Elkhart County requires 3 contiguous acres of agricultural zoning to keep livestock; smaller lots need a Special Use Permit from the Board of Zoning Appeals, usually capped at 12 hens with no roosters. Goshen allows 6 hens by free permit.
Keeping chickens or livestock in Elkhart County turns on zoning. The county requires at least 3 contiguous acres of agricultural zoning to keep livestock; on a smaller lot or in a residential zone you need a Special Use Permit from the Elkhart County Board of Zoning Appeals, typically approved for up to 12 chickens with no roosters. The City of Goshen separately allows up to 6 hens with a free city permit and no roosters, while the City of Elkhart classes chickens as farm animals and restricts them. Above all this sits Indiana's Right to Farm Act, Indiana Code 32-30-6-9, shielding the county's established Amish and commercial farms from nuisance suits when neighbors move in nearby.
Keeping poultry or livestock against county zoning, without a Special Use Permit, or without Goshen's chicken permit draws a zoning-enforcement notice and fines. Established farms are shielded by the Right to Farm Act.
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Elkhart County, IN
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Elkhart County, IN
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Elkhart County, IN
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Elkhart County, IN
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Elkhart County, IN
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Elkhart County, IN
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See how Elkhart County's chickens & livestock rules stack up against other locations.
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