Decatur, AL Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Section 4-5 sets the baseline: except where permitted under the zoning ordinance, no person shall keep livestock, as defined by Ala. Code § 3-5-1, within the city. Section 4-6 makes it unlawful to allow any livestock to run at large. The zoning permission sits in Sec. 25-12.1, which lists livestock and poultry raising, along with general farming, horticulture, dairying, apiaries and fish hatcheries, among the uses permitted in the AG-1 agricultural district. The AG-2 district permits all uses permitted and regulated in AG-1.

The AG-1 space rules are specific. Minimum lot area is 15,000 square feet and minimum lot width at the building line is 100 feet. Yards are 20 feet in front, 45 feet in the rear and 15 feet on the sides, and maximum height is 35 feet or 2½ stories. Any structure used for the housing of livestock of any kind cannot sit closer than 100 feet to any property line or line of a district other than an agricultural district.

The residential district rows of Chapter 25 do not mention poultry or chickens, so the code text read for this page shows no backyard-hen allowance in an R district. Whether a particular bird counts as livestock turns on Ala. Code § 3-5-1, which the city code cites but does not reprint. Keeping fowl anywhere in the city remains subject to Sec. 16-15, which makes it unlawful to keep any domestic or farm animal or fowl in a manner that is or becomes a menace to public health or a public or private nuisance from insects, vermin, obnoxious odors or noises. A dead animal must be burned or buried at least two feet below the surface within 24 hours, and not near a residence (Sec. 4-7).