Allentown, PA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Allentown is among the Pennsylvania cities that prohibit backyard poultry and livestock. Under Codified Ordinances Chapter 163 (Animals) (carried forward from former Article 700.13, Section 3 of the 1962 Codified Ordinances): 'It shall be unlawful for any person to keep or maintain any cattle, swine, sheep, goats or fowl in the City except at such places as are provided for slaughtering or laboratory purposes.' 'Fowl' encompasses chickens (hens and roosters), ducks, geese and turkeys, so backyard chicken-keeping is not allowed in residential neighborhoods. A historical exception recognizes activities of the Lehigh County Agricultural Society at the Allentown Fairgrounds. Because the prohibition is general rather than zone-specific for most of the City, residents who want hens cannot rely on a permit pathway the way some neighboring municipalities allow; the City's code treats the keeping of such animals as a per se nuisance to control noise, odor and pests in a densely populated urban area.