ChickenMap · Ordinance lookup
Can I have chickens in Dallas, TX?
Yes, with conditions
Allowed, but with specific rules you must meet
These are the City of Dallas’s own rules, and they apply inside the city limits.
If your address is outside the city limits — a Dallasmailing 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 unincorporated county land surrounding Dallas— see the section below. Check your parcel’s jurisdiction to know which of the two applies to you.
Inside Dallas city limits — residential zoning
Outside the city limits? See the unincorporated county land surrounding Dallas ↓
- Hen limit
- Not specified
- Roosters
- Allowed
- Permit
- Not required
- Setback
- 20 ft
Coop rules: Hens: permitted via the 'urban garden' zoning use (Dallas Development Code §51A-4.215), permitted by right in ALL zoning districts including residential. Structures in a residential-district urban garden capped at 10% of lot / 200 sq ft per structure. On-site egg sales only allowed in non-residential districts. Separately, a full 'farm or ranch' zoning use exists requiring 3+ acres minimum, with its own 20 ft setback for pens/corrals and daily manure removal — this is a distinct, larger-scale use from backyard urban-garden keeping. Roosters: must be confined at all times in a sufficiently strong enclosure, at least 20 ft from any adjacent property line, without odor/fly/nuisance conditions, and without violating separate noise restrictions (§7-7.4).
Two separate code chapters combine to answer this: Dallas Development Code §51A-4.215 (zoning — permits keeping/raising chickens via the 'urban garden' use in all districts) and Dallas City Code §7-7.3 'Keeping of Roosters' (Ord. 26024, animal control chapter — addresses roosters specifically). A rooster is only allowed as a defense to prosecution if: (1) kept on premises where 'animal production' is zoning-permitted (§51A-4.201, likely tied to the farm/ranch or similar use); (2) exhibited at the State Fair of Texas or a permitted special event; (3) owned by a government entity or its health/research/education program; (4) owned by a compliant medical/educational/research institution; or (5) held for slaughter at a compliant facility. Outside these narrow defenses, simply owning a live rooster within city limits is itself an offense — this is stricter than most researched cities' rooster rules, which typically just restrict noise/enclosure rather than ownership itself.
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 unincorporated county land surrounding Dallas
Different jurisdiction — the unincorporated county land surrounding Dallas, not the City of Dallas. This applies only if your property is outside Dallas city limits. A mailing address in Dallas does not settle that — the city and the county boundary are different lines. Confirm your parcel’s jurisdiction before relying on it.
Texas counties have no general power to zone. A county may regulate only what the Legislature has specifically allowed it to regulate, and backyard poultry is not on that list — so outside a city's limits there is usually no county rule capping how many birds you may keep, and no county rule about roosters specifically. That is an absence of authority rather than a permission, and three other things can still reach you. A public nuisance can be abated in the unincorporated area, which is the provision most likely to apply to a crowing rooster, and it bites hardest near a platted subdivision or within 300 feet of one. A city can extend some regulation into the land just outside its limits. And a deed restriction or HOA covenant binds regardless of what any government allows. Confirm with your county before relying on this — several counties do hold narrower powers the Legislature granted them individually.
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 Dallas, TX
C. THE DUNHAM FARM
Burleson, TX, 76028
Raises:
D. HALBERT FARM
Burleson, TX, 76028
Raises: