Backyard Chickens in Lexington: What the Rules Actually Say

Lexington sets no limit on the number of hens and requires no permit to keep them. That is the state of the code, not an estimate. Chapter 4 of the Code of Ordinances, which covers animals and fowl, contains no numeric limit on hens or fowl of any kind and no permit, license, or registration requirement for keeping them.

The Zoning Ordinance is silent as well. Its accessory-use lists for residential zones do not mention fowl.

What does apply to hens are the general rules that apply to any animal: the at-large rule in Sec. 4-10, the noise provisions in Sec. 4-12 and Sec. 14-72(10), and the care standards in Sec. 4-2. Each is covered below.

A homeowners association or a recorded deed restriction can set a hen limit or ban chickens outright even though the city does not. See the section on HOA and deed restrictions below.

Ordinance No. 076-2025 was passed by the Urban County Council on September 11, 2025 and took effect November 1, 2025. It amended Sec. 4-11(a) to read:

The keeping of hogs, goats, pigs or more than one (1) rooster within any area of the urban county except those zoned agricultural is hereby prohibited and declared to be unlawful.

The practical effect: outside agricultural zones, one rooster is allowed and a second one is not. Inside agricultural zones the prohibition does not apply at all.

Sec. 4-11(b) sets the penalty at not more than one hundred dollars ($100.00). Each additional animal is a separate offense, and each day the violation continues is a separate offense, so the exposure is up to $100 per animal per day rather than a single flat fine.

The same ordinance raised the Sec. 4-12(b) penalty for keeping noisy animals to not more than $100 per offense.

What the ordinance did not do

It added no coop requirement, no setback, no hen limit, and no permit. It amended three subsections and nothing else: Sec. 4-11(a), Sec. 4-11(b), and Sec. 4-12(b).

The ordinance came from the Urban County Council. Council district boundaries and current members are listed on the Lexington city council page.

One citation note. The codified Chapter 4 text published on Municode is current only through Ordinance No. 048-2025, adopted June 26, 2025, so the codified Sec. 4-11 still shows the older wording without the rooster language. Ordinance 076-2025 sits under Adopted Ordinances Not Yet Codified. The Ordinance 076-2025 PDF is the current text, and the rest of Chapter 4 can be read in the Code of Ordinances, Chapter 4.

Sec. 4-10 prohibits letting fowl run at large. An owner may not permit fowl to go onto the grounds or property of another or beyond the bounds of the owner's property. The rule applies to hens and roosters alike, and it is not limited by zone.

The fine under Sec. 4-10 runs from $1 to $25 per offense.

This is the provision behind most loose-chicken complaints. Free ranging is not prohibited on the owner's own property, but a bird that crosses the property line is.

Two separate provisions can reach a noisy bird, and they work differently.

Sec. 4-12(a), animals chapter

Outside agricultural zones, it is unlawful to keep any animal that bellows or otherwise makes such noise as to disturb the peace and quiet of the people in the neighborhood. Ordinance 076-2025 raised this penalty to up to $100 per offense.

Sec. 14-72(10), noise ordinance

The noise ordinance applies county-wide. It carries no agricultural exemption and no time-of-day window. It makes it unlawful to keep any animal:

that repeatedly or frequently emits any sound, including but not limited to barking, yelping, howling, meowing, or squawking, or that otherwise creates a noise disturbance across a dwelling unit boundary, in such a manner so as to annoy or disturb a reasonable person of normal sensitivities.

Penalties under Sec. 14-80 run from $50 to $500 for a first offense, $100 to $500 for a second offense within twelve months, and $250 to $500 for a third.

The takeaway for anyone counting on the one-rooster allowance: keeping a single rooster is legal outside agricultural zones, and that bird can still be a noise violation if it disturbs neighbors. Crowing is not named anywhere in the code. The phrase the ordinance uses is any sound.

