Nashua, NH Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Nashua's backyard chicken framework is the product of Ordinance O-18-019 (Amended), which added permission for residents to keep a small flock of laying hens on residential parcels in addition to the long-standing Chapter 93 (Animals) framework that previously treated chickens as livestock barred from most residential zones. The rules, as administered by the City of Nashua, are: (1) FLOCK CAP - a maximum of SIX (6) ADULT FEMALE chickens (hens) may be kept on a single residential lot. (2) ROOSTERS BANNED - adult male chickens and any crowing male chicken are prohibited city-wide regardless of zoning, because of the noise nuisance their crowing creates in dense residential neighborhoods. (3) YARD PLACEMENT - hens must be kept in the SIDE or REAR yard only; front-yard coops are prohibited. (4) PROPERTY-LINE SETBACK - the coop and run must be set back at least TWENTY (20) FEET from any property line. (5) COOP REQUIREMENTS - chickens must be secured in a ROOFED structure enclosed on all sides that protects the birds from weather, rodents, and wild and domestic animals; free-ranging chickens are prohibited. (6) PERMIT - a permit is required from the City before a flock is established; the permit process is administered by the Building Safety / Code Enforcement office. (7) NO COMMERCIAL EGG SALES - the sale of chicken eggs from a residential backyard flock is prohibited; eggs are for the keeper's household consumption only. (8) SANITATION - it is unlawful for any person to keep or house chickens in an unsanitary manner that presents an imminent hazard to public health (NRO Ch. 93). (9) AT-LARGE RULE - NRO § 93-2 (Animals at large) provides that no chicken or fowl, sheep, swine, horses, mules, asses, oxen, cows, or other cattle shall be permitted to go at large in any street, highway, lane, alley, common, square, or other public place within the City. Chickens running at large may be impounded under NRO Ch. 93 and held for seven (7) days before disposition if not claimed. (10) LIVESTOCK ZONING LAYER - the Nashua Land Use Code (NRO Ch. 190) restricts the keeping of HORSES, CATTLE, SHEEP, SWINE, GOATS, and other true livestock to limited zoning districts (rural-residential, agricultural, and certain low-density zones). In most Nashua residential, commercial, and mixed-use districts, full livestock operations are not a permitted use. Pre-existing livestock uses may be grandfathered as legal nonconforming uses if not expanded. (11) NRO § 93-3 separately bars keeping or housing any animal in a structure built within 45 FEET of any human-occupied building without special permission from the health officer - a constraint that applies to coops, stables, and pens. (12) STATE FRAMEWORK - NH RSA 466 governs dog and livestock control statewide; NH RSA 436 covers livestock disease control through the NH Department of Agriculture, Markets & Food. Field enforcement of Nashua animal-keeping rules is shared between the Nashua Police Department Animal Control Unit and the City Health Department.