Ridgefield, CT Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

5 acres or less. Section 120-13 defines LIVESTOCK as any hooved animal, such as cattle, bison, swine, goats, sheep, llamas, camels, horses, ponies, donkeys and mules; poultry doesn't fit that definition and isn't separately capped by this article. Section 120-14 requires a minimum of half an acre of usable lot area for the first animal, and no more than one hooved animal is allowed per additional half acre of usable land. Section 120-15 requires zoning and building permits for any enclosure, a run-in shed or building sized to fit every animal on the property (a 10-by-10-foot area per horse), and fencing set back at least five feet from adjacent property lines unless a solid board fence sits on the line itself.

Manure piles must stay at least 15 feet from any property line under § 120-16, and an owner who has kept hooved animals on the same land for five years or more before the article's 2017 enactment is exempt from the lot-size and enclosure rules under § 120-17. The Director of Health enforces the article under the Public Health Code and Connecticut General Statutes § 19a-229. A first violation draws a warning; if the landowner hasn't complied within 30 days of a certified-mail order, a civil penalty follows.