Layton, UT Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

080 splits animal-keeping into general farm animals, allowed only in the A and R-S zones under lot-size tables, and a separate residential chicken-and-duck permit track under Subsection 2. Any resident on an R-1-6, R-1-8, R-1-10, or R-S lot who wants to keep hens or ducks needs a one-time City permit, priced per the City's Consolidated Fee Schedule, with an application that includes a plot plan showing the coop's location, setbacks, size and height. R-S lots of one acre or larger are exempt from the permit requirement.

Allowed flock size scales with lot area, from one bird per 1,600 square feet on an 8,000-square-foot minimum lot up to one bird per 1,000 square feet on lots of 43,560 square feet or more, and chickens and ducks can be combined within those numbers. The code defines "chicken" to mean only the hen, so roosters are barred outright in the R-1-6, R-1-8, R-1-10, and R-S zones. Coops, pens, cages and runs cannot rise above seven feet at the roof peak, must sit in the rear or backyard, and on lots under 20,000 square feet the run is capped at 120 square feet and kept at least five feet off every property line; larger lots can build a bigger run but must keep it at least ten feet from property lines.

Every enclosure needs an outer fence able to stop escapes, on-site slaughter is banned entirely, and the City can revoke the permit if the holder is convicted of violating the section.