About UHO

We are an informal volunteer group whose goal is amendment to City of Ottawa BY-LAW # 2003-77 that will allow city residents to keep backyard hens.

Originally known as CLUCK – Ottawa, we reformed with a number of new volunteers in June 2011, to become Urban Hens Ottawa (UHO).

DID YOU KNOW?
Until just a few short years ago, backyard chickens were perfectly legal in Ottawa, as well as in many other North American municipalities. The place that prohibited that practice were actually relatively few.

But it seems the early 2000’s ushered in a trend toward bylaw standardization. And, as part of sweeping standardization, many North American towns and cities quietly chucked the chickens. Backyard hen-keeping, once very popular, had fallen out of favour many years ago so the new ban barely raised a ripple.

Ironically, however, the chickens were being squeezed out of residential backyards just as the homegrown, local and organic food movements were gaining hold and, within a few years of such bylaw changes, people in various town and cities slowly became aware of the new limitations.

Rumblings began. Groups were formed. City councils were petitioned. Many cities across North America, recognizing value (some would say wisdom) in allowing urban hens, have since repealed their ban on the birds.

Places that now allow small-scale raising of hens include:
Vancouver, Victoria, New York City, Seattle, Chicago, Los Angeles, Niagara Falls, Brampton, Guelph, Trenton and Kingston.

And now it’s Ottawa’s turn – let’s return to our roots and once again allow residents the pleasure of raising hens and the benefit of backyard-fresh organic eggs!

UHO is working to prepare a solid case for amending Ottawa’s animal bylaw to allow hens once again. Once all is in place, we will present our case to the appropriate City of Ottawa
Standing Committee. It’s our hope that the facts we present will be enough to convince the standing committee to make a recommendation to City Council to allow hens.

Please help it happen by voicing your support for urban hens to your city councillor – the more requests they receive in advance of our presentation, the better!

The information presented on this site is designed to highlight the benefits and dispel negative myths about backyard hen-keeping. Hopefully you will find all you need here to understand the rationale for urban hen-keeping in our city but if you don’t see the answer to your questions or fell we have missed something, please CONTACT US to let us know!