An Act relative to the Board of Registration of Cosmetology and Barbering exams

Idaho House Bill 404 (H 404) — Urban Agriculture: Chicken Ownership

Overview
- Purpose: To support urban agriculture by allowing residential property owners to keep chickens (Gallus) for personal eggs/meat production, while preserving local control to maintain community standards. The bill clarifies rights related to chicken ownership and sets limits to protect certain property types and zoning.
- Status: Reported Printed and Referred to Agricultural Affairs
- Introduced: March 13, 2025
- Effective date: July 1, 2025 (emergency clause)

Main purpose and intent
- Recognizes the right to farm as a natural right and a permitted use statewide.
- Enables single-family homeowners to own and pasture chickens, subject to reasonable local regulations.
- Seeks to promote local food production and household self-sufficiency, with safeguards to address manure, odor, and other liabilities.
- Explicitly does not override city/county/local ordinances.

Key provisions

Definitions (Section 22-1002, amended)
- Chickens: Domesticated fowl (genus Gallus) raised primarily for residential, noncommercial eggs or meat for self-sufficiency or household consumption, or for trade.
- Community gardening, Market gardening, Urban farming, Victory gardening: Existing definitions added/clarified to frame urban agriculture contexts (including indoor/outdoor production and non-profit/community uses).

New provision on chicken ownership (Section 22-1003)
1) Right to farm: No deed restrictions or covenants shall prohibit ownership or pasturing of chickens. Local rules may still apply, but cannot ban ownership outright.
2) HOA rules: Homeowners associations cannot prohibit chicken ownership entirely; they may adopt reasonable rules about housing, pasturing, manure/odor management, and restrictions on roosters, so long as they do not unduly burden the owner's right to raise chickens for personal use.
3) Education responsibility: Chicken owners must educate themselves about health, manure management, disease, and related liabilities.
4) Local authority precedence: City, county, and other local ordinances prevail over this section.
5) Scope and limits: Applies only to single-family dwellings; does not cover multifamily units (duplexes, apartments, etc.) or lots smaller than 0.25 acres.
6) Exceptions and compatibility: Does not apply where agricultural zoning permits poultry (including urban farming zones with local chicken-ownership allowances).

Procedural and fiscal details
- Local regulation reliance: Enforcement and costs are expected to be minimal and borne by local governments; no state resources required.
- Fiscal note: Minimal impact; ordinance updates are expected to be negligible and manageable within current budgets.

Impact considerations
- Affects: Single-family homeowners, HOAs, and local governments (cities/counties) by clarifying rights to keep chickens and by permitting reasonable HOA rules.
- Exclusions: Multifamily properties, small lots (<0.25 acres), agricultural zones, rural properties, farms, and zones where poultry is already permitted under existing zoning.
- Local supremacy: While the bill protects chicken ownership, it explicitly defers to local ordinances for final rules and enforcement.

Timelines
- Emergency clause: In effect July 1, 2025.
- Legislative path: Introduced 3/13/2025; Reported Printed and Referred to Agricultural Affairs 3/14/2025.