First-of-its-kind community 'chicken school' planned for northeast Calgary
CBC
Calgarians looking to learn how to keep backyard chickens could soon be in luck.
Plans for what could be a first-of-its-kind "chicken school" and urban hen coop — a concept similar to a community garden — are in the works for northeast Calgary.
The idea was hatched by the Winston Heights-Mountview Community Association, which is hoping to build a large coop to house a dozen chickens for, among other community benefits, educational purposes.
"My hope is that we become a local resource for education, community engagement, and then ongoing support for Calgarians interested in urban hens," said community association secretary Jile Meyn.
The city's urban chicken program launched in 2022, and it allows Calgarians to keep between two and four hens.
Meyn, who went through the city's extensive application and training requirements to have backyard hens, says the project would help raise awareness on what it really takes to keep chickens in the city.
"For anyone who hasn't gone through the the process from start to finish, it's quite daunting," Meyn said. "You have about 10 steps you have to do with the city. You have to go through required training ... start to finish, it could be anywhere from three to four months, to half a year."
The community association says a program like the chicken school could be beneficial for those intimidated by the process.
And the school would welcome people from across the city, says community association president Alex Reed.
"People from other parts of the city can come to Winston Heights-Mountview and learn what they need to learn," Reed said.
The program, which is currently being planned as a pilot project, would offer hands-on, in-person training on how to handle and raise chickens in an urban environment, and how to build an enclosure secure enough to keep hens in and predators out.
In addition to training, the coop will come with plenty of eggs.
"The city has generously allowed us to start the pilot project with 12 hens, so it's going to be quite a bit of eggs," Meyn said. "We'll be able to give some eggs to [volunteers and participants], and then we are able to sell eggs within the province."
Meyn hopes the coop, which will be about 15-by-30 feet in size, can eventually expand to up to 30 chickens on-site, with a structure that big giving the birds plenty of room to move around.
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