Bradenton, FL Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Section 14-4 defines poultry as chickens, turkeys, ducks, geese and guinea fowl and makes keeping any live poultry unlawful except as the section specifically authorizes. Only chickens qualify, as an accessory use to a single-family home whose owner holds a permit. Subsection (f) confirms that keeping live poultry other than chickens is unlawful anywhere in the city.

The standards are numeric. No more than four hens. A coop or enclosure with at least four square feet per hen plus individual roosts, capped at 100 square feet in total. An open, unroofed pen or run is available between sunrise and sunset. The coop, enclosure, pen and run stay at least ten feet from any side or rear property line and at least 25 feet from any residential dwelling on adjacent property, and never sit in the required front yard or between the house and an abutting street. A six-foot-tall opaque fence or wall, installed flush with grade, surrounds the coop area. No roosters, and a chick that matures into a rooster must be removed before it begins to crow. The home cannot be used as a vacation rental.

The permit is annual. The application goes on the form provided by the planning and community development department with a scaled and dimensioned plan, and the premises are inspected before issuance and at other times on the city's request. The holder contacts the city within 30 days prior to the anniversary to set up a renewal inspection. Only single-family residences on individual lots or parcels in residential zoning districts where the primary use is residential are eligible, and the permit does not supersede any condominium or homeowner association covenant or restriction.

Other stock follows separate rules. Section 14-2 bars horses, mules, goats and cattle from running at large in the City of Bradenton and directs police officers to impound them, with the owner reclaiming stock by paying reasonable impounding charges. Section 14-3 makes breeding livestock within the corporate limits unlawful, and § 14-5 states that no person shall keep any hog in the city.