Nancy Edmonds Hanson
The chickens can come home to roost in Moorhead … as long as their keepers obtain a $10 permit and meet standards set by the City Council.
The issue of raising the feathered female clucks was settled by a vote of 5 to 3 at Monday’s meeting, three months after local residents brought it up. Until this week’s action, the city’s animal control ordinance prohibited them, along with ducks, geese, turkeys, cattle, horses, pigs, sheep, goats, and other domestic livestock. And while egg-layers have come out from under the prohibition, roosters remain on list.
Several residents spoke in favor of adding chicken coops to the residential landscape. Bethany Barnett cited the backyard birds as a hedge against rising food costs, along with offering more control over “what goes into your food.” She said, “Backyard hens are a way for our children to grow in responsibility by caring for them.”
Noelle Hardin, who was instrumental in putting family chickens on the council’s menu, echoed her enthusiasm. “I’m excited to see this policy moving ahead in a thoughtful way,” she said, observing that the new policy is “a little more flexible” than in Fargo and other cities. She cited opportunities for 4-H members, a potential partnership with the Career Academy’s culinary program, and a chance for families and neighbors to have “a little bit of that country experience.” She added, “Chickens are one small piece of achieving a more resilient food system.”
The amended animal control ordinance – which was approved by a vote of five to three in one of the council’s record-setting 48 roll call votes Monday – sets out conditions for obtaining a one-year city permit to raise up to six hens in a residential yard. (The ordinance rules out commercial, mixed use or industrial settings as well as properties with three or more living units.)
Assistant city planner Forrest Steinhoff detailed some of the permit’s restrictions and requirements. The chickens must be kept inside a backyard coop – not in any part of the owner’s house or garage – from sunrise to sunset, set back 10 feet from adjoining properties. The building must provide from 4 to 10 square feet per bird and be enclosed within solid fences at least 5 feet high. The chickens’ quarters cannot be “maintained in an unhealthy, unsanitary, or noxious condition.” If the neighbors can smell odor from the chicken coop or run, the permit can be revoked.
The revised ordinance specifically assigns policing the restrictions to the chickens’ owners. Enforcement, it spells out, “is the sole responsibility of the private parties involved.” Steinhoff assured the council members, “The police department is not responsible for catching any chickens that escape.”
Permit applications are available through the Moorhead Police Department’s animal licensing office. For more information, email animallicensing@moorheadmn.gov.
