Photo: NewsKamloops.com

If you want to keep a few backyard hens, you’re in the clear.

The only hurdle at this stage is that you can’t register them as required.

Since June 21, when council approved animal control bylaw amendments, residents are permitted to keep up to five hens on single-family and two-family residential lots greater than 370 square metres within city limits.

The city is in the process of developing public information and the free mandatory self-registration process with an anticipated implementation date of Aug. 2.

Residents interested in keeping hens in residential areas must:

• Familiarize themselves with the city’s regulations www.kamloops.ca/urbanhens
• Learn about hens, how to care for them, and the costs to caring for them
• Self-register their hens through the city’s website at www.kamloops.ca/urbanhens (on or after Aug. 2).

Some of the regulations for keeping urban hens include:

• Urban hens are for the enjoyment of the person or family living on the premises
• The selling of eggs, meat, or manure is not permitted
• Hen coops must meet the minimum setback requirements in the city’s animal control bylaw and be maintained in good condition
• Hens are to be kept in a building and enclosure that is to be located in the rear yard of the property, at least three metres from a dwelling unit, and one metre from rear and side yard property lines
• Each hen is to be provided with one half square metre of indoor coop space and one square metre of roofed outdoor enclosure. The coop must be fully enclosed. The maximum area of the coop and enclosure should be less than 10 square metres
• Hens are not allowed to run at large

Important points of the bylaw include:

Noise – Roosters are prohibited in residential zones, and hens must be kept inside their coops from sunset to 7 a.m.

Rodents – Coops and pens must be maintained in good repair and sanitary condition, free from vermin and obnoxious smells and substances. Coops and pens must be constructed to prevent any rodent from harboring underneath or within them or their walls. Hen owners are required to keep food in sealed locked containers and preferably indoors.

Smell – Manure must be stored in a fully enclosed structure no more than 180 litres. Coops and pens must be sanitary, and food, garbage and manure must be removed in a timely fashion from each coop and pen.

The keeping of hens in Kamloops is subject to the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals Act, and no slaughtering or butchering of hens is to take place on residential properties.

For more information on rearing urban hens, contact [email protected] 250-828-3850. For animal control issues and inquiries, contact [email protected] 250-828-3409.

– NewsKamloops.com