Humboldt council advances backyard chicken ordinance with hen limits and permits

Humboldt’s backyard chicken proposal moved one step closer to the rulebook on June 15, but the narrow 3-2 vote showed how much can still change before any ordinance becomes real. The draft would allow hens on private property, cap flocks at six birds, ban roosters, require setbacks, and add both permitting and inspection, making the next council vote the one to watch for anyone hoping to keep chickens in Humboldt.

The split was clear on the dais. Joel Goodell, Matt Dominick and Ann Phillips voted yes, while John Sleiter and Kirk Whittlesey voted no. Sleiter pressed the importance of the neighbor sign-off requirement for adjoining property owners, while Goodell said the public still had time to weigh in and that more feedback could shift votes before the ordinance is finalized. The council also handled a contract for a city-administrator search, a reminder that the chicken debate was part of a packed municipal agenda, not a stand-alone decision.

That first reading came after a longer public push. In December 2023, Jeff Christensen and Trisha Schachtner urged the council to adopt a chicken ordinance and laid out a more detailed framework, including a 25-foot setback, enclosed housing day and night, a 200-square-foot coop cap, a backyard-only placement, a 12-bird limit and waste-disposal rules. The council then rejected an earlier ordinance on January 15, 2024, in a 3-0 vote with one abstention among those present, after members said they had heard little public support.

The issue returned in May, when city administrator Cole Bockelmann said he would draft an ordinance for council consideration. Resident Lindsey Winter came back with a revised pitch of her own, arguing that backyard chickens were different from agricultural poultry operations like the former Farmegg plant south of town. Winter said her version would have limited flocks to 10 birds, barred roosters and relied on complaint-based enforcement instead of routine inspections.

That history is what makes the June 15 first reading matter. Humboldt is no longer debating whether backyard chickens belong in town in the abstract. It is now deciding how tight the rules should be, how much control neighbors get, and whether the current draft can survive another round of public pressure before the final vote.