A statement of the obvious — Calgary is a city, an urban setting. Why, in 2026, are we permitting farm animals such as chickens to share this space?

Maybe history is repeating itself. My grandfather raised barred Plymouth Rock chickens in his backyard in Mount Royal. It was his passion. He became president of the Calgary Poultry Association and, as he wrote, he “was instrumental in organizing and became the president of the Poultry Federation of Alberta.”

This was more than 100 years ago, when Calgary had a population of about 65,290. I mention all this to show my family history and to show that I have nothing against chickens.

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I just don’t think they belong in a city nearing a population of two million.

What I find bizarre is the movement to permit community chicken coops, along the same lines as community gardens, although with more noise, more feathers and more aromas that are not coming from fresh greenery.

Calgarians (and most Western cities) put up with magpies, woodpeckers, squirrels, the occasional feral rabbit and mice. We don’t have to deal with raccoons or........

© Calgary Herald