La Vergne considers chicken rules with permits, coop limits, and bird cap

La Vergne took its first formal step toward writing a backyard chicken ordinance at a July 2 workshop, where the Board of Mayor and Aldermen reviewed Ordinance 2026-14. The draft would create a new domestic-fowl chapter, and staff said it would come with a $25 permit fee.

Under the proposal, a residence could keep no more than 10 domestic fowl. Roosters would be banned, chickens would have to stay out of front yards, and on-site slaughtering would not be allowed. The draft also would require professionally built coops in back yards, a detail that pushes the city’s rules well beyond a simple “keep hens” allowance and into a more controlled housing standard.

The clearest owner-level decision is whether an existing setup would qualify without changes. It would not have a grandfather clause, so current keepers could not assume they would be exempt if the ordinance passes. That puts anyone already housing birds on notice: a flock that is legal today could still need to be altered to fit the new permit system, the 10-bird cap, the rooster ban and the backyard-only placement rule.

The city’s own structure helps explain why the draft is being written as a code package instead of a loose animal guideline. La Vergne’s Codes Department handles permits, inspections, municipal code enforcement and code complaints, which gives the city an enforcement lane for chicken rules if the board adopts them. La Vergne also says its public records portal makes meeting agendas, minutes, ordinances, resolutions, budgets, forms, subdivision regulations and zoning ordinances available to the public.

The chicken debate fits into a city that has recently gone through a broader zoning overhaul. La Vergne says it completed a multi-year zoning update process with community engagement, Planning Commission review, public hearings and Board of Mayor and Aldermen consideration. The updated zoning ordinance passed on first reading Sept. 2, 2025, on second reading Oct. 9, 2025, and became effective Oct. 21, 2025.

For backyard keepers, the practical reading is straightforward: a legal flock in La Vergne would have to be small, quiet, hidden in the back yard and housed in a professionally built coop, with a permit on file and no roosters in the run. Rutherford County Extension materials show why that style of rulemaking is familiar in the area, since chicken disputes in the county have long centered on recorded subdivisions and neighbor and property-line concerns.