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

Section 5-35 creates a "Backyard Chicken Pilot Program" limited to occupied single-family property in three residential zoning districts: RU-1-7, RU-1-7a and RU-1-10. Chickens are barred outright in every other zoning district and on duplex, triplex, multi-family, or mobile/manufactured home park properties. "Chicken" under this section means hens only; roosters, ducks, geese, turkeys and peafowl are all prohibited. A resident must apply for and receive a permit from the community services director, paying a non-refundable $50 processing fee, submitting a coop-and-enclosure sketch, and passing a site inspection; if the applicant isn't the fee-simple owner, the owner must consent in writing.

Applicants must also prove they've completed a University of Florida Agricultural Extension Service class on chicken care. A permit allows up to four hens per property. Coops must sit in the rear yard only, at least five feet from the house, ten feet from rear or side property lines, and twenty feet from any side street or neighboring residence, though the community services director may administratively waive up to ten percent of any setback for hardship. Coops are capped at six feet tall and 150 square feet, with a minimum of four square feet of coop space and five square feet of run per bird, must be predator-proofed, screened from neighboring view with an opaque fence or landscaping, and require a manure-management plan with fly-tight storage kept at least twenty feet from property lines.

Selling eggs, meat, feathers or manure is prohibited, chickens can't be bred, slaughtered on-site, or used for fighting, and all building permits for the coop and fencing must be obtained before construction. Section 5-35 was adopted by Ord. No. 01-2017 in 2017 and amended by Ord. No. 14-2021 in February 2022.