Best Laid Plans

A variety of eggs from heritage breed hens.

Welcome to the Guelph Chicken Keepers Association and our new blog. Guelph is one of the few cities in Canada where it is legal to keep backyard chickens.  This is a good start, but there is still lots to accomplish.  Coops are limited to larger yards, because according to by-laws they must be at least 50' from the nearest house of your neighbour.  There is still a lot of misunderstanding about chickens harbouring diseases and attracting pests, and there are still our friends in Waterloo, Toronto, and elsewhere who are still working to change by-laws so they can legally keep chickens at all.

Properly housed and maintained, a flock of backyard chickens is so valuable.  We all know they provide the most delicious eggs you've ever tasted, and meat (if you are so inclined).  They are a learning experience for kids, and a great way to bring neighbourhood communities together.  A little time spent watching their peaceful ways, scratching the earth for bugs or giving themselves a dust bath,  is enough to make your blood pressure drop a point or two.  Like a clothes drying on a line in the breeze, chickens remind us of simpler times.  We could all use a little more simplicity in our lives, and without asking for much above a clean and sheltered place to live, a place to perch, roost, and nest, and some food, chickens provide it, and much more.

Watch the blog for media reports, photos from members, stories, and lots of useful information and links about urban chicken-keeping in Guelph Ontario.