Orange County, FL Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

The section's requirements govern the raising or keeping of goats, sheep, lambs, and pigs, except as set forth in subsection 38-79(49)e., which carves out its own exception to these baseline rules.

The density limit works on a per-acre basis: not more than eight animals per acre. Keeping more than eight per acre is not flatly prohibited, but it requires a special exception from Orange County, a discretionary approval rather than something an owner can claim by right.

The slaughtering rule targets commerce. Commercial on-site slaughtering is barred in agricultural and residential zoned districts, so an owner in those districts cannot run a slaughtering operation on the same parcel where the animals are kept.

Structures housing the animals face their own placement rules. Any barn, paddock, stall, pen, or corral must be set back at least fifteen feet from all property lines. The same structures must also stay at least fifty feet from the normal high-water elevation of any lakes or natural water bodies, a distance measured from the water body's normal high-water line rather than from wherever the water happens to sit on a given day.

Manure storage is regulated separately: manure cannot be stored within thirty feet of a property line.