North Bay man continues fight to have backyard chickens

Image | Brent Johnston, North Bay chicken farmer

Caption: (Brent Johnston)

A North Bay man is continuing his push to have city council reconsider the rules about backyard chickens.
In March, Brent Johnson was given a notice by the city to get rid of his backyard chickens. He found them a new home and decided to then ruffle the feathers of city council.
This week, he presented his thoughts on the topic to city council, and requested a motion be put forward to have the bylaws changed to allow backyard chickens.
"I actually amalgamated all of the bylaws from other cities and municipalities and wrote them out a bylaw," he said.
"They could choose to adapt that bylaw that I wrote for them or utilize the majority of it to write their own bylaw."

Image | Backyard chickens

Caption: (Brent Johnston)

Johnson also spoke about common misconceptions people have about the birds.
"People think chickens are noisy," he said.
"A barking dog is what, 110 to 120 decibels. A chicken clucks for 5 minutes and it's less than a human conversation around 60 decibels."
In the end, the councillors didn't put forward a motion to discuss it further. Johnson says he's encouraging people to contact their city councillor so the issue is brought up again.
"People should care because … it's an opportunity for them to have a productive pet," he explained.
"I have three cats. They're wonderful. People have dogs, but when was the last time that your dog made up breakfast for you?"