Dearborn Heights, MI Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Section 6-66, in Chapter 6's Article IV on prohibited animals, makes it unlawful to keep or house any animal or domestic fowl in the city except dogs, cats, canaries, or other small animals customarily kept as household pets inside dwellings. That flatly excludes backyard chickens, ducks and similar livestock from residential lots. Section 6-96 backs this up from the dwellings angle: no horse, cow, calf, swine, sheep, goat, chickens, geese, ducks, donkeys, rabbits or pigeons may be kept in a dwelling or any part of it, and none of those animals may be kept on the same lot or premises as a dwelling at all, unless the property is maintained in connection with the operation of a bona fide farm.

Chapter 6 cross-references § 36-85 of the zoning ordinance and § 6-28's private-stable licensing rule, which lets someone keep a horse, pony or donkey for personal riding only after securing a city license and a distinguishing identification mark for the animal. The pigeon-keeping exception in Article III, §§ 6-46 through 6-50, lets an owner keep fancy, racing or sporting pigeons in a permitted loft sited at least 25 feet from any residential structure, but that permit does not extend to chickens, ducks or other livestock covered by §§ 6-66 and 6-96. The city's animal control officer, defined at § 6-2, enforces this chapter.