Stockton Municipal Code 6.04.440 ('Keeping of hogs, shoats, pigs, rooster or cockerels') prohibits keeping pigs, hogs, shoats, roosters or cockerels within the city. Hens may be kept in residential zones subject to the Development Code (Title 16), and 'rooster complaints' are an explicit enforcement category for Stockton Animal Services.
The Stockton Animal Services complaints page lists SMC 6.04.440 — 'Keeping of hogs, shoats, pigs, rooster or cockerels' — among the ordinances it enforces, and 'Rooster Complaints' as one of the call types Animal Services responds to. Hens (female chickens) are not banned by this section, but keeping fowl is regulated as a residential land use under the Title 16 Development Code's Allowable Land Uses (Ch. 16.20) and Standards for Specific Land Uses (Ch. 16.40), and is subject to general nuisance and sanitation rules. Livestock (cattle, horses, goats, sheep) is generally limited to Agricultural (AG) and large-lot zones. State law California Penal Code §597(b) independently requires that anyone with custody of animals provide 'proper food, drink, or shelter, or protection from the weather' regardless of species.
Stockton Animal Services enforces SMC 6.04.440 as a municipal code violation. Initial response is typically a written notice from Animal Services with abatement deadline; continued violations are misdemeanors under the general penalty provisions of the Stockton Municipal Code and may be cited at $100 / $200 / $500 for first, second and third offenses under the citywide administrative citation schedule. Roosters must be removed; pigs and hogs must be removed from city limits.
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