Lincoln County, SD Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Lincoln County Code § 154.004(A)(1) states that land may be used only for a purpose permitted in the district in which it sits, so where you may keep animals depends entirely on the zoning map. Section 154.021 defines AGRICULTURE to include farming, dairying, and the raising, breeding, or management of livestock, poultry, or honey bees, along with truck gardening and related accessory uses, while expressly excluding intensive operations such as concentrated animal feeding operations. Section 154.056(A) lists Agriculture as a permissive use in the A-1 Agricultural District, meaning a landowner there may keep livestock, poultry, or bees by right without a conditional use permit, subject to the district's density, area, yard, and height table in § 154.062, which sets a 1-acre minimum lot and 30-foot front and rear yards with a 7-foot side yard.

The RR Rural Residential District's own permissive-use list covers only single-family dwellings, parks, and neighborhood utility facilities, so a lot zoned RR does not carry the by-right agricultural use. Once an operation grows past the county's animal-unit thresholds it is reclassified as a concentrated animal feeding operation and needs a conditional use permit from the Planning Commission instead of qualifying automatically as Agriculture. The Planning and Zoning Department reviews building permits and site plans against these district tables, while the Sheriff's Office and Planning Director share nuisance and animal-control enforcement for complaints outside the zoning question itself, such as a loose animal or manure runoff.