Kent County, MI does not regulate the keeping of backyard chickens or livestock through a uniform countywide ordinance — those rules are set by each city and township's zoning code, subject to the Michigan Right to Farm Act (Public Act 93 of 1981, MCL 286.471 et seq.), which preempts most local restrictions on commercial farm operations conducted under Generally Accepted Agricultural and Management Practices (GAAMPs). The Kent County Animal Control Ordinance does, however, prohibit livestock and poultry from running at large under Section 11(f), defines "Livestock" in Section 6(l) to include horses, cattle, sheep, goats, swine, mules, and fur-bearing animals raised in captivity, and authorizes impoundment of stray livestock under Section 12. The ordinance applies only outside cities, villages, and townships that have adopted their own animal-control ordinance (§ 4 / MCL 287.289a).
Kent County does not impose a uniform countywide rule on whether residents may keep chickens, ducks, goats, or other small livestock; those rules are set parcel-by-parcel through each municipality's zoning ordinance. For example, the City of Grand Rapids permits up to a defined number of hens under its zoning code, while individual townships within Kent County vary widely — some allow backyard chickens in residential districts, others limit them to agricultural zones, and some require minimum lot sizes.
What the Kent County Animal Control Ordinance does regulate is stray livestock and poultry. Section 11(f) ("Stray Livestock") provides: "The Owner or Custodian of livestock or poultry shall prevent such animals from running at large on public or private property without consent of the property owner provided, however that this section shall not prohibit leading or driving livestock, under the Owner or Custodian's supervision, along a public highway." Section 6(l) defines "Livestock" expansively as "horses, stallions, colts, geldings, mares, sheep, rams, lambs, bulls, bullocks, steers, heifers, cows, calves, mules, jacks, jennets, burros, goats, kids and swine, and fur-bearing Animals being raised in captivity." Stray livestock can be impounded under Section 12(d), with the length of impoundment computed under state law and applicable court orders.
Michigan's Right to Farm Act, Public Act 93 of 1981 (MCL 286.471 et seq.), is the state-level overlay. The RTFA preempts local ordinances that would prohibit or restrict a "farm" or "farm operation" so long as the operation conforms to the Michigan Commission of Agriculture's Generally Accepted Agricultural and Management Practices (GAAMPs). Critically, the RTFA generally applies only to commercial farm operations — operations producing farm products for sale with a profit motive — and not to purely personal or hobby flocks. The Site Selection GAAMP also recognizes a category of "primarily residential" zoning where the RTFA may not preempt local livestock ordinances. As a result, most backyard-chicken disputes in Kent County are resolved under local zoning, not the RTFA.
Because of Section 4 (and MCL 287.289a), the Kent County ordinance's stray-livestock rule applies only in unincorporated areas and townships that have not adopted their own animal-control ordinance.
A § 11(f) stray-livestock or stray-poultry violation is a municipal civil infraction under § 15(a): $100 for an initial infraction and $200 for a subsequent infraction within five years, plus costs of prosecution. Stray livestock may be impounded under § 12 and, after the statutory impoundment period, may be sold, adopted, or humanely euthanized if unclaimed. Separately, backyard-chicken complaints are typically enforced by the township or city zoning administrator — not by Kent County Animal Control — unless the birds are running at large or being kept in conditions that violate the ordinance's "Keeping of Animals" / Sanitary Conditions standards (§ 13).
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