Glynn County, GA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Section 701.2(3) of the Glynn County Zoning Ordinance permits non-commercial horticulture or agriculture in the R-6, R-9, M-6, and M-9 One-Family Residential Districts, the zoning that covers most mainland and island subdivisions, but expressly excludes 'the keeping of poultry or animals.' There's no backyard-chicken carve-out in these districts: raising hens, ducks, goats or other livestock on an ordinary residential lot is not a permitted use.

Move to the larger-lot R-12, R-20, and RE Residential Estates Districts and Section 702.2(3)/703.2(3) still bar the keeping of livestock or poultry, but carve out one exception: on a minimum of three acres, a property owner may keep up to three horses, provided no horse structure sits within 100 feet of any property line or within 300 feet of an existing residence. That setback effectively requires a large, isolated tract even where the acreage minimum is met.

Full-scale livestock and poultry operations are reserved for the FA Forest Agricultural District. Section 704.2(2) permits a 'farm or establishment for the growing, care and handling of field crops, truck gardening products, fruit and/or nut trees, poultry, and/or animals and livestock' as of right, and Section 704.3(2) separately allows a commercial riding stable as a conditional use on at least two acres, with no animal building closer than 100 feet to a property line. The Zoning Ordinance's Section 302 definition of 'Livestock' is broad, covering cattle, swine, equines, poultry, sheep, goats, ratites, bison, water buffalo, farmed deer, llamas, and alpacas, so the residential-district exclusion reaches well beyond chickens.