Guilford County Code Chapter 5 has no county-wide numeric cap on chickens or livestock. Whether you may keep them, and how many, is set by your zoning district under the county Development/Unified Development Ordinance for unincorporated land.
Chapter 5 (Animals) does not itself limit backyard fowl or farm animals; keeping of livestock and poultry is governed by the zoning district in the Guilford County Development Ordinance. Agricultural and most rural residential districts in unincorporated Guilford County permit farm animals, often keyed to lot size, while denser residential districts restrict them. Owners of fowl and livestock still must keep the animals on their premises or under control (Sec. 5-9) and meet nuisance and setback standards. Confirm your exact district and acreage rules with Guilford County Planning & Development before adding animals.
Keeping livestock where the zoning district prohibits it is a zoning violation enforced by Planning & Development, with notice-of-violation, daily civil penalties, and possible removal orders.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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See how Guilford County's chickens & livestock rules stack up against other locations.
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