By Aaron Mahoney (@Mahones93 on Twitter)

Lethbridge College poll shows majority of residents still against urban hens in Lethbridge

Mar 18, 2019 | 5:11 PM

LETHBRIDGE, AB – Anyone who was eggcited after a presentation to Lethbridge City Council by resident Kelti Baird last September about the possibility of Urban Hens in the city might be disappointed by the results of a poll conducted by Lethbridge College on the subject.

The survey of 882 randomly selected residents between Feb. 9 and 13 was conducted after the presentation and asked residents to offer their opinions on the proposal that would allow for a maximum of four hens to be kept on residential property in Lethbridge.

A clear majority of residents are opposed at 58.6% while slightly more than two of every five Lethbridge residents are supportive at 41.4%. However, support is up considerably from only 27.4% in favour when Lethbridge College students asked a similar but not identical question in 2012.

Currently, Bylaw 3383, which has not been amended since 1983, prohibits the raising of any poultry within the City of Lethbridge.

Councillor Belinda Crowson says the proposal hasn’t been tabled, and this is merely the next step in the process.

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“What we asked administration to do was go and collect the information and then report back on it,” she continued. “So, now we’ll have to see if somebody wants to go ahead with a resolution towards a by-law. Administration has done what we’ve asked, and at this point, we are where we are.”

The survey results also show opposition is much more intense than support is. Nearly two of every five residents are strongly opposed (37.9%) while a further one in five (20.8%) are somewhat opposed. On the flip side, strong support at 15.4% is less than moderate support at 25.9%.

More than two-thirds (70.1%) of residents do not want tax dollars spent to implement and administer an urban hen program.

Asked whether council is still mulling over bringing a by-law forward, Crowson says it’s something that is probably being considered by some members.

“But it is something we have to be very sure about and clear about. We like to have facts, do our work and think things through before we make decisions.”

As for her thoughts on the results, Crowson remarked that she first noticed the number of people who are against the proposal had gone down over the years.

“What you have to remember is the first time we asked the public to go from alderman to councillors we got turned down. That’s with 50 percent of the public being women, and we got turned down, sometimes it takes a while to change things in Lethbridge,” Crowson said.

Currently, in Alberta, Red Deer, Edmonton, and Airdrie all allow homeowners to keep up to four hens.