Lumberton allows residential backyard hens, with a six-bird limit

Lumberton residents can now keep up to six hens in residential neighborhoods after the City Council unanimously approved a new ordinance, putting backyard chickens on the legal side of the line inside the city. The new rule opened the door for small household flocks in town while drawing a firm boundary around flock size and bird type.

The city’s new permission is not a free-for-all. 12NewsNow said the ordinance allows only hens, with no roosters allowed, and sets a maximum of six adult hens plus up to six baby chicks under 12 weeks old. That gives families room to start a modest coop without crossing into the larger flocks that tend to raise neighbor complaints over noise and odor.

The change matters because it applies in residential neighborhoods, not just on rural edges or larger agricultural parcels. Texas Agriculture Code section 251.007 limits cities’ ability to ban backyard hens and says most Texas cities cannot prohibit a minimum of six hens on a residential lot, a state backdrop that helps explain why local ordinances in Texas often settle on small, controlled flocks instead of outright bans.

Other Texas cities have written similar rules with specific safeguards. Copperas Cove’s ordinance limits residential hens and requires a coop setback of at least 20 feet, while Mansfield says its chicken rules are meant to promote better sanitation, protect animal health and preserve surrounding properties. Lumberton’s ordinance now joins that pattern by turning backyard hens into a regulated residential use instead of a gray-area hobby.

For Lumberton homeowners, the practical answer is now straightforward: hens are allowed, roosters are not, and the flock cap is six adult birds with chicks limited by age. What had been a debated idea is now city policy, and the number that matters next door is six.