Renton, WA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

G2 groups backyard poultry and rabbits as 'Small Lot Domestic Animals': chickens, ducks, geese, pigeons and rabbits are capped at three birds/rabbits on a lot of at least 4,500 gross square feet, with one additional animal allowed for every extra 1,000 square feet beyond that. 'Medium Lot Domestic Animals,' miniature goats under 24 inches at the shoulder and 150 pounds, and sheep, need at least 12,500 square feet for two animals, plus 7,500 more square feet per additional animal. Larger stock, goats, pigs, horses, donkeys, cows and llamas, needs at least one full acre for two animals under the extra-large category, with 43,560 more square feet per additional animal, or 20,000 square feet just to apply for an Additional Animals Permit to exceed that.

These allowances stack cumulatively once each category's lot-size minimum is met, so a 12,500-square-foot lot can hold two medium animals, six small-lot animals, and three household pets at once, per the code's own example. Subsection E flatly bans roosters and peahens/peacocks citywide, regardless of lot size. J1 requires that shelters, pens and kennel structures sit in the rear yard at least ten feet from any property line, while barns and stables need a fifty-foot rear-yard setback. J4-J5, and the Community and Economic Development Department, not just Animal Control, reviews the zoning side of any livestock-keeping proposal.