Backyard chickens and livestock are protected on parcels of 5 acres or more under MGL c.40A §3, which bars zoning from prohibiting agriculture. Parcels of 2 acres or more qualify when farm sales reach $1,000 per acre a year.
Massachusetts shields commercial agriculture from zoning under c.40A §3: towns can't prohibit or require a special permit for farming on parcels of 5 acres or more, or on 2 or more acres when the land generates at least $1,000 per acre in annual product sales. Below those thresholds, backyard hens and livestock fall to local bylaws, and Essex towns like Danvers, Andover, and Haverhill set flock caps, coop setbacks, and often bar roosters. Beverly, Salem, and Peabody require the coop set back from lot lines and kept clean.
Keeping chickens or livestock outside what a town's bylaw allows draws a zoning violation notice, fines, and an order to remove the animals. Filthy or noisome conditions bring a Board of Health nuisance order under c.111.
Other ordinances people look up for this city. Green dot = verified primary-source excerpt.
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See how Swampscott's chickens & livestock rules stack up against other locations.
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