Bemidji City Council: Chickens have been moved

The chickens at the center of a recent debate have been moved.

The Bemidji City Council on Tuesday voted 4-2 to require Sam Kvale's flock of 100 chickens to be moved from the city limits within 24 hours.

Those chickens were moved early Wednesday morning to a location between Bemidji and Cass Lake.

Kvale said the chickens have been moved to a friend's house, although the publicity surrounding the chicken effort has prompted numerous offers of assistance.

"It's been really good," he said of the response.

Kvale had a permit to keep the chickens within city limits, but it included a stipulation that if the operation received one complaint the permit would be invalid.

After a complaint was received and the permit was deemed to be invalid, Kvale chose to fight the revocation.

The chickens are still slated to be slaughtered about Sept. 18.