Almost every day for the past two years, Sarah Kaldenberg’s chickens have laid half a dozen blue and green eggs in the backyard of her Kansas City home.

She is a trained gardener and has always enjoyed growing her own food in the garden. But like many people in recent years, Kaldenberg got chickens because she wanted to try a hobby that would provide her family – including her young child – with a new source of home-grown food.

“The chickens and stuff are really cute when they’re little, so it’s fun raising them and stuff,” said Kaldenberg, who helped start a local neighborhood group for backyard chickens on Facebook.

However, not all homeowners in Missouri can simply decide to build a chicken coop and keep chickens. Some communities don’t allow it, while people who own a home in a homeowners association are subject to their rules and regulations.

But starting August 28, Missouri HOAs will no longer be allowed under law to prohibit their homeowners from keeping chickens in their backyard, even if it is specifically prohibited in their agreements and restrictions.

Under the new law, HOAs must allow households with at least 2/10 of an acre of land to keep up to six chickens. They also cannot prohibit individual chicken coops that can house up to six chickens.

The provision was passed by the Missouri General Assembly as part of a larger bill, HB 2062, during the previous legislative session. Governor Mike Parson signed it last month.

A driving force behind this regulation was Republican Representative Jim Murphy, who represents parts of St. Louis County in the 94th congressional district.

Murphy said he was motivated in part by his grandchildren’s love of keeping chickens. He said when his son built a chicken coop in their development, there was no regulation on the subject, but the family heard threats from the board to build one soon after. That’s when he decided to take the matter up with his colleagues in the state legislature.

“I don’t think HOAs deserve that much power,” Murphy said. “I think private property is just that: private property.”

Resistance from the HOA

Some HOA groups have raised concerns about the provision. Last month, the Heartland chapter of the Community Associations Institute – an organization made up of homeowners and condo associations – called on Governor Parson to veto the bill because it would violate a community’s rights and regulations.

Elia Ellis, an attorney and chair of the CAI Missouri Legislative Action Committee, said the group opposes the provision because it offers less flexibility to individual municipalities.

“It’s not that we believe no community should keep chickens, but that there should be communities that want to keep chickens or allow chickens,” Ellis said. “And communities that don’t want to keep chickens should be allowed not to keep chickens.”

Ellis said there is a possibility of litigation over the details of the provision, and the group is working to fight back.

“Whether we can convince lawmakers in the future to reverse this and do something different – I don’t know,” Ellis said. “It’s an uphill battle in that regard.”

Murphy, who himself used to serve on the HOA board, knows boards can go too far. He said there are still actions that can be taken under the law to prevent an excess of backyard chickens.

“I don’t really have any sympathy for the HOA issue here,” Murphy said. “And frankly, if the city wants to ban chickens, this bill allows the city and county to do it. It just doesn’t allow those small groups of people who arbitrarily decide, ‘Well, not in my neighborhood.'”

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Who is in charge?

However, the provision gives HOAs leeway to “adopt reasonable rules, subject to applicable laws and ordinances.” This could include bans or restrictions on roosters, which can be noisy compared to chickens and a nuisance to neighbors.

Kyle Gally, an attorney with the St. Louis-based law firm Amundsen Davis, which counts hundreds of HOAs among its clients, said it will be helpful for HOAs to at least specify what a chicken coop can look like and where it can be located as they draft new community rules.

These restrictions could help limit the noise, odor and even rodent problems that often accompany chicken ownership. For Gally, this is the best way to avoid any potential resentment between homeowners who want to keep chickens and those who don’t.

“There is a balance that needs to be struck between allowing chickens and certain other restrictions,” Gally said. “So health, safety, welfare and enjoyment of the properties in the HOA is still a very important factor and needs to be considered.”

Hatchery owner Jeffery Smith understands both sides of the issue, but he’s excited that this will give more people a chance to try their hand at raising chickens.

Smith’s family owns Cackle Hatchery, an 88-year-old family-owned business in Lebanon. He said the company has seen an increase in demand for chicks in recent years.

“I haven’t studied the law and its implications in every little way,” Smith said. “But I’m glad it’s something that’s being done. And it will help give private citizens the opportunity to keep poultry in their backyards.”