Kent County, DE Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Kent County Code § 205-34 governs backyard poultry, pigeons, ducks and similar animals in the unincorporated county. Keeping such animals is barred outright on lots under 15,000 square feet, and even qualifying lots may hold no more than five birds. Owners must register poultry with the Delaware Department of Agriculture, and every animal needs its own pen space of at least four square feet inside a coop. Coops and enclosures must sit in the rear yard and stay at least 25 feet back from both side and rear property lines, and any odor from the animals cannot be discernible at the property line.

Roosters are prohibited entirely unless the property qualifies as a farm. Larger livestock, horses, cattle, hogs, goats and sheep, fall under the separate enclosure standard in § 205-30, which requires them to be confined within a completely fenced area built of wire, wood, masonry or similar material, with manure management following DNREC and Kent Conservation District guidance. Both sections sit in Article IV, General Provisions, of Chapter 205, enforced by the Division Head of Inspections and Enforcement, other code enforcement officials, or the County's attorney under the general zoning penalty at § 205-426.

These standards apply only within unincorporated Kent County; Dover, Smyrna, Milford and the county's other incorporated towns enforce their own separate poultry and livestock rules under municipal code, not this chapter.