Backyard Chickens

Excellent example of a backyard chicken-coop and run by www.ChickenCoopsDirect.com

In the City of Victoria it is lawful to keep chickens. Roosters are prohibited.

It is also lawful to keep ducks, geese, turkeys, and other members of the poultry genus.

Poultry can be kept as pets or for personal egg consumption, but it is unlawful to sell or advertise eggs for sale.   Poultry cannot be raised for meat purposes and cannot be slaughtered on a residential property.

There are no maximum numbers of poultry allowed, but it has to be consistent with personal use. Excess numbers of poultry will undoubtedly cause complaints and investigation into land use & business licence violations.

Poultry must be contained to your own private property. $150 fines can be issued if your birds get out and trespass on a neighbouring property. Animal Control Officers can also impound trespassing birds or birds that run stray in public places.

If you are serious about keeping chickens do yourself a big favour and build yourself a decent chicken coop. If you can't conveniently enter the coop you will be less likely to clean it. Dirty chicken coops generate complaints: odor, flies, rats, and disease. Don’t build a chicken coop out of three sheets of plywood and a hockey net unless you want to meet an Animal Control Officer. Chickens are smart and it won’t take them long to find a way out. They’ll be exploring, scratching and eating things in your neighbour’s garden in no time and we won’t talk about the messy stuff they’ll leave behind.  Don't locate a chicken coop in a front yard or immediately beside a neighbor’s house or build it onto a shared fence.

We recommend that you also build a chicken run (a fully fenced area including wire across the top) and attach it directly to the chicken coop.  A coop and run like the one pictured above could be located on a vegetable garden in fall and winter months.  Every few weeks move it a few feet and the chickens will eradicate the weeds and naturally fertilize the soil in the process.

Like roosters, chickens can be quite noisy at daybreak and they should be contained to the coop until 7 a.m.

Lastly, beware of predators. In Victoria there are lots of raccoons and mink that would love to dine on your chickens or their eggs.  Build coops and runs for two purposes: to contain chickens and keep predators out. Unfortunately there have also been a couple of incidents where a stray dog has broken into a chicken coop and killed chickens. 

In Oak Bay there are minimum lot size requirements and zoning restrictions.

Before going ahead call us and we will determine whether it is lawful for you to keep chickens on your property and can provide you with Oak Bay specific information.

In Esquimalt you can keep up to four hens.

There are specific rules about hen's enclosures in Esquimalt. Please read the bylaw (Section 57.1) before constructing your chicken coop.
 

More information:

The District of Saanich has compiled some basic information about keeping chickens in an urban area. See their pdf called Hen Basics.

Visit the Canadian Food Inspection's Bird Health Basics page for information on preventing and detecting disease in backyards flocks.