A Lake Country woman just wants her daughters to keep their pet chickens.

Maggie Wright, a resident in the Sunburn Hill area, decided to take two chickens from her daughterssa国际传媒� Elementary school classroom last May as pets when they were given away at the end of a class project.

The Wrights kept the chickens in a hen house and even picked up two others from a farm in Kelownasa国际传媒檚 Black Mountain area, who were older and didnsa国际传媒檛 lay many eggs.

When doing her research for chicken keeping, Wright said she couldnsa国际传媒檛 find any bylaws in Lake Country about urban chickens, but Vernon allows up to a maximum of four. Kelowna allows up to 10 chickens in residential urban areas if the lot is a half acre, or larger, in size.

John Mellow, with the districtsa国际传媒檚 bylaw services, said a procedure is followed prior to a ticket being issued.

First, the resident is informed of the infraction and given two weeks to remove the chickens from the property. A letter is also sent to the resident with the bylaw.

If the resident fails to comply, they are given a ticket for $100. Normally he gets between three to four complaints a year about residential chickens.

Director of community services Mark Koch said council had discussed it previously as a way to prevent farm animals in residential zones, but the bylaw can always be amended.

It would have to go through four readings and a public hearing in order for it to be amended.

Mayor James Baker said the bylaw could definitely be updated to include backyard chickens. While he said chickens are benign, roosters could pose a problem.

The District of Coldstream is also in the middle of processing a bylaw which, if approved by council, will allow up to four hens in a minimum of an 836-square-foot property.

RELATED: Letter: Eggs fine, but what about the chickens?

sa国际传媒淲e never (sold) anything, my kids just have them as a pet,sa国际传媒� Wright said.

She said the chickens are kept inside at night on their property which is about 4,800 square feet. When the family noticed one of the chicks grew into a rooster, she planned to give it away. They keep the rooster inside so hesa国际传媒檚 quiet, she said.

Wright was sa国际传媒渜uite surprisedsa国际传媒� when they were visited by a bylaw officer who said they cansa国际传媒檛 keep chickens on their property, even if they are kept in the house. According to Lake Countrysa国际传媒檚 bylaws, chickens are currently not allowed in urban residential zones, but do allow them on rural residential properties and in urban housing zones.

sa国际传媒淲e donsa国际传媒檛 understand (the) issue,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淚 hope that we can keep the hens, we definitely will get rid of the rooster.sa国际传媒�

RELATED: What makes chickens happy? University of Guelph researchers try to find out

She also received a letter from the districtsa国际传媒檚 bylaw officer and decided to keep them at a friendsa国际传媒檚 farm until the issue is sorted out as she doesnsa国际传媒檛 want a fine.

Her two daughters, Lydia, 8 and Lyanca, 6, love their chickens, she said.

sa国际传媒淭he children cried the whole night (when they were given to the farm),sa国际传媒� Wright said, adding they are pets and part of the family.

Wright took to a Lake Country Moms Facebook page where she shared what she received from the district.

When Lake Country resident Tara Shoemaker shared her post in a common Lake Country page, it gathered more than 70 comments, mostly in support of urban chickens.

Raising a number of chickens herself, Shoemaker said sa国际传媒淚sa国际传媒檓 in 1,000 per cent support for people having chickens.sa国际传媒�

sa国际传媒淚 think everyone should be able to have them. People should be able to have at least five,sa国际传媒� she said. sa国际传媒淭heysa国际传媒檙e great for a million reasons, theysa国际传媒檙e so good for the environment,sa国际传媒� adding that having backyard chickens allows residents to collect their own eggs and create their own compost.

carli.berry@kelownacapnews.com
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