Harford County, MD Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

' The section opens by excluding roosters altogether, so only hens qualify. Lot size sets the floor: § 267-27D(13)(a)[1] requires a minimum of 1 acre to keep homestead chickens at all, and [2] requires any coop, run, pen or free-range area to sit at least 50 feet from an adjacent residential lot line. A zoning certificate is required before installing a coop, run, pen, free-range area or fence, per § 267-27D(13)(b)[1], and the applicant must submit a Maryland Department of Agriculture poultry registration along with that application under (b)[2].

Every lot keeping chickens must have a coop, per (c), and § 267-27D(13)(d) spells out the coop's construction: four walls and a roof, ventilation, flooring, and at least 3 square feet of coop space per chicken kept. All runs and free-range areas must be fenced so a chicken cannot escape, under (e). Finally, § 267-27D(13)(f) caps the flock at 10 homestead chickens on any lot smaller than 2 acres; the code relies on the 1-acre minimum and 50-foot setback, rather than a separate numeric cap, to govern larger lots.