Duluth, MN Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

3, to obtain an annual license from the city clerk before acquiring the birds; only one license is allowed per one-family or two-family dwelling, and a two-family license needs written permission from both units' occupants. 1 then sets the operating rules for every licensee: no more than seven chickens, no roosters, no chickens kept inside the dwelling unit, and no slaughtering chickens anywhere in the city. The coop must be a secure, fully enclosed, wind-proof, roofed structure with one square foot of window for every 15 square feet of floor space and a heat source for extreme cold, kept clean with droppings collected daily into a fire-proof covered container.

Chickens must stay in the coop or an attached, securely fenced, well-drained yard with mesh fencing and overhead netting, sized at least ten square feet of combined floor and yard space per bird, and neither the coop nor the fenced yard may sit closer than 25 feet to a residential dwelling on an adjacent lot. Under Section 6-79(d)-(e), the animal control authority can refuse or revoke a license after a third admitted or judicially determined code violation within twelve months, or for a prior animal-cruelty conviction, and all licenses are subject to inspection at the authority's discretion.