On Chris Adams’ corner lot in James Bay, passersby can see chickens and ducks.
It’s a big hit with children in the neighbourhood. Not only do the birds provide the family of three with four to seven eggs a day, the ducks also root out slugs from the veggie garden.
“They love them,” said Adams.
Adams is hoping to soon add two miniature goats to his small urban farm.
Not only would they produce milk, but they also eat pests of the plant variety: broom and bramble.
Miniature goats are perfect for urban agriculture, he said. They grow nearly a metre tall, depending on variety, and make less noise than some varieties of dogs.
“Especially in pairs, they are fairly quiet,” Adams said, adding goats are social creatures, and bleat more when they’re lonely.
The City of Victoria is open to exploring a bylaw change to allow miniature goats on residential lots. Council, however, isn’t ready to jump in just yet.
On Thursday, it passed a motion to have staff examine how much it would cost to prepare a full report on the issue.
Coun. Philippe Lucas put forward the motion.
“It would be for food security reasons, so for the production of cheese and yogurt,” he said, adding Seattle and Portland already allow miniature goats in yards.
Aside from food security, Adams’ suspects his two-year-old son will enjoy having the goats as pets.
“He loves the goats at the Beacon Hill petting zoo,” he said. “That’s one of the reasons we were really thinking about them, because goats are very personable. They really enjoy contact with people.”
If permitted, the family plans to convert a portion of its unused garage into a barn, and create a green roof onto which the goats could climb and munch.
rholmen@vicnews.com
