Marietta, GA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

01(B)(3) of the R-1 Single-Family Residential/Agriculture district lets a property owner keep livestock, poultry and non-commercial riding stables, but only on a lot of at least 5 acres. Any building housing the animals must sit back at least 150 feet from every property line, the animals themselves must stay at least 50 feet from any property line, and the code requires 5,000 square feet of fenced lot area, not counting the footprint of the principal structure, for each animal. That standard carries over into R-2, R-3 and R-4 zoning.

01(C)(5). A homeowner may keep up to 4 hens, no roosters, on a lot of at least 15,000 square feet, provided the property has an occupied residence. Before stocking a coop, the owner must submit an accurately scaled sketch showing every existing and proposed structure, including the coop and fencing, with distances to the surrounding property lines. Coops are capped at 8 feet in height and the coop plus its enclosed run cannot exceed 100 square feet combined. Birds must be confined to a fenced rear-yard run at least 20 feet from any property line and 10 feet from the principal structure, with a minimum of 25 square feet of fenced area per bird.

The code limits the use to pets or egg production; keeping chickens for slaughter is not allowed. Coops and feed storage must be kept clean and secured against rodents and pests. 04, so the same 4-hen, no-rooster, 15,000-square-foot standard applies across the city's R-1 through R-4 districts. A recorded subdivision covenant that bans animals still controls even where the zoning code would allow them.