Chickens coming home to roost – in Canadian cities

Most city dwellers who raise chickens, like Babineau, do so for their eggs — not for slaughter

By Benjamin Shingler
Canadian Press
July 16, 2011

Excerpt:

MONTREAL – Each morning, Marci Babineau steps out the backdoor of her Montreal townhouse to fetch a half-dozen eggs from the chicken coop in her yard.

“It still amazes me everyday,” says Babineau, a yoga teacher who had chickens growing up in suburban California. “I always thank them, because I feel like saying, ‘I’m glad it’s you, not me (laying eggs).’”

While backyard chickens are permitted in Babineau’s area, an upscale municipality on Montreal island, they remain an underground movement in most North American cities amid concerns about smell, sanitation and noise.

But that’s gradually changing as many urban dwellers seek a closer connection with the food they eat.

A growing number of Canadian cities now allow chickens within their boundaries, while others are considering the possibility.

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