Greater Napanee is seeking answers from its residents on a question regarding chickens-and it has nothing to do with why the bird decided to cross the road.
Instead the online survey seeks feedback as to whether or not residents support the idea of housing chickens in residential areas. Which, in theory, could lead to more chickens crossing roads and perhaps solve the age-old mystery. Currently chickens are limited to areas zoned prime agricultural or rural.
As a rural resident with almost 10 years experience as a ‘chicken tender’, the survey piqued this reporter’s interest. Living in a ‘rural’ part of town, whatever by-law the town does adopt on the matter will have little impact on this corner. That said, it would be nice to see others have the option to enjoy the hobby of raising chickens.
Having next to no poultry knowledge when the first flock arrived this writer can confidently say as far as pets go, chickens are actually pretty self reliant. It wasn’t until he was in his late 20s that this writer learned chicken eggs can come in shades of blue, pink and even olive green-and to answer the inevitable follow up question, no the last ones don’t come with a side of green ham.
Give them food, water and a secure place to sleep at night that is impenetrable from predators and chickens will provide an egg day for morning breakfast and help control the lawn’s insect population if they’ve given space to roam. Best of all, unlike a five year old and a 15-month-old, chickens will even put themselves to bed each night. It’s then up to the farmer to remember to close the door behind them once they’ll all in.
Of course not everyone is a fan of all things feathered and there will likely be some objections to welcoming leghorns to the neighbourhood.
Alarm clocks are nice but there’s nothing quite like the crow of a rooster at sunrise to start the day. Or the 20 crows that follow and then continue throughout the day at random intervals-usually right outside the window when someone on the other side is attempting to conduct a phone interview for work. Don’t believe the myth that they only do this once in the morning.
Fortunately however, the ladies are actually pretty quiet and it’s the men who do all the yapping. (Feel free to insert your own comment here, we’ll stay out of it). And while this may be basic knowledge to most, it is still a question that gets posed a lot-no; roosters are not required in the egg laying process. Female hens will lay whether or not there’s a rooster around. For breeding purposes that’s another story, but if the goal is to simply create a local supply chain of fresh, non-GMO food, a brood of four or five hens is all that’s needed. Given that the interest in doing just that is at an all time high, we hope the town can draft a by-law that allows as many residents as possible to do just that.
-Adam Prudhomme