Tehama County, CA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

What you can keep in unincorporated Tehama County is driven primarily by the County Zoning Code (Title 17) and the parcel's district. The County publishes specific numbers. In the R-1 (One-Family Residential) district, permitted uses include 'crop and tree farming, but not including commercial nurseries, or the raising of any animals other than ordinary household pets and not more than twelve hens or rabbits per lot' (Section 17.16.020) - so up to twelve hens (no roosters implied by 'hens') or rabbits on a residential lot. In the RE (Residential Estates) district, private stables are allowed with one animal (horses, cattle, sheep, goats or pigs) maximum per acre, with the stable kept at least twenty-five feet from any street or property line (Section 17.14.020). The 'light agriculture' definition (Section 17.04.340) allows small-scale poultry farms - up to one hundred turkeys per acre in addition to brooding stock on parcels under five acres - and grazing of two animals per acre on parcels under twenty acres (the permissible number for sheep or goats may be multiplied by three), with 4-H and FFA projects exempt from the cap. Accessory buildings such as barns, stables, and chicken houses must meet setbacks (for example, in AG-3, not less than fifty feet from the front building line nor ten feet from a side property line - Section 17.12.050). Roosters and crowing are the most common neighbor complaint and can be pursued as nuisance. Confirm parcel-specific allowances with the Tehama County Planning Department at (530) 527-2200.