Roanoke County, VA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Section 5-38 permits the keeping of female chickens (hens) in non-agriculturally zoned areas of the county subject to eleven numbered standards. The owner must live on the property and the property's principal use must be a single-family dwelling. Every chicken has to stay inside a predator-resistant coop or chicken enclosure and can't run at large. Placement is strict: coops and enclosures must sit at least ten feet from the side and rear property lines and at least thirty-five feet from any residential dwelling on an adjacent lot, and must stand behind the principal structure's front building line.

Size is capped two ways: a coop needs at least two square feet of interior space per bird and an enclosure at least ten square feet per bird, with the coop and enclosure together never exceeding 250 square feet or ten feet in height, and the total flock is capped by lot size, from six hens on lots of 20,000 square feet or less, to nine hens on lots up to one acre, to twelve hens on anything larger. Sanitation duties include keeping structures clean, dry and well-ventilated, storing feed in rodent- and predator-proof containers, and managing manure so it doesn't create a nuisance for neighbors.

Two flat prohibitions close the section: the keeping of roosters, capons, and crowing hens is prohibited, and the outdoor slaughtering of chickens is prohibited. Livestock more broadly is addressed separately: § 5-2 makes a lot's own boundary line a lawful fence against livestock and poultry running at large, a duty that § 5-38 itself carves the chicken-keeping standards out from.