Bannock County, ID Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Bannock County Code Section 17.20.030 lists livestock as a permitted use in the Residential Suburban (RS) district, but only on parcels of one acre or more; anyone with less than an acre in the RS district cannot keep livestock as of right. The same section separately requires that livestock pens or runs sit a minimum of fifty feet from a neighboring house, or from the minimum residential setback line if no house has been built yet on the adjoining lot, so a new barn or chicken run has to be planned around both the current and future building envelope next door.

The code's definitions title treats poultry as part of 'livestock,' defined broadly as animals maintained as a source of food, clothing, transportation or power, so backyard chickens fall under this same acreage and setback framework rather than a separate ordinance. Other districts handle animals differently: the Agricultural (A) district permits commercial agricultural uses and their accessory structures outright, while accessory structures built specifically for commercial agriculture farm animals must meet a 100-foot setback on every side under Section 17.12.060. Bannock County treats large-scale confinement differently still.

Feed lots, defined as corrals or holding areas for impounding livestock for market or milk and egg production not incidental to an ordinary farm, are only conditionally permitted in the RS and A districts and are flatly prohibited in several other zoning districts under the Chapter 17.48 use table. Anyone raising chickens or other livestock on RS-zoned land in unincorporated Bannock County should confirm lot size and pen placement with Planning and Development Services before building enclosures.