Hamilton County, IN Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Hamilton County's animal control chapter defines livestock to include horses, cows, goats, pigs, or any other four-legged animal, excluding dogs and cats, kept for pleasure or profit, and expressly states that fowl, meaning chickens and other poultry, are included within that definition. Under the general duties section, every livestock owner in the county must ensure animals have access to adequate food, water, and space, are kept in a safe, clean, sanitary and healthy manner, and are not confined so as to be forced to stand, sit, or lie in their own excrement; owners must regularly maintain animal areas to prevent odor or sanitation problems.

Owners must also protect animals from abuse, cruelty, neglect, and overwork, provide veterinary care when an animal is sick or injured and isolate it to prevent spreading disease, and keep animals in compliance with all applicable federal, state, and county animal-care laws. The chapter carves out livestock guard dogs, livestock working dogs, and lawful hunting dogs from its confinement rules as long as they're monitored by their handler. The chapter applies in both the incorporated and unincorporated parts of the county unless a city like Carmel, Fishers, Noblesville, or Westfield adopts its own substantially similar ordinance, at which point the municipality's rule controls within its own boundaries.

Where you can site a coop or pen on your lot, however, is a zoning question addressed in the county's separate zoning ordinance, not this animal-care chapter.