Bekki Atkinson hopes Midland residents will soon be able to put all of their eggs in one basket.
The Midland mother of three proposes the town follow Orillia’s lead and allow backyard chickens. To kick things into gear, Atkinson has started a petition asking that the town start a similar backyard chicken pilot project here.
“I decided to start this petition because I have seen the backyard chicken movement grow steadily throughout the last couple of years in other cities and towns,” Atkinson says.
“I feel like Midland would benefit greatly from continuing to be a progressive, eco-friendly community, and allowing its residents to be more self-sustaining.”
Atkinson’s pilot project proposal is loosely based on Orillia’s pilot program, which allowed four hens per yard (based on size) with approximately 12 participants. It began in 2017 and has proven to be a hit, especially with kids.
“Having grown up on a hobby farm, I would love to bring a small part of that to share with my family,” says Atkinson, who works as a nurse at Georgian Bay General Hospital and has lived in Midland for the past decade.
“I have owned chickens off and on my whole life. I remember being so excited to go and get the eggs every morning with my mom and sister.”
Atkinson, 36, says owning chickens is a great opportunity to show children where some of their food comes from, and how one can make decisions (like owning chickens) that will positively impact our environment.
“Chickens produce manure that is high in nitrogen, making it great fertilizer for gardens and yards,” she says, noting it can also be picked up using organic doggy poop backs and added to the organic waste bin.
“Household organic waste would also drastically decrease if more families owned chickens, as they are happy to eat leftovers. Chickens are also great at keeping the pest and rodent population under control; they enjoy eating bugs and their manure is a natural rodent deterrent.”
But Atkinson says the greatest benefit is being able to share an experience like this with one's family without having to live on a farm.
“Having small-scale self-sustainability in your own backyard is an amazing opportunity, especially with food prices skyrocketing,” she says, adding she doesn’t feel there are any disadvantages to allowing backyard chickens.
“Unfortunately, people can have a lot of preconceived ideas about chickens that are either completely false or taken out of context.”
According to Atkinson, one common misconception centres around the idea that chickens will attract rodents.
“The truth is, anytime you leave any kind of animal food out, it’s going to attract rodents," she says. "Whether it be chicken food, dog food, cat food or elephant food.
“As long as your chicken’s food is contained properly, you will not have a rodent problem. I’ve also seen people say that 'chickens stink'. Again, this isn’t the case if they are cared for properly.”
She says chickens produce less waste than other common domestic animals, pointing out one 40-pound dog creates more solid waste than 10 chickens.
As for noise concerns, Atkinson notes that most urban chicken programs do not allow for roosters, which means noise is “very minimal.”
“A large dog barking is approximately 90 decibels, chickens at their loudest egg-announcing moments are at a 60, which is an equal volume to a human conversation,” she says, noting that 90% of the time, all one will hear are quiet clucks and coos.
She also rebuts claims from some that chickens carry disease.
“Chickens pass on less diseases to humans than dogs or cats do. If you keep your chickens clean and healthy, wash your hands after doing chores, and treat for parasites, you won’t likely have any issues,” she says, noting the last common misconception is that chickens will attract predators.
“Chickens do not attract predators, any more than having another small animal would,” she says. “If your chickens are in a secured yard, and can retreat to a fully enclosed coop at night, they won’t bring any attention to themselves.”
