Elyria, OH Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Livestock and poultry rules in the City of Elyria sit in Chapter 505, Animals and Fowl, of the Codified Ordinances enacted by Elyria City Council. The core rule is § 505.01(b). No owner or keeper of horses, mules, cattle, bison, sheep, goats, swine, llamas, alpacas, or poultry can permit them to run at large in the public road, highway, street, lane, or alley, or upon unenclosed land. The same division bars herding, keeping or detaining the animals for grazing on premises other than those the owner or keeper owns or lawfully occupies.

A police officer or animal warden can impound every animal found in violation of § 505.01 under § 505.02(a). Odor control is its own rule. Section 505.08(a) provides that no person can keep or harbor any animal or fowl in the Municipality so as to create noxious or offensive odors or unsanitary conditions that are a menace to the health, comfort or safety of the public. A violation of § 505.08 is a minor misdemeanor.

Young poultry sales are regulated by § 505.12. Nobody can dye or color a rabbit or baby poultry, including chicks and ducklings. No poultry younger than four weeks of age can be sold, given away or otherwise distributed in lots of fewer than three. Anyone offering young poultry must provide and operate brooders or other heating devices needed to keep the birds healthy and keep adequate food and water available at all times.

Zoning is the other half. In the R-LD Residential-Low Density District, § 1142.02(A) lists as a principally permitted use agriculture limited to non-commercial farming of crops and non-commercial animal husbandry. The Codified Ordinances never use the word chicken, and Chapter 505 sets no flock size, coop distance or permit for backyard birds, so the at-large ban, the odor rule and the zoning district standards are the limits that apply.