When we moved from Hong Kong to Calgary in 1996 my son was ten years old and had never lived in North America. I wanted him to integrate fully into Canadian -- and Albertan -- life. So, I asked my Uncle Fred (who is a very successful farmer and knows everything) what kind of club would be best for my son to join: Cadets, Boy Scouts, 4H, what? His answer: “definitely 4H. He’ll learn all kinds of things: self-confidence, how to run a meeting, public speaking, etc.” Public speaking? I thought. Uncle Fred must be pulling my leg. No, he was right. 4H turned out to be the best thing for my son.
The nearest club met at the Rec Centre in Indus, a long way from Calgary South. Plus, all the kids in the club were farm kids, not city kids like my son but we joined the club anyway. The club’s first question was, “What are you going to do for your farm project?” Well, we couldn’t keep a calf to raise. Someone offered to keep a calf on his property if my son wanted to buy and raise one for auction. I declined the offer. If he was only going to see his calf on the weekend and leave all the
feeding and care to someone else, then that project would teach him nothing.
The Leader suggested raising chickens -- layers to produce eggs. That sounded doable, so we agreed.
At home in Sundance, a neighbour came over for a cup of tea and I told her about Mike’s upcoming project. “Chickens? You can’t have chickens inside the city! It’s against the law!” At that time my niece was staying with us. She had a Burmese python in our house as a pet. I challenged my neighbour. “We have a snake; why can’t we have chickens?” The next day she came over with a slip of paper in her hand -- the phone number of Calgary Bylaws with the name of the Chief Officer.
I called the office and spoke to the Chief and outlined my son’s poultry project.
“How many chickens?” he asked.
“Less than a dozen, I’m sure.”
“Where will they be? Will they be inside or outside?”
“Well, outside, but we have a garden shed in the backyard. They’ll be in there.” “Hmm,” he said, “I have to tell you, it is against the law to have any poultry within 150 feet of a human dwelling inside the city limits.”
Oh-oh, our idea is dead, I thought. Before I could express my disappointment, he added, “But, I also have to tell you that if my officers are driving down an alley and they see chickens, they don’t stop.” “Really?” I asked. He explained, “In my view, if no one complains then there isn’t a problem. If your son’s chickens are inside and no one can see them, no one can hear them, and no one can smell them, then they aren’t there, are they?” “Oh,” I said. “You tell your son to go ahead with his project. . .” “Thank you so much,” I said, “I really thank you –” He interrupted me. “But, you also tell him that if someone complains I will have to send a Bylaw Officer to your house. He will issue a Warning Ticket and give 30 days notice to remove the birds. Is that understood?” “Yes, Sir. I understand and I’ll tell him.” “I wish him good luck with his project, and I hope you won’t hear from one of my Officers. Have a good day.”
As with any 4H project, keeping records was paramount. In keeping with 4H spirit, my son learned to budget. He learned how to keep a financial record, produce an income statement and a balance sheet for his egg production business. He kept track of all his capital expenditures (wiring to supply the shed with electricity, insulation for it, etc.) and his loan repayments (the 4H lady was aghast that I charged my son interest on his loan!). He knew his expenses and priced his product accordingly.
He kept those chickens for about a year and a half. The chickens were happy, with 15 hours of regulated light per day, 24 hours of classical music, and balanced diets. Eight hens produced eight eggs almost every day, they were that happy. One day my son walked home from school for lunch and was greeted by loud clucking from the henhouse announcing that someone had just laid an egg. This city boy retrieved the still-warm egg and had it for his lunch.
No neighbours complained. In fact, two of them regularly bought eggs from my son. When he told his grandpa that he charged twice the price of Safeway eggs because they were organic, grandpa wanted to know, “What the hell is an organic egg?” My son told him “It’s a marketing term.” After the poultry project, Mike worked on a small engine repair project with 4H. Was this group worthwhile to a new Canadian boy? The lessons he learned at 4H served him well. Now, 30 years later, Mike owns and manages a software company that has employed a dozen engineers (but no chickens), serving a client base of Fortune 500-sized companies. Thanks to the success of his chickens, he learned a lot and made money starting at a young age. If it hadn’t been for an insightful Bylaw Officer who understood the real purpose of laws and regulations, it would not have happened. My son saw an “enlightened government” at its best!