New York Backyard Chicken Laws
New York has no statewide chicken law — every city sets its own rules. Find your city below.
6
Cities allow chickens
3
Cities ban chickens
9
Cities covered
Important: New York delegates all backyard chicken rules to local municipalities. Your city's ordinance is what matters — not state law. HOA covenants can also override city rules on your specific property.
Easiest cities
Strictest cities
New Rochelle
New Rochelle treats farm animals, including avian species, as requiring at least 2 acres and 1 acre per animal, making ordinary backyard chickens impractical on typical city lots.
Utica
Utica Code Section 2-5-56 prohibits having, keeping, or offering to sell fowl, including live chickens, geese, ducks, pigeons, or doves.
Yonkers
Yonkers Code Section 65-23 generally prohibits keeping poultry, fowl, or other birds except for live poultry markets and limited small-bird exceptions.
Albany
Up to 6 hens. Hen enclosure must be at least 25 ft from an occupied residential dwelling on an adjoining lot unless written permission allows a reduced setback
Buffalo
Up to 5 hens. 20 ft from doors or windows of occupied structures other than the applicant's dwelling; 5 ft from side lot lines; 18 in from rear lot lines in most cases
Hudson
Up to 5 hens. Conditional use permit required before constructing enclosures, coops, or related structures on single-family residential lots
New York City
No fixed max. Live poultry markets must keep coops or runways at least 25 ft from any building; ordinary pet hens are not given a simple coop setback in the reviewed Health Code section
Rochester
Up to 30 hens. Coops and runways must be at least 25 ft from any dwelling or building used for continuous daily human occupation
Syracuse
Up to 6 hens. Coop must be in the rear yard, at least 5 ft from side or rear property lines, and at least 25 ft from any adjacent dwelling
New Rochelle
New Rochelle treats farm animals, including avian species, as requiring at least 2 acres and 1 acre per animal, making ordinary backyard chickens impractical on typical city lots.
Utica
Utica Code Section 2-5-56 prohibits having, keeping, or offering to sell fowl, including live chickens, geese, ducks, pigeons, or doves.
Yonkers
Yonkers Code Section 65-23 generally prohibits keeping poultry, fowl, or other birds except for live poultry markets and limited small-bird exceptions.
About New York Chicken Laws
Like most US states, New York does not have a single statewide law governing backyard chickens. Each city, village, and county sets its own rules about flock size, roosters, permits, coop setbacks, and sanitation.
Always verify rules directly with your city clerk or planning department before purchasing birds or building a coop. Laws change — our pages include a last-verified date and link directly to the municipal code for each city.
Want Us to Research Another New York City?
Send in your city request and get the starter checklist while you wait.
No spam, ever. Unsubscribe anytime.