ChickenMap · Ordinance lookup
Can I have chickens in Lancaster, PA?
No
Backyard chickens are not allowed here
These are the City of Lancaster’s own rules, and they apply inside the city limits.
If your address is outside the city limits — a Lancastermailing address on unincorporated county land is common — your county’s code governs instead, and it may reach a different answer, particularly about roosters. We have researched the township or borough next to Lancaster— see the section below. Check your parcel’s jurisdiction to know which of the two applies to you.
Inside Lancaster city limits — residential zoning
Outside the city limits? See the township or borough next to Lancaster ↓
- Hen limit
- 0 hens
- Roosters
- Not allowed
- Permit
- Not required
- Setback
- Not specified
Under Ch. 96, Art. III 'Keeping of Animals': §96-23 'Kinds of animals permitted' lists specific allowed species and EXPLICITLY EXCLUDES poultry ('it excludes wild birds captured or rescued and kept in cages, as well as poultry'). Poultry does not appear anywhere on the permitted-species list. §96-24 makes it unlawful to keep any domestic animal except those provided for in §96-23. The oft-cited '6 animals, $20 permit' rule (§96-26/§96-28) only lets a keeper exceed the cap on an ALREADY-PERMITTED species (e.g. extra cats/rabbits) — it does not authorize a non-permitted species like poultry in the first place. Net: chickens are NOT permitted within Lancaster City limits.
Keeping a rooster here? Lancaster does not allow them inside the city limits, so if you are within them, a complaint is usually all it takes to start a clock. Posting him is free, and there is no sign-up form — you confirm the post by email, and that link sets up a free account so you can edit or remove it later.
This is general information compiled from public ordinances, not legal advice. Rules change — confirm with the source and your local authority before keeping birds.
Outside the city limits — the township or borough next to Lancaster
Different jurisdiction — the township or borough next to Lancaster, not the City of Lancaster. This applies only if your property is outside Lancaster city limits. A mailing address in Lancaster does not settle that — the city and the county boundary are different lines. Confirm your parcel’s jurisdiction before relying on it.
Outside the city you are in a different municipality — a township or a borough — and that municipality's own ordinance is what governs your birds. Pennsylvania has over 2,500 of them and they do not agree with each other, so the answer can change on the far side of a single street. A county's zoning is only a fallback: it reaches land in municipalities that have no zoning ordinance of their own, and it stops applying to a municipality the moment that municipality adopts its own. So the first question is not what the county says, it is which township or borough you are in and whether it has zoning at all. Ask that municipality directly.
Check your HOA before you buy a single chick.
Even where local ordinance allows backyard chickens, a homeowners association or deed restriction can prohibit them entirely — and HOA rules override a city’s “yes.” Read your HOA’s covenants (CC&Rs) in addition to the city/county rules on this page.
Poultry sellers near Lancaster, PA
E. LONGENECKER'S HATCHERY INC
Elizabethtown, PA, 17022
Raises: