Sanford, FL Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Sanford regulates farm animals and fowl through three surviving sections of Chapter 14, Article I; Ordinance No. 4500 repealed the rest of the chapter's original animal-keeping provisions in 2019 but left these in force. Section 14-1 sets the lot-size and setback rules for horses, mules, cows, rabbits and other grazing animals: an owner needs at least 10,000 square feet of property to keep one cow, horse or mule, plus another 5,000 square feet for each additional animal, and no pen, enclosure or shelter for a cow, horse or mule can sit closer than 100 feet to a neighboring dwelling, 35 feet to a street curbline, or 25 feet to the far side of a sidewalk.

Pens must be cleaned of manure, bedding and waste at least once every seven days and kept sanitary enough to prevent flies and odors, a duty the sanitary officer is charged with enforcing. Section 14-3 is a flat, one-sentence ban: no hog or pig may be kept anywhere within Sanford's city limits, with no lot-size exception. Section 14-4 governs chickens and other live fowl, barring them within 150 feet of any occupied dwelling, apartment or garage apartment other than the keeper's own; an owner may keep fowl as close as 25 feet to their own residence as long as no other residence sits within 150 feet of the birds.

The section exempts merchants selling live fowl and people keeping exotic birds in cages. Violations of any of these sections fall under the Code's general penalty, Section 1-7, of up to a $500 fine, up to 60 days in jail, or both, with continuing violations counted day by day.