CELPIP Speaking Task 7: Expressing Opinions

Yes, I think it is okay, why not. Hens are quiet animals, not like a rooster.

My grandmother had six hens in her yard when I was small. Every morning I went to look for the eggs and this was very exciting for me. The eggs were much better than the store. I think the children in the city can learn something from this. They think the food comes from the supermarket only.

Of course there must be some rules. The hens need a clean house, if not there is a smell and then the rats come. Also no roosters, because a rooster shouts at four in the morning and the neighbours will be very angry.

With good rules, I don't see the problem.

Yes, with clear rules attached, and I think the rules are what decides whether this works or turns into a nuisance.

The case in favour is decent. A few hens are quieter than most dogs, they eat kitchen scraps that would otherwise go in the bin, and there's real value in kids seeing where an egg comes from. It's a small thing, but cities are short of ways for people to be connected to their food.

The problems are entirely manageable if the bylaw is written properly. No roosters, which removes the noise complaint immediately. A cap of four or five birds, so nobody runs a farm on a city lot. A requirement for a secure, cleaned coop, because the actual risk is rats being drawn to spilled feed rather than the hens themselves.

The one thing I'd add is a plan for birds that stop laying. Hens live for years after they stop producing eggs, and if there's no answer to that question, shelters end up dealing with it. A city that permits hens should say clearly what happens then.

I'd say yes, though with less enthusiasm than the people who campaign for it, because I think the case gets oversold and the objections get undersold.

The genuine benefit is smaller than advertised. Nobody is achieving food security with four hens, and the eggs, once you count feed and a coop, are not cheap. What you actually get is something softer: a household paying attention to where food comes from, kitchen scraps going somewhere useful, kids meeting an animal that isn't a pet. That's worth having, but let's not pretend it's an agricultural policy.

The real objection isn't noise or smell, both of which a decent bylaw handles. It's abandonment. Hens lay well for two or three years and then live for another five or six, and a family that took them on for the novelty has a difficult decision waiting. Rescue organizations in cities that legalized this have felt that arrival, and it's the predictable cost nobody budgets for.

So permit it, cap the numbers, ban roosters, inspect the coop, and require the owner to state up front what happens at year three. If someone can't answer that, they shouldn't be starting.