Williamsport generally allows small backyard flocks of hens in residential zones, provided coops are sanitary and don't attract vermin. Roosters are strictly prohibited within Williamsport city limits (and in adjacent Montoursville Borough). Pennsylvania has no statewide poultry law, so the City Zoning and Property Maintenance Code controls.
The City of Williamsport's Zoning Ordinance and Property Maintenance Code together regulate backyard poultry. Residents may keep a small flock of hens in residential districts so long as coops are constructed and maintained in a sanitary condition that does not attract rodents, insects, or other vermin. Roosters are not permitted within city limits because of noise and nuisance concerns. Pennsylvania's Right-to-Farm Act (3 P.S. §951-957) does not preempt local urban zoning, so city limits on poultry are enforceable. In 2013, Loyalsock Township (an adjacent municipality) considered a chicken ordinance that evolved into a broader nuisance-animal regulation — Loyalsock and Old Lycoming Township rules differ from City of Williamsport rules, so check your exact municipality.
Keeping a rooster, building an unsanitary or undersized coop, or operating in a non-permitted zone can trigger a citation under the Property Maintenance Code or Zoning Code. Fines accrue daily under the City's penalty schedule and animals may be ordered removed.
See how Williamsport's chickens & livestock rules stack up against other locations.
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