‘Why would I kill my chickens?’

Received a note from a reader about the chicken column this morning, drawing my attention to a full-page article in Saturday’s Vancouver Sun, the same day my column ran here and in The Daily News. It’s an excellent article, and gives a bit of an overview of the chicken issue around the province, including a mention of Kamloops, plus others like Duncan, Victoria, New Westminster, etc..

It also points out that a great many U.S. cities are chicken friendly.

“Seattle, Portland, Chicago, New York, Los Angeles, Miami, Minneapolis, Denver, Atlanta, Nashville, San Jose, Houston, San Francisco and innumerable smaller U.S. centres all permit the keeping of chickens as pets and/or for eggs,” says the article by Nicholas Read. “And many have no restrictions as to where and how they must be housed.”

The story quotes a chicken owner on the tricky issue of what to do with them when their laying days are over.

“Do you kill your dog when it gets old and useless?” the chicken keeper asks. “So why would I kill my chickens?”

This is a challenge I will have to grapple with when I get my chicken flock together. Maybe I could give Franklin Endreny a call when the time comes.