The City of Napa allows up to six small domestic animals over the age of four months — including dogs, cats, rabbits, pigeons, hens, and the like — as a household-pet right under the Zoning Ordinance definition of 'small domestic animals.' Roosters, geese, peacocks, and guinea hens are flatly prohibited inside the city under Napa Municipal Code Section 6.04.070. Keeping 15 or more chickens, rabbits, or similar small animals is treated as agricultural cultivation/animal keeping under Chapter 17.52 of the Zoning Ordinance and requires an administrative permit on a parcel of one acre or larger. Larger livestock (horses, cattle, goats, sheep, hogs) are not a permitted use in the City's residential zones.
Napa's chicken and livestock framework splits across the Municipal Code and the Zoning Ordinance. Title 6, Chapter 6.04 (Animal Control Regulations) at https://qcode.us/codes/napa/view.php?topic=city_of_napa_municipal_code-6-6_04 includes Section 6.04.070, which makes it unlawful for any person to raise, keep, or have in possession any live roosters, geese, peacocks, or guinea hens over the age of baby chicks or goslings within city limits (limited exceptions exist for fowl in transit or on sale in licensed stores). Section 6.04.080 separately makes it unlawful for any person owning chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, or other domestic fowl to permit them to run upon the premises of any other person without consent. On the zoning side, Title 17 (Zoning Ordinance) Section 17.06.030 defines 'small domestic animals' as animals of the type generally accepted as pets — dogs, cats, rabbits, pigeons, hens, and the like — and the definition expressly excludes roosters, quacking ducks, geese, pea fowl, goats, sheep, hogs, apiaries, venomous reptiles, kennels, and certain other prohibited animals. Households may keep up to six (6) such small domestic animals over four months of age as a noncommercial accessory use to a dwelling. Beyond six animals or 15+ chickens, the keeping is treated as agricultural cultivation/animal keeping under Chapter 17.52 of the Zoning Ordinance, requires an administrative permit, and requires a parcel of one (1) acre or larger — see Chapter 17.52 (Site and Use Regulations) at https://qcode.us/codes/napa/view.php?topic=city_of_napa_municipal_code-17-17_52. Larger livestock (horses, cattle, goats, sheep, hogs) are not a permitted use in the City's R-1/R-2 residential districts; agricultural and equestrian uses are typically only conditionally permitted in the City's Parks and Open Space (POS) and Agricultural Resources (AR) districts subject to a use permit. Animal control is handled by Napa County Animal Services under contract with the City — Napa County Animal Shelter, 942 Hartle Court, Napa, CA 94558, (707) 253-4382 (https://www.napacounty.gov/1023/Animal-Shelter). For background on the City's small-animal definition and the 15-chicken threshold see https://services.napacounty.gov/AgendaNet/DownloadDocument.aspx?type=PlanningAgenda&doctype=ATTACHMENT&id=22829.
Keeping a rooster (or geese, peacocks, guinea hens) inside city limits is a direct violation of NMC 6.04.070 and is a misdemeanor under Title 6 enforced by Napa County Animal Services Officers under their contract with the City. Exceeding the six-small-domestic-animal cap or keeping 15+ chickens on a parcel under one acre, or without an administrative permit, is a zoning violation enforceable as a Zoning Ordinance infraction or misdemeanor with administrative citations and abatement orders requiring removal of the prohibited animals. Trespassing fowl under 6.04.080 are independently citable. Sanitation conditions (odor, fecal accumulation, vermin) are reachable under the City's general nuisance authority in Title 1 of the Municipal Code.
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