Madison General Ordinance §9.52 allows up to 4 chicken hens per residential property with $10 license; roosters banned. Sun Prairie, Fitchburg, Middleton allow backyard hens with permits. Dane County Zoning Ch. 10 reserves larger livestock to ag districts. WI §93.90 Right to Farm protects ag operations.
Madison General Ordinance §9.52 authorizes up to four (4) chicken hens per residential lot with a $10 annual chicken license from the City Clerk, no roosters permitted, and coops must be kept at least 25 feet from adjacent residences with sanitary conditions. Fitchburg (Chapter 6) allows hens with a similar permit. Sun Prairie, Middleton, Verona, and Stoughton each adopted chicken ordinances in the 2010s. Coops must be winterized against Wisconsin's 45-inch snowfall and subzero temperatures; hens need heated waterers and insulated housing. Larger livestock (cows, goats, pigs, horses) are restricted to properties zoned A-1 Agricultural or similar under Dane County Zoning Ordinance Ch. 10. WI Stat. §93.90 (Right to Farm) and §823.08 (agricultural nuisance defense) protect established farm operations from neighbor complaints. HOAs in urban Dane County typically prohibit all poultry. Slaughter on-site is prohibited in Madison.
Unlicensed chickens in Madison: $100 to $500 under MGO §9.52. Roosters: immediate removal. Livestock in residential zone: municipal court citation, daily fines.
Dane County, WI
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See how Dane County's chickens & livestock rules stack up against other locations.
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