Backyard chickens may be coming to Vancouver

Andrea Reimer is in a fowl mood.

The Vision Vancouver councillor has introduced a motion that would repeal the city’s prohibition against keeping chickens and develop guidelines for the raising of backyard hens.

“The idea is not to make it mandatory to keep chickens,” said Remier. “But if you want to keep chickens and you’re up to that task, here’s an opportunity to do so.”

The idea was forwarded from a Vancouver resident and filtered through the city’s advisory body, the Food Policy Council (Remier co-chaired the council at the time).

Many cities including Burnaby, Surrey, Victoria and New York City allow the keeping of hens.

Guidelines that staff would have to look at includes how the hens would be kept and how many per yard.

“There are always issues about keeping animals, but we figured out how to make it work with dogs, so we should be able to come up with some guidelines that work for chickens.”

The motion goes to council Tuesday, but a decision will likely be put over until March 5.