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Backyard Chickens in Maine: rules in 20 towns compared
Can I keep backyard chickens? Here's how each town answers it. Click a town for the details and the exact ordinance text.
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This page is for Maine residents who want a small backyard flock. Since September 24, 2025, state law (7 M.R.S. §219-D) says a town may not adopt an ordinance that prohibits keeping chickens on your own residential property. The law covers hens only: fully mature roosters aren't protected, so towns can still ban or limit them. Towns appear to keep the power to regulate how hens are kept, such as flock size, coop location and sanitation, as long as the rules don't amount to a ban. The law is new and courts haven't tested it yet, and private deed covenants or HOA rules may still limit chickens.
Of the 20 towns we cover, 9 allow hens without a town permit, 4 require a license or permit (Brunswick, Cumberland, South Portland and Windham), and the rest depend on your zone or lot size or need board review in some districts. Eight towns have rules written for backyard hens; all of them cap flocks on smaller lots at 5 to 12 birds and bar roosters except, in some towns, on large lots. On 13 of the town pages, we note a zone, lot-size, housing-type or permit-cap rule that the 2025 state law may override.
Town-by-town comparison
| Town | Verdict | Short answer |
|---|---|---|
| Cape Elizabeth | Allowed | Generally yes. Cape Elizabeth's zoning lists agriculture, which includes raising poultry, as a permitted use in the Residence A, B and C districts; it only bars raising animals or fowl for commercial purposes on lots under 100,000 sq ft. There's no set limit on the number of hens, but a poultry house or range with more than 25 birds must be at least 150 feet from every property line. |
| Yarmouth | Depends on your zone | Yarmouth treats backyard hens as 'Farm Animals for Personal Use.' They're a permitted use in the Rural Residential and Low Density Residential districts, and in Medium Density Residential on lots of 2 acres or more. Smaller MDR lots need a special exception from the Board of Appeals, and the Resource Protection District needs a Planning Board permit. The zoning ordinance sets no flock-size limit, rooster rule, or coop setback. |
| Cumberland | Allowed with a permit | Yes. Cumberland allows up to 6 hens on a single-family detached home's property with an annual chicken license from the Town Clerk, issued after an Animal Control inspection. Roosters are not allowed, and the henhouse and pen must be in the rear yard at least 10 feet from the side and rear property lines. |
| North Yarmouth | Allowed | North Yarmouth's Land Use Ordinance has no backyard-chicken rules: there's no hen limit, rooster ban, coop setback or chicken permit, and nothing in it prohibits a home flock. This answer rests on that silence: the ordinance only addresses poultry as part of agriculture (keeping animals for sale), which is allowed without a permit in the Village Center, Village Residential, Farm and Forest and Residential Shoreland districts. |
| Freeport | Depends on your zone | Freeport has no ordinance written specifically for backyard hens: no hen limit, no rooster ban, and no coop setback rule. Zoning treats poultry as 'Agriculture', a permitted use in the rural and medium-density residential districts (RR-I, RR-II, MDR-I, MDR-II, MD-A/B) but not listed for Village I. Since Sept. 24, 2025, state law bars towns from banning hens on residential property, so confirm with Codes Enforcement how your district is treated. |
| Scarborough | Allowed | Yes. Scarborough allows backyard chickens as an accessory agricultural activity in most residential zones: up to 5 hens on lots under 10,000 sq ft, up to 10 on lots of 10,000–39,999 sq ft, and any number on lots of 40,000 sq ft or more. Roosters are not allowed except on RF lots of at least 80,000 sq ft, and the henhouse must be at least 15 feet from property lines (or the district setback, if greater). |
| South Portland | Allowed with a permit | Yes. South Portland allows up to six hens per lot with an annual chicken permit from Code Enforcement, plus a building permit for the henhouse and pen; the city issues only a limited number of new permits each year (20, plus permits for previous permittees). Roosters are not allowed, the henhouse must be in the rear yard, and eggs can't be sold. |
| Portland | Allowed | Yes. Portland lets residents keep up to 6 hens per lot (no roosters), for personal use only. Hens must stay in a covered pen during the day and in a henhouse at night. The henhouse goes in the rear yard, at least 10 feet from homes and other structures on neighboring lots, and must meet accessory-structure setbacks. The city repealed its chicken permit in 2017. |
| Gorham | Allowed | Yes. In Gorham's Urban Residential, Urban Residential Expansion and Suburban Residential districts, hens are a permitted use: 6 on a lot under 20,000 sq ft, up to 10 on 20,000-40,000 sq ft, and 25 on lots over 40,000 sq ft. Roosters aren't allowed on lots under 6 acres, and coops and pens must meet zoning setbacks and stay out of the front yard. |
| Windham | Allowed with a permit | Yes, in Windham's Farm, Farm-Residential, Light-Density Residential and Medium-Density Residential districts. You can keep up to 12 hens per lot, and roosters aren't allowed. A new henhouse needs a building permit and must meet the zone's side and rear setbacks, and it can't go in the front setback. |
| Harpswell | Allowed | Harpswell has no chicken-specific rules. The closest category is "agriculture" (which the ordinance defines as keeping animals for sale), and agriculture is which is allowed without a permit outside the shoreland zone and in the Shoreland Residential district, but needs a Planning Board permit in Resource Protection. There's no local limit on the number of hens and no rooster ban; manure can't be stored within 100 ft of the shore, a stream or a wetland. |
| Brunswick | Allowed with a permit | Yes, in Brunswick's growth area. The codified ordinance allows up to 6 hens on a single-family detached home's property with a chicken license from the Town Clerk, issued after an Animal Control inspection. No roosters, nothing in the front yard, and the henhouse and pen must be at least 10 feet from the side and rear property lines. |
