Rocklin, CA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Rocklin Municipal Code § 6.44.010 sets the headline number: no person may keep any goose or turkey at all, and no more than ten total, singly or in combination, of ducks, chickens or pigeons. Section 6.44.020 then requires that domestic fowl be kept in a sanitary enclosure that is not located within twenty feet of any building or property line, so a coop pushed against a fence line does not comply even if the bird count is legal. Rabbits are regulated in parallel: § 6.44.030 caps them at ten, and § 6.44.040 requires the same twenty-foot setback from any building or property line.

Larger livestock is a separate chapter with its own zoning gate: § 6.36.040 bars keeping livestock at all unless the property is zoned for it under Chapter 17.78 and the animal count stays within that zone's limit, the animals are behind a substantial fence (three evenly spaced barbed wires at least four feet up, a six-foot chain link fence, or a six-foot solid wood fence), any shelter sits at least one hundred fifty feet from an adjoining building, and at least six thousand square feet is provided per animal.

Anyone keeping five or fewer livestock of a kind must report the animal's type, description, location and owner contact information to the animal control officer within five days under § 6.36.020; owners of five or more report the same information without the individual description under § 6.36.030. Goats and sheep used for weed abatement are exempt from the § 6.36.040 fencing and spacing rules only if enrolled in the city's weed abatement and open space grazing permit program under § 6.36.050.