Methuen, MA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Backyard chickens and other livestock are handled in Methuen through the Comprehensive Zoning Ordinance adopted by the Methuen City Council, not through a flock-size permit. The governing text is § 6.2(E)(7), part of the yard requirements for all districts. It says no structure intended for agricultural use, such as a greenhouse, or a building, structure or pen for poultry or other livestock, shall be less than 50 feet from any lot line or 100 feet from any dwelling.

The measurements are set in two directions. The 50-foot figure runs from every lot line, so a coop or run near a neighbor's fence, a street or the owner's own boundary falls inside the rule. The 100-foot figure runs from any dwelling, and the sentence does not limit that word to a neighbor's house. The sentence quoted sets distances only: it does not mention a number of birds or a permit.

The second sentence addresses farms as a business. No commercial farming establishment shall be allowed unless the parcel is over five acres, other than in a Rural Residential or Conservancy District. Those two districts are the only places the five-acre test does not apply.

Farm buildings also get relief on height. Section 6.2(H)(1) states that all farm accessory structures are exempt from the height requirements of the ordinance. That exemption concerns height, not distance, so the 50-foot and 100-foot separations in subsection E(7) still apply to a poultry house.

The Building Commissioner administers zoning in the City of Methuen. A building or pen that sits too close is a zoning violation handled through the prosecution process in § 10.7, and a property owner who wants relief from a separation distance applies to the Board of Appeals under Article X.