Maine state law: backyard chickens delegated to municipalities (30-A MRS § 3001)

Maine state law does not set a uniform rule on whether and how many backyard chickens, ducks, rabbits, or other small livestock a residential property owner may keep. 7 MRS § 3950 expressly preserves municipal authority to adopt more stringent animal-control ordinances (and forbids less-restrictive local rules) under the broader home-rule grant of 30-A MRS § 3001 (Ordinance Power), which provides: 'Any municipality, by the adoption, amendment or repeal of ordinances or bylaws, may exercise any power or function which the Legislature has power to confer upon it, which is not denied either expressly or by clear implication.' Backyard chicken ordinances — typical limits 4-8 hens, no roosters, coop setback 10-25 ft from property lines, no on-site slaughter — are set at the municipal level. Rural unincorporated land in the Unorganized Territory is regulated by the Maine Land Use Planning Commission (LUPC) under 12 MRS § 685-A et seq. Maine's broad right-to-farm framework in Title 7 protects pre-existing agricultural operations from nuisance claims arising from changes in surrounding land use.

No state penalty for keeping backyard chickens in a municipality that permits them. Municipal violations (exceeding hen count, keeping roosters in a no-rooster town, coop setback noncompliance) are civil infractions with typical fines of $50-$250 per day and may require removal of the flock.