One rooster, two geese, 14 chickens and a dozen awards. Twin brothers Matthew and Andrew Patel’s hobby of raising chickens paid off at the Royal Agricultural Winter Fair this month, where the Grade 12 students at Upper Canada College showcased their prize-winning birds.
“We had a whole team of people,” said Andrew of the preparation process. Each chicken had to be washed and groomed for the fair. This involved slowly submerging every bird into a tub, massaging water through the feathers, blow-drying them and coating the legs in Vaseline. The brothers even borrowed their mom’s china teacup to put vinegar on the chickens for shine.
Andrew and Matthew originally got the idea to keep chickens as pets five or six years ago but waited until November 2011 to take the first steps. Matthew said they were always interested in animals and local food. They did extensive research on chickens before getting their first ones. When they decided to tell their parents, Matthew said, “I don’t think it shocked them too much.”
Part of their research was into Toronto’s bylaws on allowing animals to live in the backyard. Currently, residents cannot legally keep chickens within city limits — a bylaw the Patels unsuccessfully helped challenge two years ago. The twins appeared before Toronto City Council in 2012, asking a committee to reconsider the ban, but in a five to zero vote, councillors refused to study the idea further.
That didn’t stop the Patels. They have six chickens at their home, which the twins take turns feeding and cleaning up after. The brothers even collect eggs and gift them to the neighbours. One of their chickens won first place and best of class at the fair, among a slew of other first, second and third place prizes. Some of the birds were borrowed from Blue Haven Farm, where the brothers get their chickens and plan to leave them when they head off for university.
The Patels hope to enter more competitions before leaving home next fall. Although neither of them is looking for careers in the food industry or animal welfare, the brothers said they will continue to be advocates for the local food movement.
Andrew encourages everyone to learn more about it. “Get out and get reading, even if it’s just for five minutes,” he said.
