Allow Backyard Hens
Let's make Barrie a sustainable city by allowing backyard hens for the purpose of household egg consumption.
Many major North American cities, including Toronto, Montreal, Vancouver, Victoria, New York, Seattle, Chicago and Los Angeles, together with Ontario communities such as Niagara Falls, Brampton, Newmarket,
and Guelph, allow the small-scale raising of hens. Now it's Barrie's turn to join this positive and growing trend.
Hens have existed in cities since the dawn of time an
d continue to thrive in communities around the world to this day. The benefits of raising them include:
Fresh, healthy and delicious home-grown eggs, free of pesticides and antibiotics;
Reduced municipal solid waste as hens consume table scraps and other organic waste;
Reduced backyard pest populations as hens consume weeds and bugs;
Opportunities to teach children about food sources and responsible animal care; and
The addition of great "poultry pets" to families -- hens are people-friendly, nonaggressive and always entertaining to watch.
The City of Barrie is in the process of creating a new comprehensive Zoning By-law, which will be designed to implement the vision and policies of Barrie’s recently adopted Official Plan.
Due to public interest, the new Zoning By-law proposes to establish zoning standards for chicken enclosures and use provisions for backyard chickens (see section 4.9).
To download the first draft of the new Zoning By-law and for full information, please visit BuildingBarrie.ca/zoning.
The first draft of the new Zoning By-law is open for public feedback online until April 28, 2023. Public meetings are also being held to gather feedback:
In-person Public Information Centre
An in-person Public Information Centre will be held on April 19 from 4pm to 7pm at the Barrie City Hall Rotunda (70 Collier Street). The public is welcome to drop in to provide feedback. No pre-registration required
Virtual Public Information Centre
A virtual Public Information Centre will be held on April 20 from 2–3pm. Please register in advance to attend.
City staff will collect public and stakeholder feedback from the first draft of the Zoning By-law and incorporate this into a second draft, which is planned to be released in summer 2023.
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Wasim commented
Please keep posting the updates, I support the idea ,
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Joy commented
Perhaps council could request www.rentthechicken.ca attend to give a short presentation and answer any questions.
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Sharon commented
Yes! The city needs to bring this to council preferable ASAP. Perhaps a pilot project for the spring/summer, following Orillia & Torontos lead on this. Can we get notification from The City of Barrrie - Moderator, as to when this issue will be addressed at council? Proper notification is essential so those interest may attend. Very poorly advertised last time.
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Carrie Barnes commented
Yes! I like the idea of showing up when this goes to council!! Keep us posted if anyone hears a date
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Anonymous commented
Looks like we've hit the 500 mark for having the city review this issue again. If this gets brought to a committee meeting open to the public, I would recommend people try to make it out to the meeting to express their thoughts. Back in 2016 only 2 people showed up, but I think people did not know when the meeting was being held. Here's hoping there's another chance!
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Bob Vogel commented
Composted chicken waste is high in nitrogen. King Cole Ducks had a secondary industry composting their duck waste which was great for lawns. Many golf course used this product.
Bob
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Anonymous commented
Sounds great. Limit the number but solid idea.
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Rod commented
You can feed them, or eat them.
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Lisa commented
Julie- there are plenty of designs for winterized chicken coops. Or this program would be a great option! http://www.rentthechicken.com/p/north-central-ontario.html?m=1
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Julie Armstrong commented
Hens are good for egg, waste consumption and weeding, but what do you do with them in the winter when it is very cold. Do they also not attract wildlife to your backyard?
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Valerie commented
They eat ticks too!!
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Tabatha commented
Would help out low income families who's kids love eggs to the point they buy eggs 3 times a week
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Anonymous commented
Hens would be an excellent choice for the citizens of Barrie. I hope they implement change
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Rod commented
I don’t think the city will budge on this. Just make friends with your neighbors, and if anyone complains eat them.
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Don Komarechka commented
We would love to have backyard hens - just a few and no roosters of course. They make very little mess and would actually help by eating weeds from the garden and scraps, while providing fresh eggs.
They'd also be a great way to teach responsibility to our young daughter since my wife and I are allergic to cats and dogs.
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robb meier commented
Long overdue for the residents of Barrie. This is an easy step towards food security for people of low income. Let's see this happen!
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Ashley commented
Can we please pass this I really would love to have fresh eggs daily
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brian commented
I would love to have the freedom to keep chickens! Can't be any worst than dogs pooping everywhere and cats roaming around killing things.
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Peter Bursztyn commented
Our daughter, while living in Utah, had between 5-7 hens over a 3 year period. Her flock consisted of "pensioned-off" farm hens and "strays" brought to her by friends & neighbours. They did indeed eat her kitchen scraps, rapidly converting them into fertilizer. They did not smell nor make very much noise. As a bonus, each hen laid distinctive shape/colour eggs and found fun places to hide them . . .
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Anonymous commented
This is a great idea, new Council should give it some thought again.