Tulare County, CA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Unincorporated Tulare County is a heavily agricultural jurisdiction, and its Ordinance Code reflects that. Chapter 4-7 defines "Livestock" to include cattle, sheep, swine, goats, llamas and other camelids, and "any domestic fowl or rabbits" (Section 4-07-1400). "Domestic Animal" likewise covers fowl "commonly kept or raised in the county as farm or livestock animals." The code does not set a per-household cap on chickens or general livestock and does not prohibit backyard poultry; instead it focuses on responsible keeping. Section 4-07-5100 ("Livestock or Equine at Large") makes it unlawful to permit livestock to stray from the owner's property, with exceptions for animals being led along a public road during daylight under control, kept on lawfully fenced property with consent, or on designated open-range areas. Owners of livestock found at large without permission are guilty of an infraction and may be billed for capture costs. Whether you can keep chickens or other livestock on a given parcel, and in what numbers, is primarily a land-use question governed by Tulare County zoning for the parcel's district, administered by the Resource Management Agency, rather than by the animal control chapter.