There were lots of plausible presences at the La Vista Embassy Suites to oppose what many see as the worst livestock impacts of the federal government's National Animal Identification System.

The skeptical manager of the Bassett Livestock Auction, the indignant rancher from Valentine, the long-suffering hog producer from Minnesota - all seemed to have an obvious place in June 30 proceedings aimed at overhauling the program's most objectionable features.

Chris Bambery of Lincoln, proud owner of two chickens on Sumner Street and promoter of what he describes as "backyard chicken PowerPoint presentations," didn't blend in as easily.

But it turns out Bambery, keeper of a lone Silver-laced Wyandotte and a lone Barred Plymouth Rock, has many of the same concerns about where Big Brother is headed with a five-year-old program meant to pinpoint and contain disease outbreaks.

He sees government intrusion. He senses a threat to the welfare of smaller livestock producers. And if this becomes mandatory, he said in a follow-up interview in Lincoln, it carries a risk of outcomes as ridiculous as requiring his chickens, Stellar and Suko (some kind of Asian flower) to be known by a number.

"From my understanding," Bambery said, "you have to register your premises with the federal government."

At the 14 listening sessions held across the United States, officials from the U.S. Department of Agriculture have tried to tame ideas as wild as the government using an electronic chip to track a horse as it carries its rider from one ranch to the next.

But they haven't been quite as quick to resolve other lingering uncertainties. That includes whether or not to assign numbers to thousands of places in Nebraska where 4-H exhibits constitute the entire livestock population.

So who really knows what's in store for Bambery and his chickens?

This much is known: "Once I got a taste of some farm-fresh eggs, I kind of wanted to have some of my own."

And there's this, too: As a spokesman for the Nebraska Environmental Action Coalition, an aspiring chicken man wants to see smaller livestock enterprises flourish in lots of different settings.

That includes his own. "I have a shed in my backyard and I built something out of chicken wire. And I will have a little area where they can walk around."

Other issues will have to be resolved. "Maybe in the wintertime I will bring them inside to hang out. I have a dog who likes to hassle them, though."

In the realm of government surveillance, Bambery and his poultry pair may have more to worry about from city government than from the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Animal Control Manager Robert Westfall said two chickens is the limit for the unregulated egg lovers of Lincoln.

If a third enters the picture, that requires the purchase of a $50 annual fowl permit.

Beyond that, 20 is the maximum size for a backyard chicken enterprise, Westfall said. Roosters are banned because of crowing noise. And the size of chicken structures must be three times the number of chickens.

"So, if you have three chickens," Westfall explained, "it has to be nine square feet."

Bureaucratic as all that may sound, the city's chief chicken cop managed a laugh when asked if Lincoln's scattered egg-laying flock just might need some roosters to carry on.

"Apparently not," he said.

Reach Art Hovey at 473-7223 or ahovey@journalstar.com.