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

The county's Official Schedule of Uses, Appendix A to the Zoning Chapter (Chapter 157), lists "Breeding or raising non-farm fowl, animals" as a distinct land use and marks it "PR" (prohibited) in the R-1, R-2, and R-3 residential districts and in the Local Business, General Business, Accommodation Business, and Shopping Center districts. The same use is marked "SE" (special exception) in the Industrial, Industrial Reserve, and Agricultural ("A") districts, meaning even a rural landowner zoned Agricultural cannot start keeping chickens or livestock for non-farm purposes without first getting Board of Zoning Appeals approval.

027, "U" means permitted outright, "SE" requires a special exception, and "PR" means the use is prohibited in that district, full stop. A true farm use is treated differently: the code defines FARM at ten or more acres used for agricultural operations "including truck gardening, forestry, tree or plant nursery, or the production and/or keeping of livestock and poultry," and a FARM/HOBBY parcel under 50 acres where crops or animals "may be raised or kept for pleasure and not used as a primary source for income" is listed under the AGRICULTURAL USES table, not the residential-use prohibition.

133 requires the Board of Zoning Appeals to find the use will not endanger public health or safety, will not injure neighboring property values, and won't impede orderly development of surrounding land, on top of adequate utilities, drainage, and traffic access. This chapter also caps feeding or sheltering of penned animals or poultry within 500 feet of any residential district under the AGRICULTURE definition, and separately regulates confined feeding operations (CAFOs) with their own setback tables from non-farm residences.