”

Simcoe teen Andrew Moore has promoted the idea of urban poultry for the past two years. The Poplar Street youth dreams of being a farmer and would like to learn more about livestock by keeping a small flock of hens.

An email report to Norfolk staff in July made Moore’s task much more difficult.

A Norfolk man told the county that his elderly father died of salmonella poisoning last fall. The suspected cause was contamination from free-range hens in the neighbourhood that had laid eggs in his garden.

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“That’s no reason to prevent us from having our own chickens,” Moore told council. “One of the things you learn about having chickens is to wash your hands after handling them.

“Bad things happen. But we need to get past them. All I ask for is a trial period. You can’t judge something you’ve never tried.”

Tamra Smith, of Simcoe, spoke against Moore’s proposal. Contrary to what council has been told, Smith said hens can be noisy and disruptive. Approving backyard hens, Smith added, could be a slippery slope.

“If we allow chickens, someone’s going to want a goat,” she said. “Then someone’s going to want a pig. Then someone’s going to want a cow for fresh milk. Where does it end? It ends when we say no to chickens.”

That is how council voted. The only council members to oppose the staff recommendation were Waterford Coun. Harold Sonnenberg and Port Rowan Coun. Noel Haydt.

MSonnenberg@postmedia.com

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