Rapid City offers chicken classes after new backyard hens ordinance

Rapid City paired its new backyard-hens ordinance with two classes meant to turn a policy change into daily know-how. One session was held Friday evening at Aqua & Acre Market, and another followed Saturday afternoon at Rapid City Public Library, giving new and prospective keepers a practical start on raising chicks, building coops and watching for bird-health problems.

The timing mattered because the city had only recently cleared the way for hens in certain residential areas. Rapid City Municipal Code had previously barred backyard hens except on land zoned agricultural, and Ordinance No. 6713 moved through first reading on April 1, 2026, at the Legal & Finance Committee and again on April 6 at City Council before final approval. On April 20, the Rapid City Council voted 6-4 to allow residents to keep chickens in their backyards within city limits.

The first-reading version spelled out the limits that matter most to neighbors and beginners alike: up to six hens, plus six chicks up to 12 weeks old, with coops allowed only in backyards. Roosters were not allowed, and neither were ducks, turkeys or other fowl. That framework makes the class agenda especially relevant, because the city has set the legal boundaries but still has to help residents avoid the mistakes that can bring complaints about smell, noise or property values.

Stephanie Peterson, who owns Fruit of the Coop in Brandon, South Dakota, led the education effort. Fruit of the Coop describes Peterson as an expert in chicken keeping and related egg production and sales, and she teaches backyard chicken-keeping classes across the region. Her business is based at 8700 E Sunset Circle in Brandon, and the class topics lined up with the first questions most new keepers face: what a coop needs, what to feed, how to handle chicks and how to keep birds healthy once they are home.

The classes also reflected the broader tone of the ordinance fight that came before them. Supporters began gathering signatures in January 2026 under the name Rapid City Citizens for Urban Hens, while opponents pressed concerns about odor, noise and property values. Local chicken advocates kept steering the discussion back to community connection, food resilience and predator-proof coop design, and the new classes followed that same script by focusing on housing, sanitation and day-to-day care. Rapid City has moved past the yes-or-no question; now the real test is whether new keepers can build flocks that fit the rules and the neighborhood.