MANKATO — After hearing barely a peep about backyard chickens in recent years, Mankato city leaders may have concluded that residents no longer gave a cluck about what was once a source of passionate debate in City Hall.
But a semi-anonymous Mankato man who showed up at the April 27 City Council meeting reminded elected officials that chicken lovers have not entirely flown the coop.
“I just came tonight to address the council on lifting the ban on backyard chickens, and I have a small list of reasons why I think it would be beneficial to the community,” said the man, identified only as Garrett.
No one on the council responded directly after Garrett finished his quiet but thorough bit of poultry persuasion. A month later, though, the item is on the agenda for a council work session Tuesday night.
It appears the municipal administration might have been informally content to let the topic slide down the priority list until someone stepped forward to say it still matters to some citizens. After all, it was five years ago that the council listed urban chickens as a topic it wanted to eventually explore in more depth, although no one on the council suggested it was urgent.
More than two years ago, city staff checked back to see if chickens still held a spot in the council’s pecking order.
“We have plenty to do,” City Manager Susan Arntz said of city staff in January 2023. “And I don’t want to add to our work plan something you’re not interested in.”
Council members reaffirmed their curiosity about potentially loosening restrictions on urban chickens, along with other food-production hobbies such as beekeeping. Arntz said she would assign staff to research how other cities in Minnesota regulate farm fowl and bring back a draft ordinance, possibly as soon as March of that year.
Instead, the chicken issue didn’t come home to roost until after Garrett showed up.
In fewer than three minutes, the softspoken man talked about the minimal impact hens have on neighbors while offering homeowners some food security at a time of steep inflation in supermarkets.
“Backyard chickens provide fresh local eggs and help families offset grocery costs, reduce reliance on store supply chains,” he said. “And each hen can produce up to 300 eggs a year. Six hens could produce up to 1,800 a year for a family.”
If the city is careful to limit urban chickens to females, noise is not an issue, he said.
“Hens are quiet, don’t crow like roosters. Much less disruptive than barking dogs. And odor is very manageable with basic cleaning.”
That cleaning, along with other chicken-tending duties, also can provide important lessons for younger Mankatoans, he said: “It’s educational for families and kids, teaches responsibility, animal care and sustainability — hands-on learning instead of screens.”
Garrett’s talking points continued.
“Another thing would be waste reduction. Chickens eat food scraps, thus reduce household waste, produce natural fertilizer for gardens and it also successfully works in other cities,” he said in his conclusion. “So, yeah, just seeing if we can revisit lifting that and (hear) you guys’ thoughts on it.”
The council’s habit is to not immediately respond to citizen comments made during the open public forum that is included on every regular meeting agenda, but each elected official will be asked at Tuesday’s work session to provide direction on possible next steps — chickenwise — after hearing a staff report.
The staff research covers regulations enacted in 34 Minnesota cities ranging in size from Lake Crystal and Eagle Lake to Minneapolis and St. Paul. A summary memo suggests that other cities have not experienced significant issues after allowing more freedom for fowl.
“In discussion with several communities, there are few complaints and few properties that require follow-up inspections,” the staff memo states. “A few of the cities have shared that they have had a permit or license that needed to be revoked. Very few cities reported situations where a complaint regarding a permit or license could not be addressed through their code enforcement techniques. While rare, the research did identify a few problem situations — this said, it was very limited.”