Monroe County, FL Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Monroe County Code § 4-76(a) states plainly that no livestock, as defined in § 4-1, or barnyard animals such as chickens, ducks, or geese, may be kept either penned or loose in any area unless permitted by the county, and that wild animals may not be kept in any residential area. Livestock, per § 4-1, covers horses, sheep, bulls, cows, mules, goats, swine, and other fur-bearing animals raised in captivity. Section 4-76(a)(1) narrows the path to compliance: excluding personal-use horses, keeping livestock and related agricultural or commercial uses such as stables is permissible only on a parcel with an approved agricultural use, inside a land use district that permits agriculture or within an agricultural/aquacultural use overlay under Land Development Code § 130-120.

The county's code compliance department enforces the underlying zoning restriction, while animal control officers enforce animal-care standards on any permitted livestock. A personal-use horse gets its own carve-out under § 4-76(a)(2): one horse per acre of contiguous upland (a half-acre for a small horse under 14½ hands), with a residential dwelling on the same parcel, a fence at least four feet high enclosing the roaming area, and the stable located at least 50 feet from any dwelling.