Davidson County, NC Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

5 of the Zoning Ordinance, titled Farm Exemption, states that the ordinance's provisions do not affect bona fide farms as defined in the ordinance. 6(A), Applicability of Regulations, repeats the same point for building and land use generally, exempting bona fide farms from the Ordinance while still holding non-farm uses of farm property to the regulations. S. S. 2. Because backyard chickens and farm livestock fall inside that definition, a property that qualifies as a bona fide farm can keep them without a zoning permit, site plan, or Planning and Zoning Department review of any kind; the Table of Permitted Uses lists no separate chicken or livestock-keeping category because none is needed.

The ordinance does regulate one adjacent category: Animal Husbandry, the raising of non-domesticated fowl, reptiles or wild animals not classified as a bona fide farm, which requires a Board of Adjustment special use permit in the RA-1, RA-2 and RA-3 districts, a three-acre minimum lot, buildings kept at least 100 feet from any property line, and owner-occupancy of the tract. That permit track does not apply to ordinary poultry or livestock production; it exists for exotic or non-farm animal-keeping operations that fall outside the farm exemption.