Portland, ME Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Chapter 5, Article IV, adopted in 2009 to let residents keep a small number of hens without disturbing neighbors, caps the flock at Sec. 5-402: a maximum of six chickens per lot regardless of how many dwelling units sit on it, and only female chickens are allowed (no restriction on breed). A 2017 amendment repealed the earlier permit requirement, so no city permit is needed to keep chickens today. Sec. 5-403 limits the use to pets and personal eggs, selling eggs, breeding chickens, or producing fertilizer commercially is prohibited, and slaughtering chickens is banned outright.

Sec. 5-404 sets physical standards: chickens must stay in a clean, dry, odor-free pen during daylight hours, built with sturdy wire fencing buried at least 12 inches deep and covered with wire, aviary netting, or solid roofing, plain chicken wire doesn't qualify. Overnight, chickens must be secured in a henhouse at least 10 feet from any residential structure on an adjacent lot, fully enclosed with lockable doors and predator-proof wire openings under one inch, and confined to rear yards meeting the zoning setbacks for detached accessory structures (side yards are allowed only on corner lots; front yards and any part of a home are off-limits).

Sec. 5-405 requires that odors stay imperceptible at the property boundary and noise stay below a level that would disturb a person of reasonable sensitivity, and Sec. 406 limits henhouse exterior lighting to motion-activated fixtures only.