| Topsham | Allowed | Yes, for your own household. A Topsham Codes Office handout (not the ordinance text itself) says keeping animals for personal household use is an accessory use that the zoning ordinance doesn't otherwise regulate. Keeping more than your household needs, or selling eggs or birds, may need approval as an Animal Husbandry or Agriculture use. |
| Kennebunk | Depends on your zone | Kennebunk's zoning has no rule specifically about backyard chickens. Raising livestock falls under 'agriculture', which is a permitted use in the Rural Conservation, Rural Residential, Coastal Residential and Suburban Residential districts. In Village Residential, agriculture is limited to crops unless the lot is 5 acres or more. State law now bars towns from banning hens on residential property, so the Village Residential limit may not be enforceable for hens. |
| York | Depends on your zone | York's ordinances have no backyard-chicken rules: no hen limit, rooster ban, coop setback or chicken permit. The Zoning Ordinance allows "General Purpose Farm, Agriculture" (which includes poultry raised for sale) in RES-1, RES-2, RES-3 and RES-7 but expressly prohibits it in RES-4, RES-5, RES-6 and several village and business zones. State law now bars towns from banning hens on residential property. |
| Kittery | Allowed | Yes. Kittery's land use code only regulates flocks of 10 or more poultry over six months old. Coops for those larger flocks must be 50 feet from neighboring property. A typical backyard flock of fewer than 10 hens has no specific zoning limits, but hens and roosters can't create a noise nuisance. |
| Ogunquit | Depends on your zone | It depends on your zone. Ogunquit's zoning treats keeping animals or fowl for noncommercial purposes as animal husbandry. It needs a Code Enforcement Officer permit in the Residential and Rural Residential districts and isn't permitted in the One-Family Residential district. Coops, pens and yards must be at least 100 feet from any neighbor's house. |
| Camden | Allowed | Yes. On a lot under 2.5 acres you can keep up to nine small animals such as hens and/or rabbits, for personal use only, in housing at least 15 ft from property lines and not in the front yard. Roosters, ducks, turkeys, goats and other larger animals, or more than nine hens, need at least 2.5 acres and must be kept 50 ft from property lines. Our copy of the zoning ordinance runs only through June 2022. |
| Rockport | Restricted | Rockport's Land Use Ordinance lets you keep animals other than household pets, which would include chickens, only on lots of at least 40,000 square feet (about 0.92 acre), with the enclosure at least 25 feet from every property line. A 2025 state law bars towns from prohibiting hens on residential property, so ask the Code Enforcement Officer how Rockport applies the lot-size rule to smaller lots. |
| Mount Desert | Allowed with board review | Usually yes, but in most residential districts you need conditional use approval from the Planning Board first. Mount Desert calls keeping poultry "Animal Husbandry 2". It needs no permit in the Rural/Woodland districts and isn't allowed in Village Residential 3, Resource Protection or Stream Protection. In the Village Commercial and Shoreland Commercial districts the limit is 6 hens per lot and no roosters. |
Maine's backyard chicken law
Towns can't ban hens outright. Since September 24, 2025, state law (7 M.R.S. §219-D, from LD 1655) says a town or county may not adopt an ordinance that prohibits a person from keeping chickens on their own residential property.
- The law defines "chicken" as a female domesticated bird raised for meat or eggs. Fully mature roosters aren't covered, so towns can still ban or limit them.
- The law also says it does not limit a town's "home rule" authority. In practice towns appear to keep the power to regulate how hens are kept, such as how many, coop location and setbacks, and sanitation, as long as the rules don't amount to a ban. The law is new, and courts haven't yet tested how far towns can go.
- Older ordinances that ban chickens in some zones may still be on the books but conflict with this law. Ask your town how it's applying them.
Right to Farm. Maine's Right to Farm law (7 M.R.S. §151 et seq.) protects farm operations connected to the commercial production of agricultural products from nuisance claims. A small flock kept just for your own eggs likely isn't covered.
Private deed covenants or HOA rules aren't addressed by the law and may still limit chickens.
Common questions about chicken laws in Maine
- Can my town ban backyard chickens in Maine?
- No. Since September 24, 2025, state law (7 M.R.S. §219-D) says a town or county may not adopt an ordinance that prohibits keeping chickens on your own residential property. Towns appear to keep the power to regulate how many hens, coop location and sanitation, as long as the rules don't amount to a ban.
- What is the new chicken law in Maine?
- LD 1655, now 7 M.R.S. §219-D, took effect September 24, 2025. It bars towns and counties from banning chickens on residential property. It defines a chicken as a female domesticated bird raised for meat or eggs. Older ordinances that ban chickens in some zones may still be on the books, so ask your town how it applies them.
- Are roosters allowed in Maine?
- The state law protecting backyard chickens covers only female birds, so fully mature roosters aren't covered and towns can still ban or limit them. In the towns we cover with hen-specific rules, roosters are generally barred on typical residential lots, with some towns allowing them only on large lots.
- How many chickens can I have in Maine?
- There's no single statewide number. Towns can regulate flock size as long as the rules don't amount to a ban. Of the 20 towns we cover, the 8 with rules written for backyard hens allow 5 to 12 birds on smaller lots, and some allow more on larger lots. Check your town's page.
- Do I need a permit to keep chickens in Maine?
- That depends on your town. Of the 20 towns we cover, Brunswick, Cumberland and South Portland require a chicken license or permit, and Windham requires a building permit for a new henhouse. Some others need a permit or board approval only in certain zones.
- Does Maine's Right to Farm law protect backyard chickens?
- Probably not. Maine's Right to Farm law (7 M.R.S. §151 and following) protects farm operations tied to the commercial production of agricultural products from nuisance claims. A small flock kept just for your own eggs likely isn't covered.
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