Palm Beach Gardens, FL Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Sec. 78-159(65) defines 'Agriculture' to include the raising and breeding of horses and domestic livestock and the production of animal products such as eggs, and states flatly that 'Agriculture is permitted only in the AR and AE zoning districts,' the city's Agricultural Residential and Agricultural Estate districts established under Sec. 78-133 and Sec. 78-133.1. Within those districts, subsection (65)a.1 defines domestic livestock to include the equine, bovine, porcine, caprine, ovine, and camelid families 'as well as poultry (ducks and chickens),' and requires that keeping domestic livestock be accessory to the residential use unless the operation qualifies as Bona Fide Agriculture under Florida Statutes Chapter 193.461, as determined by the Palm Beach County Property Appraiser.

Agricultural operations of any kind must use best practices to protect resident and animal safety and minimize nuisances. The city's own definitions section reinforces the divide: Sec. 78-751 defines 'Pet, household' to mean dogs, cats, fowl, fishes, or reptiles kept as part of a residential use, but expressly states that 'Poultry, hoofed animals of any type, predatory animals ... or any animal which is normally raised to provide food for people shall not be considered to be household pets.' That means a homeowner in RE, RL, RM, RH, or any other non-agricultural district cannot keep chickens, ducks, or hoofed livestock as pets under the household-pet rules, because the code has already carved poultry and hoofed animals out of that category.

Anyone wanting hoofed animals or poultry outside AR or AE would need a property that carries the agricultural zoning designation itself, not a variance for an individual animal.