Noblesville, IN Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Section 90.27 of the Noblesville Code of Ordinances flatly prohibits keeping, raising, confining or feeding hogs, chickens, ducks, goats, sheep or cows anywhere within the corporate limits of the city, with a single exception: property located in an area zoned agricultural. The rule applies regardless of flock or herd size, so a resident cannot keep even a small backyard coop of laying hens on a lot zoned residential, commercial or any non-agricultural district; the zoning designation of the parcel, not how the animals are housed or how many are kept, determines whether § 90.27 is satisfied.

This sits alongside § 90.11, which separately limits horses and ponies on any property to one horse or two ponies per acre and requires at least one full acre before any horse or pony may be stabled, pastured, or grazed at all, showing the code treats livestock-type animals as acreage- and zoning-dependent uses rather than ordinary household pets. Ducks and chickens named in § 90.27 are also touched by the code's animal-as-novelty rules in § 90.25, which separately bar selling chicks, goslings, or ducklings not domestically bred as pets or novelties.

Violating § 90.27 is a Class A Infraction under § 90.99(A)(1), the same tier used for most animal-welfare and restraint violations in the chapter, punishable by a fine of not less than $100 nor more than $500 per occurrence, with each 24-hour period the prohibited animal remains on non-agricultural property chargeable as a separate offense. Noblesville Police Department animal control officers enforce the section and may impound a prohibited animal found on non-agricultural property.