Hanover County, VA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

1 of the Zoning Ordinance (chapter 26) permits keeping chickens as an accessory use on lots with a single-family detached home in the RS, R-1, R-2 and R-3 residential districts, notwithstanding any contrary district regulations. The limit is six female chickens (hens); no male chickens (roosters) are permitted on the property at all. 2. The owner must keep all areas connected with the chickens clean and free of waste, disposing of waste in an appropriate container that is periodically removed from the site, and must take steps to eliminate odor problems and insect propagation tied to the flock.

The section does not authorize keeping chickens on multifamily lots, in townhome developments, or outside these four residential districts, and it says nothing about larger livestock such as goats, pigs or horses, which fall instead under the county's agricultural district standards rather than this residential accessory-use rule. 1 lives in the Zoning Ordinance, noncompliance (too many hens, a rooster on site, a coop built outside the rear yard, or an enclosure closer than 15 feet to a lot line) is enforced the same way as any zoning violation: the Zoning Administrator issues a notice of violation under Section 26-347, and Section 26-348 backs it with a civil penalty of $200 for the first summons and $500 for each later summons arising from the same violation, with appeal to the Board of Zoning Appeals.