Chickens Piss Neighbors Off In Winnipeg

[Aaron]

CBC

WINNIPEG - Winnipeg has given three homeowners a temporary reprieve from an order to get rid of their chickens.

"They didn't realize they were doing anything wrong," says Tim Dack, head of the city's animal services department. "And then [we] sent them a warning letter [and] it caused some stress."

All three live on the outskirts of the city, on property that had been re-zoned from agricultural to municipal in 1998. They have dozens of chickens between them, in contravention of the city's exotic animal bylaw.

"It's on hold," said Ron Meisters of the city's order. Meisters has 11 chickens. "At least we can keep our chickens and get on with the rest of our summer."

Dack would not say how long the reprieve would last. He wants to investigate how many other people may be keeping exotic pets before making a decision.

"At least they'll be given a little bit of a break right now while we do some further investigation. I want to make sure we're fair in what we're doing," says Dack.

"We could be opening a can of worms by going in there."

Fred Van Dongen, the neighbour who complained about the chicken noise, is not happy about the decision. He's afraid house prices will go down.

"If they don't kick the problem in the butt now, you'll have more people with chickens, sheep and everything else," said Van Dongen.

"People are building homes on my street worth a million dollars, and they don't want people building … chicken coops and devaluing property."

Slow news day up in Canada. But to those home owners that are building in this area, I say TS. You should have investigated the area a little better before building. And why would a chicken coup devalue the neighbors house anyways?

[Solauren]

I'd like to know why the hell a Chicken is considered an exotic animal. I mean, come on, we EAT them as a major part of the North American diet

[Aaron]

I'd like to know why the hell a Chicken is considered an exotic animal. I mean, come on, we EAT them as a major part of the North American diet

It would seem that anything that is not a dog,cat,rabbit or some form of small rodent is considered an exotic animal. I'm wondering what kind of noise these chickens made. I've been around alot of chickens and they only cluck softly, roosters can be noisy but it's infrequent. I think these people are just pissed because they built next door to this guy and their homes are somehow devalued because of it. I still don't understand why a chicken coup would devalue your home.

[sketerpot]

Where I live, there are lots of dogs chained in people's yards, and when you walk by them they bark at you. Compare this to chickens, which only cluck a little. By any reasonable standard, chained dogs devalue property much more than chickens. Why are the chickens the ones who get the dirty looks?

Tradition. People are used to dogs and know that there's nothing they can do about it. Chickens are "exotic". And so people start acting inconsistent.

[EmperorChrostas the Cruel]

Are there any ROOSTERS with these chickens? Just how many chickens are we talking about here? It said dozens of chickens between them. 24 plus chickens is a lot of poop, and stink. If more, even more noise and stink.
More to the point, chickens,and rabbits are considered livestock (like pigs and cows) when kept in that quantity. One or two rabbits may be a pet, dozens aren't. Same with chickens.
From the legal point of view, it is the same law that prevents a hog or dairy farm from setting up business in you suburban neighborhood.
This is a residential zone, not an industrial or agricultural zone.

[Aaron]

Are there any ROOSTERS with these chickens? Just how many chickens are we talking about here? It said dozens of chickens between them. 24 plus chickens is a lot of poop, and stink. If more, even more noise and stink.
More to the point, chickens,and rabbits are considered livestock (like pigs and cows) when kept in that quantity. One or two rabbits may be a pet, dozens aren't. Same with chickens.
From the legal point of view, it is the same law that prevents a hog or dairy farm from setting up business in you suburban neighborhood.
This is a residential zone, not an industrial or agricultural zone.

That's true. But this area was recently rezoned from agriculture to residential. These people probably didn't even know that they were in violation of the law untill they were notified. Personally I think they should be covered under some sort of grandfather clause. These animals predate the rezoning and should be allowed to remain. The new neighbors should have investigated the area more closely, instead of building and bitching about the chickens later.

I seriously doubt that these chickens are making that much noise, unless there's a lot of roosters with them. And if the owners keep their area reasonably clean then the stink shouldn't be too bad. I live next door to a cattle farm, and the owner (my landlord) keeps the place spotless. I can't tell by smell alone that I live next door to a farm.