How to apply to keep urban hens in your Calgary backyard

A young girl can be seen feeding two black chicken in a chicken coop in a backyard in the city. (City of Calgary)

The City of Calgary will soon be accepting applications for urban hen ownership.

The move to allow citizens to keep urban hens in their backyards was made last year when councillors updated Calgary's responsible pet ownership bylaw.

“We heard from Calgarians that modern pet ownership means more than just caring for cats and dogs,” said Jennifer Lawlor from Calgary Community Standards in a Wednesday news release.

The changes to the bylaw went into effect on Jan. 1, and starting on March 21, Calgarians will be able to apply for a livestock licence to keep hens.

The city says the program is aligned with national care guidelines and structured similar to other municipalities across Canada.

“The urban hen program introduces urban livestock licensing and regulation to Calgarians, ensuring proper housing, care conditions and opportunities to address any community-based concerns are incorporated,” said Lawlor.

Just 100 licences will be issued this year. If more than 100 people apply, the city says a lottery system will be used to randomly select 100 applicants.

Once applicants receive a licence, peace officers will have to conduct a backyard and coop inspection before they're allowed to acquire any hens.

Once approval is granted, licensed hen keepers must ensure hens remain in the coop or an enclosed run, and stay on the licensed property.

The upcoming application period will be the only chance for Calgarians to apply for a hen keeping licence in 2022.

If necessary, the city says a waitlist of additional applicants will be created through the lottery system. The waitlisted applications may be processed in 2022, or as part of the 2023 application intake.

CRITERIA FOR URBAN HEN OWNERSHIP

The city says Calgarians hoping to apply for urban hen ownership will need to meet the following criteria:

• Be at least 18-years-old or have a parent or guardian apply on their behalf;
• Complete approved hen keeping and care training;
• Own the property hens will be kept on, or have written expressed content from the property owner;
• Acquire a free Premise Identification (PID) Number from the Government of Alberta;
• Confirm the number of hen licences requested (the pet ownership bylaw requires ownership of between two to four, as hens are group animals); and
• Applicants will also need to acquire a pre-application enquiry file number from The City of Calgary Planning and Development, depending on their site plan for where hens will be kept.

AIN'T NOBODY HERE BUT US CHICKENS

The City of Calgary says roosters are not permitted through the urban hen program.

Young hens (pullets) cannot be younger than 16 weeks old. 

Any urban hen owners who do not follow the rules could have their licence revoked, the city warns.

To learn more about Calgary's urban hen program you can visit the City of Calgary's website.

The urban livestock licence lottery will open at 11 a.m. on March 21 through Calgary.ca/pets, and will remain open until at 11:59 p.m. on April 18.