Nash County, NC Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Chapter 4 of the Nash County Code, which otherwise regulates dogs, cats and other animals countywide, carves livestock out entirely: Sec. 4-20 states that the chapter's intent is not to regulate or restrict generally accepted practices related to livestock, so raising chickens, goats, horses, cattle or similar animals in the unincorporated county is not governed by the animal-control nuisance, tethering or at-large rules that apply to dogs and cats. Zoning fills the gap instead. The Unified Development Ordinance (Appendix A) treats a barn, coop or other structure that houses livestock as an accessory structure, and Sec.

1(B) sets its setback well beyond the standard five-foot accessory-structure setback: a structure that houses livestock must maintain a full 100-foot setback from the property line, regardless of the structure's size. Sec. 3(A) separately allows a livestock structure that is not part of a bona fide farm use to sit on a lot without a principal residence, so long as it remains for the property owner's own use; that section defines 'livestock' broadly to include horses, mules, cattle, sheep, goats and llamas, a definition wide enough to cover backyard chickens kept for personal use as well.

Because the UDO's zoning districts (A-1, R-40, R-30, R-15, R-8, and the commercial and industrial districts) carry different permitted-use lists, a property owner should confirm the district before building a coop or barn, but the 100-foot livestock setback applies regardless of district once a structure is built to house animals.