Porterville, CA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

City Code section 5-3.1.B makes it unlawful to keep chickens on single-family residential property except under specific conditions: no more than three chicken hens, kept clean and sanitary; the coop structure set back at least 30 feet from any residence other than the keeper's own; and no health or nuisance problem created. The permissive keeping is further conditioned on minimum standards in subsection B(3): chickens must be confined to a fenced rear-yard area preventing roaming, given shelter sized to cover the birds kept, housed in enclosures large enough to prevent overcrowding, and, critically, roosters are expressly prohibited.

Subsection A caps combined animal-keeping citywide at seven animals total, with cats, dogs, or chickens individually capped at three each. Larger agricultural animals, horses, cows, goats, sheep and other equine, bovine, ovine or ruminant stock, are permitted only in AC and RR zone districts on half-acre-or-larger lots (or two-acre-plus single-family lots) with zoning administrator approval, at a density of one animal per 15,000 square feet of lot area; those lots may also keep chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, game birds or fowl up to 12 birds per gross acre, and FFA/4-H pigs at one per participating student, all housed at least 35 feet from property lines and 50 feet from any residence.

Outside those permitted categories, subsection D bans keeping bees, swine, llamas, roosters, chickens, pigeons, turkeys, pea fowl, waterfowl, ostriches, other ratitae, or livestock generally on any premises in the city.