Margate, FL Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Section 6-60 of the Code of the City of Margate, Florida is a flat ban rather than a numbers cap. Subsection (a) makes it unlawful to maintain, raise or house chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons, doves, cattle, horses, sheep or goats anywhere within the city, and it carves out only the keeping of migratory birds. Subsection (b) lists two exceptions. The first covers bona fide pet shops, veterinarian clinics, hospitals and shelters, and pet motels. The second covers individuals caring for fowl or poultry indigenous to the city, with a hard limit of three animals at one time. The text of section 6-60 sets no coop permit, lot-size threshold or hen-only allowance, so a household that wants a small backyard flock has no path to one beyond that three-animal indigenous-fowl exception.

Neighboring sections tighten the picture. Section 6-59 separately makes it unlawful to keep or harbor bees and declares any occupied beehive a nuisance, and section 6-63 makes it unlawful to feed ducks that are not housed under section 6-60. Enforcement runs through the city animal control officer, a position inside the police department under sections 6-76 and 6-79, who can issue warnings, summonses and citations and can impound animals under section 6-78. Continuous violations go to the city manager, who authorizes the city legal department to act after an attempt to resolve the problem. Section 6-82 treats a citation under the chapter as a noncriminal infraction handled as a code violation under Chapter 162 of the Florida Statutes, and the citation schedule in section 1-8 lists an animal nuisance category that starts at $25.00 for a first offense.