Grayslake Approves Backyard Hens

If you have wanted to keep a hen in your backyard in Grayslake, now is your chance. 

The Grayslake Village Board on Tuesday approved chickens for residents in single-family homes as long as the hens are only used for laying eggs, according to the Daily Herald. 

Restrictions require that no more than six hens be kept in rear yards of a single-family home. Each chicken must be kept in separate 6-square-foot coops and be at least 8 feet from a neighboring property line, according to the article. 

Residents can not slaughter the chickens or sell the eggs and each single-family homeowner must register with the Illinois Department of Agriculture Livestock Program, the Daily Herald reports. 

Evan Mittlestaedt, 11, and Natalie Sturm, 15, both of Grayslake, helped bring the backyard chicken issue to the village's attention, according to an earlier Daily Herald article.

Evan met with Mayor Rhett Taylor in August 2012 and Natalie and her mother brought a proposal before the plan commission/zoning board of appeals, according to the article.

Read more on the Daily Herald.