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

Merced County Code § 7.04.010 defines 'livestock' to include horses, donkeys, mules, cattle, sheep, goats, swine, llamas, camels, rabbits, and fowl (which covers backyard chickens, turkeys, and other poultry) 'commonly kept or raised in the county as farm or livestock animals.' Because chickens fall inside this definition, keeping them is governed by the same at-large and fencing rules that apply to horses or cattle, not by a separate backyard-flock ordinance.

Section 7.04.080 makes it unlawful to permit livestock to stray from the owner's property, except while being led along a public road in daylight under supervision, while on other property with the owner's consent and behind a lawful fence, or on a designated open-range area. An owner whose livestock get loose on a public roadway is guilty of a misdemeanor; loose livestock on someone else's private property without permission is an infraction, and the owner is billed for the county's costs of capturing and hauling the animals.

Section 7.04.090 backs this up with a fencing standard: any person responsible for livestock must keep the animals inside a 'lawful fence' meeting Food and Agriculture Code §§ 17121 and 17152. A wire fence only qualifies if it has a minimum of three tightly stretched barbed wires, securely fastened to posts spaced no more than 10 feet apart, with the lowest wire at least four feet above the ground. Commercial poultry operations raising chickens or turkeys for sale, egg production, or breeding stock face a separate, heavier permit and setback regime under Chapter 7.08, but chickens kept for family use are excluded from that chapter and fall back on the general livestock fencing and at-large rules described here.