COEUR d'ALENE - Cluck, cluck, cluck is OK, but not feeding strays.

The city of Coeur d'Alene is updating its animal control ordinances, allowing up to three chickens on property inside the city and - as more of an educational tool than enforcement - is banning the feeding of feral cats.

The chicken rule puts a cap on the number of cluckers one person can have.

The old ordinance didn't name a specific amount, so long as owners didn't allow them to run at large and odor didn't become a problem, but the original suggested change asked if the city should ban them from smaller lots in residential areas.

But the city specifically wanted to allow them because more people have been raising them as a self-sustainable way to provide eggs.

Feral cat feeding was included simply to discourage it.

The changes were adopted Tuesday night.

Kathy Lewis, deputy city clerk, earlier said the number of calls to City Hall asking about raising poultry had risen 20 percent in the last year. Roosters weren't included, as they are generally prohibited since the early risers typically violate noise ordinances.

The changes were part of updating the animal ordinances. Last year the city agreed to prohibit feeding deer, and decided to re-write all the changes at once.

That too was more for educational purposes on the dangers of deer becoming too comfortable in cities searching for eats.

Dangerous dog issues will be heard by a city appointed hearing officer rather than a citizens committee to make it easier to schedule hearings.

Also approved Tuesday:

• The city agreed to re-stripe bike lanes along 15th Street from Sherman Avenue to Interstate 90. Parking along the east side of the street will be removed to make room. The project could commence this summer.

• The city will contract a professional facilitator, Bernardo-Wills Architects, for $15,000 to host a pair of public workshops that would combine input from neighbors and developers into the final East Sherman Avenue Gateway design plan.

• It adopted the 2010 Trails and Bikeways Master Plan, aimed at adding bike lanes as north and south running routes for easier commuting, and connecting paths to parks and hiking trail heads for accessibility.