Seattle, WA Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

052 permits the keeping of small animals, farm animals, domestic fowl, and bees outright as an accessory use in every zone, but subsection D sets a much higher bar for full-size farm animals than it does for small animals or fowl. Cows, horses, sheep and similar livestock require a lot of at least 20,000 square feet, roughly half an acre, before any are allowed at all, which rules out the great majority of standard Seattle residential lots. Once a lot clears that threshold, the density formula caps the herd at one farm animal for every 10,000 square feet of lot area, so a 20,000-square-foot lot supports two animals, a 30,000-square-foot lot three, and so on.

Swine are prohibited outright under this subsection, with a single carve-out: miniature potbelly pigs (the Vietnamese, Chinese, or Asian Potbelly Pig) qualify as a 'small animal' under subsection B instead, capped at 22 inches at the shoulder and 150 pounds. Any farm animal, and any structure that houses one, a barn, run-in shed, or corral, must be set back at least 50 feet from any other lot in a residential zone, a buffer meant to keep odor, noise, and manure management away from neighboring homes.

Because farm animals are folded into the same accessory-use framework as home occupations and urban farms, a property owner does not need a separate zoning reclassification to keep livestock, they need only meet the lot-size, density, and setback numbers in this subsection. Miniature goats (Pygmy, Dwarf, and Miniature breeds) are handled separately as small animals under subsection F rather than as farm animals, provided males are neutered and animals are dehorned.