There's been lots of talk lately about allowing urban hens in Fort Saskatchewan.
Corey Sieben and Tami Petroski approached city council on Tuesday (May 17) to make their case about the benefits of having urban hens in the community.
The duo started with a series of slides that went over the advantages of pasture chickens over farm chickens, such as providing around 300 per cent more Vitamin E on top of other nutritional benefits.
They also displayed a slide debunking various myths about urban chickens, such as their loud noise. The sound of a rooster, however, is about ninety decibels, the same as a barking dog.
Sieben and Petroski ended their presentation by mentioning food waste. According to the two, $31-billion of food waste is produced annually, half of that from consumers. Chickens are omnivores, so they're capable of eating just about anything, including food waste.
After their slideshow, city council was sceptical of the idea.
"I don't have a PhD in anything, and I'm not a biologist, but I did grow up on a farm," said counsellor Brian Kelly. "I understand completely your environmental concepts, but I'm not sure we could ever have enough chickens to handle the thirty billion [dollars] you referenced."
Meanwhile, counsellor Lisa Makin, who has a friend who raises chickens, said her friend called the initiative "a terrible idea", describing the debunked myths as a "perfect case scenario".
After city councils questioning, no significant progress was made on whether or not urban hens will be arriving in the Fort.