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

Sec. 2(f) permits domestic laying hens on lots zoned R-1, R-2, R-3, R-R, V, PD-H, Ru and PRR. On Ru and PRR lots under five acres and on the other listed districts, the count starts at a minimum of two hens for a dwelling lot up to five thousand square feet, then adds one more hen for every additional twenty-five hundred square feet of lot area, capped at a maximum of six hens regardless of lot size. Roosters are banned outright, though hens raised for personal consumption may be slaughtered on site.

Sec. 2(4) sets the physical housing standard: hens must be permanently confined in a coop built to provide at least three square feet of roost space per bird plus five square feet of run space per hen, and feed has to be kept in a secure container to avoid attracting rodents. Sec. 3(6) places the coop itself behind the primary structure, outside the side yard, at least ten feet from a neighboring property line and thirty-five feet from any dwelling on land the applicant does not own, and bars any coop from a resource protection area or storm drainage area where fecal matter could reach a waterway.

For livestock in general, including horses, Sec. 2(g) requires a minimum five-acre lot and caps density at one horse per one and a half acres, and separately Sec. 4-6 makes it unlawful for any owner of livestock or poultry, hens included, to let the animal run at large beyond the boundaries of the lot where it is confined.