Guide to keeping urban chickens in Kamloops

KAMLOOPS – Starting June 21st, 2016 Kamloops residents are permitted to keep up to five hens on single-family and two-family residential lots greater than 370 m² within City limits.

At the June 21st, 2016 Council meeting, Council approved amendments to the Animal Control Bylaw to regulate the keeping of hens. The City is in the process of developing public information and the free mandatory self-registration process with an anticipated implementation date of August 2nd, 2016.

Residents interested in keeping hens in residential areas must:

• familiarize themselves with the City’s regulations;
• learn about hens, how to care for them, and the costs to caring for them; and
• self-register their hens through the City’s website (mandatory self-registration available August 2nd, 2016).

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 3m from a dwelling unit, and 1m from rear and side yard property lines.
• Each hen is to be provided with 0.5m² of indoor coop space and 1.0m² of roofed outdoor enclosure. The coop must be fully enclosed. The maximum area of the coop and enclosure should be less than 10m²; and
• Hens are not allowed to run at large.

Important points of the Animal Control Bylaw include:

• Noise – Roosters are prohibited in residential zones, and hens must be kept inside their coops from sunset to 7:00 am.
• 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 educational inquiries, please contact foodsecurity@kamloops.ca 250-828-3850.

For Animal Control issues and inquiries, please contact bylaw@kamloops.ca 250-828-3409