Rules and Regulations

There are no national rules or regulations in the UK that stop you from keeping small numbers (less than 50) chickens however there are some regulations to check first.

Rules-and-regulations-keeping-chickens

  • DEFRA: You are allowed to keep up to 50 chickens on your land without registering with DEFRA, however after the avian influenza outbreaks, a poultry register was set up in 2005 and you are required to register if you keep more than 50 poultry on the premises – so you need to take into consideration any other poultry you have. There is more information on my page: DEFRA: The Poultry Register
  • By-Laws: There are occasionally by-laws for certain properties that prevent people from keeping livestock. Check with your local council that this doesn’t apply to you.
  • Covenants: There are sometimes covenants put in place by housing authorities and councils to stop tenants from keeping chickens at their property. This seems to be a local decision as there are no national restrictions.
  • House Deeds: Again, the deeds of some properties may state that you are not allowed to keep chickens (again, often stated as keeping livestock). If your property is free of restrictions, you should be able to keep chickens without a problem, however do keep in mind that local residents may complain to the council about noise levels if you keep a cockerel.

There are a number of Laws, regulations and requirements that can affect you (in the UK) and I have created a number of sub pages to cover these briefly:

140 Comments

  1. my neighbour is erecting a chicken run approx 2m x 2m right on our joint border, which is approximately 10m from my house.
    Are their any UK restrictions regrading this?
    I live in helston, Cornwall.

  2. Bylaws, Covenants and House Deeds cannot prevent you from keeping hens. Check the Allotments Act 1950 S12(1). It explicitly states that keeping hens is always lawful unless it is in unsanitary or nuisance conditions…

    • I’m not sure the Allotments Act applies to back gardens? It would be good to find out.

      What I’ve heard though is that there are a number of challenges on an earlier statute that gives people a right to keep chickens, although I’ve not yet heard of anyone that has been successful with this yet.

  3. I live in Haringey North London and can’t find anything on their website regarding keeping chickens in my council house garden ???.
    Can you help me please.
    Regards
    Catherine Hill.

    • I’m sorry Catherine, you’d need to call them and ask them, I don’t know if it’s permitted or not.
      Usually the deeds of a house will state any covenants but if you rent, I guess it should be stated in your contract.

      • Ok thanks,I did read that I don’t need a licence or permission if I only have 2 hens,and their not a problem with noise They are pretty quiet until a neighbor’s cat starts watching them from the top of the fence then it’s like they turn into fog horns letting me know he’s there,really funny actually cause for the last few days it’s at the same time & he’s not really camouflaged cause he’s mainly white with big black spots.
        I shouldn’t have any problems with them unless someone wants to be nasty and put in a complaint.
        Thanks
        Catherine .

  4. We live in Hertford, we bought a house next door to a housing assoc. house. The young couple that were living there when moved in exchanged house with another family because they needed more room. The family they exchanged with moved in with 15 chickens! The gardens were not that big, their garden turned into a large chicken coop! In the summer the stench was horrendous. The housing assoc. did nothing regarding our complaints. We sold our house and moved, when I hear of people wanting to keep chickens, I think yes one or two, maybe three, but not fifteen,

    • A very fair comment. I get comments here from people asking for help because of complaints or because they are not allowed to keep chickens, BUT it’s important to see the view from both sides of the fence. No pun intended!

  5. Hi, I keep reading articles which says you should check your deeds for permission, but we don’t have the deeds to our house? Don’t you only get the deeds when you’ve bought it outright? I’m confused. Our house is mortgaged. Where else can you find this information? I’m in the UK.

    • The solicitor would normally have these during a house purchase and then (I think) pass them to the mortgage company.
      I think you can get a copy from either of these two.

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