More Chicken stories- 24 Hours reports

24 HOURS: Chickens on your block?
By MATT KIELTYKA, 24 HOURS

Backyard hens are making their way up city council's pecking order.

Following their meeting Wednesday night, the Vancouver Food Policy Council will pitch council to change city bylaws to allow residents to raise chickens at home for food.

"There is a lot of interest around this issue," said Trish Kelly of the food policy council.

"It goes with the trend of eating local food and having things like community gardens."

Coun. Andrea Reimer sees it as a great way for people to access local food.

"Obviously it's not for everybody, but I can't imagine why you wouldn't want as much food produced within city limits as possible," she said.

"I've casually spoken with most of the councillors and they're broadly supportive of the concept."

Cities such as New York, Victoria and Seattle already allow residents to keep chickens.

"The chicken policies in place vary," said Kelly. "Some places don't permit roosters because of the noise, while places like New York don't have restrictions on the number of chickens."

Other cities, such as Seattle, even offer "City Chicken 101" classes to teach urban farmers how to take care of their birds.

Kelly said it's too early to tell what a Vancouver bylaw will look like, or when a motion reaches council.