Bonneville County, ID Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)
Key Facts
- Setback from neighbor's building
- 100 feet minimum
- Setback from property line
- 50 feet minimum
- RA-1 large animal density
- 1 per 20,000 sq ft (max 5 total)
- RA-1 poultry cap
- 100 birds per lot
- Exemption
- Year-round pastures exempt from setbacks
Summary
Where animals and fowl are allowed on a lot, Bonneville County requires any barn, coop or pen to sit at least 100 feet from a neighbor's dwelling or occupied building and at least 50 feet from the property line, with fewer restrictions in the A-1 zone.
LOCATION OF LIVESTOCK FACILITIES. On any lot on which animals and fowl are permitted, no barn, corral, pen, coop or other enclosure for the keeping of animals and fowl shall be located closer than 100 feet from an adjacent lot's dwelling, church, school or other building used for human occupancy nor closer than 50 feet from the property line. Pastures and enclosures where vegetation remains year round are not required to comply with these setback standards.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: 2026 S-1: Ordinance 280-26, passed 1-20-2026).
Full Breakdown
047 governs where livestock and poultry structures can go on any lot where animals and fowl are a permitted use: no barn, corral, pen, coop or other enclosure can be located closer than 100 feet from an adjacent lot's dwelling, church, school or other building used for human occupancy, nor closer than 50 feet from the property line. Pastures and enclosures with year-round vegetation are exempt from those setback numbers. The section also ties animal-keeping to zone-specific land requirements, noting animals must have free access to the amounts of land specified for the zone, except animals in the Agriculture A-1 Zone are not required to have full access to that specified acreage.
146(B) sets hard numeric caps: no more than one cow, pig or horse (with dependent young) per 20,000 square feet of lot area, one sheep or goat plus a poultry flock of up to 100 birds per 5,000 square feet, and a combined cap of five cows, pigs, horses, sheep and goats total per lot regardless of lot size, while a 100-bird poultry flock is allowed on any one lot. 146(C).
Violations & Fines
Placing a barn, coop, pen or corral inside the 100-foot neighbor-building buffer or the 50-foot property-line buffer required by § 156.047, or exceeding the RA-1 animal-count caps in § 156.146(B), is a zoning violation subject to Chapter 156's general infraction penalty under § 156.999: a $100 fine, with each day of continued violation counted as a separate offense.
Frequently Asked Questions
How far must a chicken coop be from my neighbor's house in Bonneville County?
How many chickens can I keep in the RA-1 zone?
Can I keep multiple cows and horses on one lot?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Bonneville County
How Bonneville County compares: Best Cities for Backyard Chickens·Compare Bonneville County to another location·View the Idaho animal ordinances overview
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