Montgomery County, VA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Sec 3-3 does not ban keeping chickens, other poultry, or livestock; it imposes a confinement duty. Any person who allows fowl, poultry or livestock to run at large onto a highway, public property, or another person's private premises is in violation, and owners must sufficiently confine or fence their animals to prevent trespassing or roaming. Sec 3-1 defines the covered animals broadly: "livestock" reaches domestic cattle, horses, sheep, pigs, deer, antelope, llama-type animals, ostrich-type ratites, and enclosed rabbits or hares raised for food or fiber, plus any other animal specifically raised for food or fiber other than a companion animal, while "poultry" covers all domestic fowl and game birds raised in captivity.

Sec 3-4 layers on a sanitation duty: every stable, pen, coop or other place where an animal or fowl is kept must be maintained in a safe, sanitary condition at all times, with solid and liquid waste removed as often as needed to prevent offensive odors or a health hazard, and Sec 3-4 cross-references the county's general nuisance provisions at Sec 7-54. Because Chapter 3 governs only the unincorporated county, this confinement duty does not reach animals kept inside Blacksburg or Christiansburg, which regulate backyard poultry and livestock under their own town codes.