Fresno County, CA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

050 (Animal Keeping Standards) of the Fresno County Zoning Ordinance sets animal limits by zone rather than county-wide. In the R-1-A and R-1-AH Single Family Residential zones, a property may keep poultry (hens only, no roosters), rabbits, or similar small fur-bearing animals not to exceed 24 of any kind or combination for domestic purposes; the R-1-AH zone additionally allows up to two horses on at least 20,000 square feet, with one more horse per additional 20,000 square feet up to a four-horse maximum. In the R-R (Rural Residential) zone, poultry keeping tops out at 100 birds and requires at least one acre, while bovine animals, horses, sheep and goats are capped at four adult animals per acre (no more than three adults of a bovine or equine kind), with a reduced allowance of two horses on lots between 20,000 square feet and one acre.

Dogs and cats as domestic pets are limited to three animals four months or older in the R-R zone. On agricultural land (AE Exclusive Agricultural and A-1 Agricultural zones), livestock of all kinds is allowed outright on lots over two acres, and domestic or FFA/4-H poultry is capped at 500 birds on those same lots; smaller AE/A-1 parcels of two acres or less drop down to the Rural Residential standards, and parcels under one acre drop further to the R-1-A/R-1-AH 24-bird cap. 290 (Poultry Facility Standards), which covers setbacks, manure storage and dead-bird disposal.

Across every zone, keeping or raising roosters for fighting purposes is expressly prohibited, and offspring are not counted toward the animal limit until they reach a defined 'weanable age' (four months for dogs/cats, one year for equines, eight weeks for swine).