Urban chicken backers had something to crow about Tuesday, after the Milwaukee Common Council voted to allow residents to keep hens in their backyards - but not without some clucking from skeptics.

The council voted, 8-5, to legalize chicken-keeping citywide on a one-year trial basis, with tight restrictions.

Supporters touted the idea as a step toward sustainable urban agriculture, packed with regulations to ensure safety, health and sanitation.

People who want to keep chickens would need the consent of all their adjacent neighbors and pay a $35 fee to obtain a permit. They would be limited to four hens and no roosters and could not slaughter any of the birds. Enclosures would have to be at least 25 feet from any other home, and chicken coops and yards together would have to provide at least 16 square feet per chicken.

East side Ald. Nik Kovac, the ordinance's chief sponsor, persuaded his colleagues to yank the measure from the council's Public Safety Committee, where it had been temporarily cooped up.

Opponents argued that aldermen needed more chicken feedback from their constituents, after advocates dominated a committee hearing on the proposal. But Kovac said the issue had been debated at length, and that questions about noise and cleanliness had been answered.

Aldermen Terry Witkowski and Bob Donovan said they feared some people would misunderstand the council action and think they could keep chickens without obtaining a permit or following all the restrictions laid out in the ordinance.

Witkowski succeeded in adding a one-year sunset to the measure, along with a requirement for the city Department of Neighborhood Services to report in six months on how the experiment is working.

Kovac said the ordinance "will encourage good, responsible chicken-keeping."

The measure was backed by Aldermen Bob Bauman, Jim Bohl, Milele Coggs, Ashanti Hamilton, Michael Murphy, Jim Witkowiak, Tony Zielinski and Kovac. Opposed were council President Willie Hines Jr. and Aldermen Joe Dudzik Jr., Willie Wade, Donovan and Witkowski. Aldermen Joe Davis Sr. and Robert Puente were absent.

Mayor Tom Barrett said he's still pondering whether to sign or veto the measure, adding, "I don't want to ruffle any feathers right now." Davis and Puente voted to delay action in committee, a signal that supporters could have a tough time mustering the 10 votes needed to override any possible Barrett veto.

In other action, the council:

Authorized City Attorney Grant Langley to sue the state over a $1.5 million midyear cut in recycling aid.

Barrett and other municipal leaders were outraged when they learned last month that the state Department of Natural Resources planned to cut recycling grants to local governments by some 40% for the balance of the year.

DNR officials have said state budget managers ordered them to slice current spending by almost $27 million, and they took nearly half that amount from the recycling program. But cities aren't prepared to absorb such cuts in the middle of the year, after municipal budgets have been adopted and tax levies set, Barrett said.

Waded into the debate over concealed carrying of handguns, voting to oppose the so-called constitutional carry bill, which would allow anyone who can legally own a gun to carry it just about anywhere with no permit and no training.

But aldermen stayed officially neutral on another bill that would require permits to carry concealed weapons. They directed city lobbyists to seek changes, mostly sought by Police Chief Edward Flynn, such as imposing felony penalties for illegally carrying a concealed weapon, buying a firearm for someone who can't legally own one or possessing ammunition as a felon.

Although the permit bill is technically still alive in the Assembly, the Senate sponsor of both bills has merged some aspects of the permit legislation into the "constitutional carry" bill for action Wednesday by the Senate Judiciary Committee.