Lakewood, WA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

030(B)(3)(d) permits poultry, pigeons, ducks and similar birds, plus rabbits and similar mammals, as an accessory use to a dwelling unit on any lot for domestic, noncommercial purposes. Hutches must sit back at least ten feet from all property lines, while pens, coops, aviaries and free-range areas need a twenty-foot setback. Density is capped at sixteen poultry, birds or rabbits per acre, and any aviary or loft must provide at least one square foot per bird and cannot exceed one thousand square feet. Subsection (B)(3)(b) flatly prohibits a specific list of animals in every zoning district in the City: peacocks, roosters, turkeys, ostriches, emus and similar birds, along with wild, undomesticated or exotic mammals, and cows, sheep, llamas, goats, swine and other livestock.

030(B)(3)(c) permits horses and equestrian facilities only in the R1 and R2 zones, and only as a continuation of private or commercial equestrian operations that were already legally established as of September 1, 2001 under Lakewood Ordinance No. 264; existing equestrian structures may be maintained, repaired or replaced but new equestrian operations cannot be started elsewhere. Subsection (B)(3)(a) requires that keeping animals for agricultural purposes be controlled so it does not create adverse impacts on nearby properties, specifically listing noise, dust, fertilizer or pesticide overspray, odor, glare and roaming as the impacts the City watches for.

Because chickens fall under the general 'raising and keeping of animals for agricultural purposes' land use table entry, keeping them at all requires that the surrounding conditions, including any roaming, not create a nuisance for neighbors, independent of the numeric caps.