Loudoun County, VA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

02, "Agriculture, Horticulture, and Animal Husbandry," is the operative provision, and it applies to any Animal Husbandry use countywide. The ordinance defines Livestock to include "horses and very small equine, bison, cattle, pigs, mules, sheep, goats, alpacas, llamas, emus, poultry (including egg-producing poultry), and other similar domesticated animals," so backyard chickens fall squarely under Animal Husbandry rather than the separate Companion Animal category. C, Animal Husbandry has no set minimum lot size on its own, but it is flatly not permitted on a parcel smaller than 5 acres unless the owner obtains an approved Conservation Farm Plan.

That plan, also called a Farm Management Plan, must be secured through the Loudoun County Soil and Water Conservation District and the Virginia Cooperative Extension Service before the Animal Husbandry use (including a backyard flock) is established on a sub-5-acre lot. The plan has to spell out the types and quantity of animals proposed, the location and size of existing and proposed structures, grazing areas, and the location of wells and septic fields, and it must include a Best Management Practices section that VCES reviews for consistency with accepted Animal Husbandry standards; the owner must give the Zoning Administrator a copy of the executed plan, and once it is approved no additional animals can be added without an amendment.

E further requires that any structure housing livestock, barns, run-in sheds, coops, stables, and similar structures, sit back 60 feet from a property line abutting a lot with an existing dwelling or one under construction at the time the Zoning Permit is issued; if the neighboring dwelling sits more than 60 feet from that shared line, the coop or barn only has to meet the zoning district's standard minimum yard. B. These standards took effect March 12, 2025 under amendment ZOAM-2020-0002.