As Prince George considers allowing chickens in city limits, a provincial group warns backyard coops could cause a bear problem if certain best poultry practices aren't put in place.
"Bears and chickens really don't mix well. Quite often what happens is the bears come in attracted first by the feed, and then they get into the chickens," said Frank Ritcey, provincial WildSafeBC co-ordinator. "We do recognize the need for sustainability and the benefits from urban agriculture, but we also realize that it has to be done in a responsible manner.
"It's a contentious issue," said Ritcey, pointing to the charity's position paper that says urban livestock must also be environmentally responsible and sustainable for the wildlife in the area.
"The big issue is once a bear starts eating the chickens it will keep coming back. It's not fair to the chickens, it's not fair the bear and it's not fair to your neighbours."
The key is to make sure the bears don't come in the first place. Many things can mitigate that attractant - chief among them electric fencing.
Local proponents are well aware of the potential problems with wildlife and have done their due diligence in research, said Laura Lawrence.
"It is something that is low impact to the neighbourhood. I really do stress it has to be with the right policies in the place," said Lawrence, who joined the group Poultry For Prince George in 2012.
"A big part of why I started this is because of rising food costs. This is becoming an even bigger issue now."
She'll leave the rules up to council, she said, which meets Monday. The current bylaw say no birds on lots less than 2,000 square metres or face a $200 fine.
But after years of research, the group does have some recommendations for regulations: minimum coop size for each bird as well as inset space from fencing; clean coops; bear-proof containers; no food left in coops; chickens enclosed at all times; and limit the size of the flock to six and hens only.
No roosters, no noise, Lawrence said.
"Chickens don't make more noise than dogs, they don't make more noise than adults speaking," said Lawrence, who spoke to other municipalities and reached out to the Northern Bear Awareness Society for advice.
Poultry for PG also recommends electric fencing.
"There's a lot of nitty gritty when it comes down to what regulations could be proposed."
Lawrence personally knows of at least 10 people who want to have these coops. If it passes, she hopes she can have chickens as soon as this summer, but recognized there's a lot of work the city would need to do to make that deadline.
While the Northern Bear Awareness Society, isn't taking a position on the proposal, it does have concerns.
"We're not fighting this, it's not a battle. There's no win or lose here," said Dave Bakker, society president. "We see a loss on both sides. We just want to be there to share what we know so that an informed decision can be made."
That includes acknowledging that Prince George is already a high conflict area for bears in residential areas.
"Prince George is usually in the top three or top five provincially in number of complaints and bears destroyed," he said.
On average that becomes about 800 calls and fluctuates between 30 and 40 bears killed each year. The majority are for sightings, but about 30 per cent account for bears attracted to residential waste which is the biggest attractant he said.
"Then you're looking at fruit trees in the fall and then there's sort of mix bag of bird feeders, pet food and numerous other little items," he said, adding for the chicken "we know for a fact the feed will be one. There's a lot of variables but the potential is still there."
Lawrence doesn't feel the leftover seed will be much of an issue.
"You're not leaving apple cores. They're going to eat up most of the seed," she said. "You're not going to leave a lot of scented food."
Whitehorse made the change in 2012 and currently has about three or four permits for the backyard pens.
"If the pen area and food isn't stored well or cleaned well then it's just like garbage it's going to attract bears," said Dave Pruden, manager of bylaw services for Whitehorse.
But that hasn't been a problem so far.
"We haven't had any reported issues," he said.
While Whitehorse doesn't require electric fences, it does have a number of measures in place. Like Prince George's recommendation, chicken champions can only have six hens - and no roosters.
Whitehorse issues permits and officers inspect pens before poultry lovers can proceed.
"You have to keep it clean and all the food has to be stored appropriately so it's not attracting the bears and has to be a construction that is solid," said Pruden, to keep other predators like coyotes and foxes out too. "An officer goes out and inspects it. My instruction is give it a good shaking, try to get into it, pull on the wires. It has to be solid.
Also, before residents can even get started, they need to get a 60 per cent approval from surrounding neighbours.
"It gave folks a little more of a say," said Pruden of that rule.
Bakker said Squamish, which made the shift in 2014, is another good example with rules around fencing and keeping chickens in at night but also noted there have been problems.
A 2014 article in the Squamish reporter said two bears and one cougar had been killed because of chicken related calls.
Ritcey pointed to Williams Lake and Kaslo strong examples for fowl regulations. He said more than 100 electric fences have been installed in the Kootenays, but no breaches of that system.
"From my experience here province wide is that we do not get calls concerning bears accessing anything that's in behind an electric fence," Ritcey said. "If they're put up properly, they work."
Correction: Frank Ritcey, is a WildSafeBC coordinator. A previous version said he worked for B.C. Bear Aware.
