North

Chicks on a plane! And coming to a Yukon home near you

A flood of baby chickens and turkeys has been delivered to Whitehorse, and more are expected to land in the coming weeks to come.

'Often there's a gasp because people forget how small and dainty they are'

There was a steady stream of people arriving to pick up their 'box of birds' at Whitehorse's The Feed Store this week.

Roughly three thousand newly hatched chickens and turkeys will arrive in Whitehorse and find new homes on farms and in backyards throughout the Yukon in the weeks to come. 

The latest batch was hatched in Edmonton on Wednesday and flown on Air North to Whitehorse. They were kept overnight at The Feed Store for pickup by customers on Thursday.

"Often there's a gasp because people forget how small and dainty they are," said Megan Bradley, the floor supervisor at The Feed Store who's affectionately known "The Chicken Lady."

"They're cute. They're really cute"
Megan Bradley, the "Chicken Lady" at Whitehorse's The Feed Store.

Three thousand chicks is similar to the number that were imported in 2015, but over the past few years there has been a change in who's buying the birds.

"There's definitely a lot more urban gardeners since the city approved the bylaw," said Bradley. 

Whitehorse city council approved raising backyard chickens on a limited scale in July 2012.