Sec. 4-2 applies to all animals, chickens included. It requires:

• Adequate food at least once a day.
• Constant access to clean water.
• For animals other than dogs, adequate shelter from heat and cold and from the direct effect of wind, rain and snow.
• Adequate shade where the species needs it.
• Enclosures that are not excessively muddy, do not contain standing water, and are not otherwise unsanitary.

Accumulated excrement that causes odor, or litter that creates an unreasonable annoyance or discomfort to neighbors, is also unlawful under Sec. 4-2. The penalty runs from $100 to $500 and up to twelve months, per act.

One recent change does not apply to chickens. Ordinance No. 053-2026, adopted June 18, 2026 and not yet codified, added an unsafe weather conditions rule for confined, unattended domestic animals. That rule expressly excludes fowl, along with cattle and equine, so it does not cover chickens. The general shelter standard in Sec. 4-2 still does.

The code does not have a chicken coop section. What it has is a rule for accessory buildings generally, in Zoning Ordinance Sec. 15-6:

• Accessory buildings are prohibited in any required front yard or side street side yard.
• They must be at least 1.5 feet from any adjoining lot line where a side or rear yard is required.
• They must be at least 6 feet from alley lines.

Whether the ordinance treats a coop as an accessory building is not stated anywhere in the text. The setbacks above are the rules for accessory buildings, presented here because they are the closest thing the code has to coop siting rules.

On building permits, the city's 2026 Permit Guide for Residential Accessory Structures says a structure under 200 square feet used solely for storage needs no permit, and a structure over 200 square feet requires a permit before construction. Because that exemption is written for storage use, it does not clearly cover a coop.

Confirm with the Division of Building Inspection at (859) 258-3770 before building a coop of any size.

The rooster exemption in Sec. 4-11(a) is written as zoned agricultural. That is a zoning test tied to a parcel classification, not the Urban Service Area boundary and not a distinction between city and county.

Lexington agricultural zones are A-R, A-B, A-N, and A-U.

The one that trips people up is A-U, Agricultural Urban, which sits inside the Urban Service Area. An A-U parcel inside the Urban Service Area is exempt from the rooster limit, while a parcel outside the Urban Service Area that is not zoned agricultural is not exempt. The boundary and the zoning do not line up.

News coverage of the 2025 ordinance that described it as applying to residential and business zones, or to everything inside the Urban Service Area, was imprecise. The controlling question is the parcel's zoning classification. To confirm a parcel's zoning, contact the Division of Planning at (859) 258-3160 or planningmailbox@lexingtonky.gov.

Selling eggs is governed by state law, not city ordinance. Under KRS 260.550, subsection (1) exempts producers who sell only directly to consumers and do not exceed a sales limit of sixty (60) dozen eggs per calendar week. Above that limit, a retail license from the Kentucky Department of Agriculture is required.

Two other state requirements apply to direct sellers:

• Eggs must be kept at or below 45 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Cartons from exempt direct sellers should be labeled ungraded and carry the producer's name and address.

City code says nothing about egg sales. Its only local provisions about chickens as merchandise concern the sale of dyed chicks and the sale of chicks under two months old in lots of fewer than six.

City law is the floor, not the ceiling. A homeowners association covenant or a recorded deed restriction can limit the number of hens, ban chickens entirely, restrict coop placement, or prohibit roosters even where the ordinance allows one.

Those are private agreements. The city does not enforce them, and a property being legal under Chapter 4 says nothing about whether it is permitted under a subdivision covenant. Check the recorded covenants for the subdivision before building anything.

Animal complaints: roosters, animals at large, and care

Lexington-Fayette Animal Care and Control is the city's contracted animal control provider. It is located at 1600 Old Frankfort Pike and can be reached at (859) 255-9033. Dispatch operates 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. daily.

Under Sec. 4-9(c), animal control officers may seize and impound an animal or fowl that is the subject of a violation, with the costs charged to the owner.

Noise complaints under Chapter 14

Chapter 14 noise complaints are a police matter. The Lexington Police non-emergency number is (859) 258-3600.

LexCall 311 can direct other questions.