El Cajon, CA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

El Cajon Municipal Code Sec. 065 permits chickens as an accessory use to any detached single-family home, including Planned Residential and Planned Unit Developments, in all single-family residential zones and the RM-6000 zone. Roosters are flatly prohibited under subsection (B). Housing requirements are specific: chickens must live in a fully enclosed, unpaved run providing at least 10 square feet per chicken, plus an attached or enclosed coop giving at least 4 square feet per bird and a nest for each bird to roost, built of well-ventilated durable wire mesh, with runs and coops capped at 8 feet in height and 150 square feet in area (subsection C).

Owners may let chickens roam a fully fenced, unpaved rear yard during daylight if the fence is at least 6 feet high, but the birds must return to the coop at sundown (subsection D). Coops and runs must sit behind the main house and at least 3 feet from side and rear property lines, with none allowed in any exterior yard (subsection E), and feed must be kept in rodent-proof containers (subsection F). Sanitation standards flag flies or fly larvae, manure accumulation, offensive odors, and rat droppings as evidence of a violation (subsection G).

Separately, Sec. 060 permits rabbits, geese, and ducks for private use in the O-S, RS-40, and RS-20 zones only, capped at six adult animals per main dwelling plus offspring until maturity. Larger domesticated animals up to 125 pounds fall under Sec. 050, which allows one such animal by right in O-S, RS-40, and RS-20 zones, two with an administrative zoning permit in those same zones, and one with an administrative zoning permit in the tighter RS-14, RS-9, RS-6, and RM-6000 zones.