Alachua County, FL Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

13(b) of the county's Unified Land Development Code allows poultry-keeping as an accessory use to any legal single-family residence in unincorporated Alachua County, without regard to the acreage minimums that apply to other livestock. Flock size is tied to location: on parcels under five acres inside the county's Urban Cluster, the limit is ten birds, restricted to hens and ducks only. Outside the Urban Cluster, parcels under one acre may keep up to ten birds of any poultry type, while parcels from one up to five acres may keep fifteen birds per acre.

Roosters and drakes are barred entirely in the RE, RE-1, R-1a, R-1aa, R-1c and R-1b residential zoning districts, the county's core single-family neighborhoods. Every bird must be housed in a covered, fenced enclosure, movable or stationary, though poultry may roam freely inside the fenced area during daylight hours; enclosures must meet the accessory-structure setbacks of Chapter 403, or in traditional neighborhood and transit-oriented developments, Article VII of Chapter 407. Harvesting poultry or poultry products on-site is allowed only under applicable federal and state food-safety rules, and keepers must control noise, odor, and rodent, fly or insect breeding, including keeping feed in enclosed containers and disposing of waste regularly.

Commercial poultry operations are flatly prohibited under this Section regardless of district or acreage. The Section was most recently amended by Ord. No. 2025-22, adopted December 9, 2025.