Coconut Creek, FL Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Section 5-5 governs agricultural and farm animals in the City of Coconut Creek, Broward County, Florida. Section 5-2 defines those animals as horses, cattle, pigs, sheep, goats and fowl kept in areas zoned agricultural to raise, breed or sell for profit, or kept as part of a bona fide farm operation on land classified as agricultural under F.S. § 193.461. Subsection (b) bars keeping agricultural animals in every zoning district unless the keeping is part of a bona fide farm operation on land classified as agricultural land, and that operation must follow the relevant agricultural best management practices adopted under Florida law. The city refers potential violations of that subsection to the state regulating authority.

Subsection (c) carves out chickens. The City Commission wrote that the exception helps alleviate food insecurity and lets residents eat locally produced food, and that the acreage and headcount limits reduce the effect on adjacent properties. The parcel must measure at least one (1) acre standing alone, and it must be owned by a single corporate entity or by an individual or individuals through a tenancy-by-the-entirety, joint tenancy or leasehold interest. On a qualifying parcel the resident or residents can keep no more than four (4) chickens. Goats, pigs, sheep, horses, cattle and every other farm animal fall outside the exception.

Subsection (a) adds two duties for any agricultural animal. An owner whose animal escapes must recapture it immediately and inform the Coconut Creek Police Department that it is at large and might be creating a hazard, and the animal must be kept so it does not create a nuisance as defined by F.S. § 823.14, the Florida Right to Farm Act. The Coconut Creek Police Department and the Department of Sustainable Development enforce Chapter 5 under § 5-4.