Backyard chickens on smaller lots closer to reality in Surrey
Posted July 10, 2013 7:10 pm.
This article is more than 5 years old.
SURREY (NEWS1130) – Surrey is one step closer to allowing backyard chickens on one-quarter acre lots, but farmers say it will threaten the meat you buy in stores.
They’re worried it will bring a higher chance of disease, such as the Avian Flu.
“When you have animals being housed in small areas you have sanitary concerns, so you’ve got rodent control and insect control,” explains Ray Nickel, President of the BC Poultry Association.
He says if those backyard chickens catch something and it spreads to the bigger producers, BC could be in for some far reaching problems. “If that were to happen then you get the border protection stuff going up, CFIA gets involved and you start having 3km shut down zones.”
Those for the bylaw change say they want a healthier product.
“There is no way that you can argue that by backyard you’re going to get a healthier product, if salmonella were to get introduced through a backyard bird or some other means and gets into the food chain, it’s bad,” explains Nickel.
As for registering the birds with the city. Nickel says it won’t make a difference because there won’t be regular door-to-door inspections. “Farmers are all registered and are in the system. We get tested three times a year, we are under mandatory bio-security, food safety and animal care programs. You can’t get a better system.”
He says if the city implemented all those regulations and the chickens were not exposed all the time, it could be a different story.
He’s calling for the issue to be provincially regulated.
