Smyrna, TN Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Title 10, Chapter 1 of the Smyrna Municipal Code governs livestock and fowl together. Section 10-101 makes it unlawful for an owner or person in charge of cows, swine, sheep, horses, mules, goats, chickens, ducks, geese, turkeys, or other domestic fowl, cattle, or livestock to knowingly or negligently let them run at large in any street, alley, or unenclosed lot. An owner can be prosecuted even if the animal is picked up and returned.

The operative limit is § 10-102: no person shall keep or allow any listed animal or fowl to come within 1,000 feet of any residence, place of business, or public street. Two exceptions apply. Lots zoned for agricultural use qualify if the lot is at least five acres in size, and lots primarily used for farming operations existing properly under the town's zoning ordinance also qualify. The chapter prints no cap on the number of birds and no coop permit, so the distance rule and the acreage exception do the work. Whether a given lot is zoned agricultural is a Zoning Ordinance question that the Town Council adopted separately.

Animals that are lawfully kept still carry care duties. The building, corral, pen, or enclosure must be maintained in a clean and sanitary condition (§ 10-103). Food, water, shelter, and ventilation must be adequate to preserve the animal's health, and all feed must be stored in a rat-proof and fly-tight building, box, or receptacle (§ 10-104). No animal or fowl can be kept in a place or condition that becomes a nuisance because of noise, odor, contagious disease, or other reason (§ 10-105). Code enforcement officers can enter premises at any reasonable time when they have reasonable cause to believe an animal or fowl is being kept in violation (§ 10-106).

Under § 10-107, any animal or fowl found at large or kept in violation can be seized by a police officer or other designated officer and confined in a pound designated by the Town Council. The owner must claim it within five days by paying the pound costs, or it is humanely destroyed or sold.