As of this month, Riverside residents can own the same number of hens as they can cats and dogs.
On Aug. 7, village trustees unanimously approved an ordinance raising the number of hens allowed on a property from four to five. In comparison, residents can keep up to five pets that are cats or dogs and up to five other outdoor pets or animals.
The change was spurred after a member of the village board — Trustee Cristin Evans — pointed out to staff that the limit on the number of hens was inconsistent with other animals that can be kept in town, said Anne Cyran, Riverside’s village planner, at the meeting.
“Staff did research and found that there wouldn’t be any negative impact of keeping five hens as opposed to four,” she said.
There are currently four properties in Riverside that have been issued hen-keeping licenses, according to a village memo; staff have received neither complaints about the properties nor requests from the owners to keep more than four hens.
The ordinance also removed a section of village code referencing the keeping of hens being approved only on a trial basis for the first year in which hens were allowed. Residents have been allowed to keep chickens since the one-year pilot program began in 2017.
The ordinance comes after the board approved another ordinance in July requiring the licensure of outdoor animals outside of dogs, cats, hens and bees in order to “provide reasonable, clear expectations” to the owners of such pets, ducks, geese, ferrets, rabbits, hedgehogs, chinchillas and more.
Owners of these pets do not need to obtain licenses if they are kept indoors, according to a village memo.
“My next-door neighbors keep hens, and they are awesome. It’s so much fun having them next door, so I would love to have them get five as opposed to the three they have now,” Trustee Elizabeth Kos said at the meeting, eliciting laughter from the rest of the village board. “When we babysit the hens, we get fresh eggs. It’s lovely.”
Update, Aug. 20, 2025, 1:45 p.m.: This story was updated with a new headline and subtitle to more accurately describe the new ordinance.
Correction, Aug 20, 2025, 5:05 p.m.: A previous version of this story misstated which village trustee raised the inconsistency to village staff. It was Trustee Cristin Evans. The Landmark regrets the error.
