--- title: Victoria backyard chickens, bees and livestock rules question: "Can I keep chickens, bees, or other livestock?" place: Victoria, British Columbia, Canada place_path: ca/bc/victoria category: Pets, animals and wildlife owner: municipal owner_body: City of Victoria sources_read: 2026-11-05 review: machine_checked canonical: "https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/victoria/backyard-chickens/" json: "https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/victoria/backyard-chickens.json" --- # Victoria backyard chickens, bees and livestock rules **Question:** Can I keep chickens, bees, or other livestock? **Short answer:** In the City of Victoria you may keep chickens on the lot where you live, up to fifteen female chickens or other poultry combined. Roosters are not allowed. Bees are allowed under set rules. Farm animals and peafowl may not be kept, with limited exceptions. **Who handles it:** Municipal (City of Victoria, https://www.victoria.ca) **Cost:** No permit or registration fee was found. **Where:** - Phone: Bylaw Services, 250-361-0215 - Phone: Victoria Animal Control Services, 250-414-0233 ## Key facts - **Hens allowed:** The bylaw allows chickens but only on the same lot where the keeper lives, and limits the number. It sets no zone rule. - Source: [Animal Responsibility Bylaw 11-044 (consolidated to July 2022), ss. 18(3), 25(3)](https://www.victoria.ca/media/554) - Official wording: "A person may keep chickens only on the same lot where he or she resides." … "more than fifteen female chickens or other poultry" - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06 - **Most hens:** No more than fifteen female chickens or other poultry (combined) on a lot. - Source: [Animal Responsibility Bylaw 11-044 (consolidated to July 2022), s. 25(3)](https://www.victoria.ca/media/554) - Official wording: "No person may keep, or allow to be kept, at any one time, on a lot more than fifteen female chickens or other poultry" - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06 - **Roosters:** No. A person must not keep a rooster. - Source: [Animal Responsibility Bylaw 11-044 (consolidated to July 2022), s. 27(1)](https://www.victoria.ca/media/554) - Official wording: "A person must not keep a" … "rooster," - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06 - **Coop rules:** No coop size or setback rule found. Poultry manure may be stored or composted only in one fully enclosed container no larger than 1 m by 1 m by 1 m, at least 3 m from the nearest property line. - Source: [Animal Responsibility Bylaw 11-044 (consolidated to July 2022), s. 35(3), (4)](https://www.victoria.ca/media/554) - Official wording: "stored in a single fully enclosed container that is not more than one metre by one metre by one metre in size; and" … "located at least three metres from the nearest property line." - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06 - **Permit or registration:** None set. Victoria's Animal Responsibility Bylaw sets no permit, registration or zone rule for chickens. - **Bees:** Allowed. Beekeepers must provide water on their property, keep bees in a condition that reasonably prevents swarming, and keep hives at least 7.6 m from each property line unless a solid fence or hedge at least 1.8 m tall runs along the line. - Source: [Animal Responsibility Bylaw 11-044 (consolidated to July 2022), s. 21(1)](https://www.victoria.ca/media/554) - Official wording: "provide adequate water for the bees on the person's property," … "keep hives at least 7.6 m away from each property line, unless there is a solid fence or hedge at least 1.8 m tall parallel to the property line." - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06 - **Other livestock:** Farm animals (cattle, horses, swine, sheep, goats, mules, donkeys and similar) and peafowl may not be kept, with limited exceptions. Rabbits and guinea pigs: four total per lot; outdoor rabbits must be securely enclosed. Ducks and other domesticated birds count as poultry (fifteen limit). - Source: [Animal Responsibility Bylaw 11-044 (consolidated to July 2022), ss. 2, 22, 25(2), 27(1)](https://www.victoria.ca/media/554) - Official wording: "means any domesticated animal normally raised for food, milk or as a beast of burden and includes cattle, horses, swine, sheep, goats, mules, donkeys, asses and oxen" … "peafowl." … "A person must not keep rabbits in an outdoor pen, cage or run, unless the pen, cage or run is securely enclosed to prevent escape." … "means any domesticated bird that is normally kept for its eggs, meat, or feathers," - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06 - **Bylaw:** Animal Responsibility Bylaw No. 11-044 - Source: [Animal Responsibility Bylaw 11-044 (consolidated to July 2022), Title](https://www.victoria.ca/media/554) - Official wording: "ANIMAL RESPONSIBILITY BYLAW BYLAW NO. 11-044 This consolidation is a copy of a bylaw consolidated under the authority of" - Check: wording matched the official text retrieved 2026-11-06 ## How it works The [Animal Responsibility Bylaw 11-044]() allows chickens, but only on the same lot where the keeper lives, and limits the number to fifteen female chickens or other poultry combined. Poultry means any domesticated bird kept for its eggs, meat or feathers. The bylaw sets no permit, registration or zone rule for chickens. ## Good to know - Roosters are not allowed. - The bylaw sets no coop size or setback. Poultry manure may be stored or composted only in one fully enclosed container no larger than 1 m by 1 m by 1 m, at least 3 m from the nearest property line. - Bees are allowed. Beekeepers must provide water on their property, keep bees in a condition that reasonably prevents swarming, and keep hives at least 7.6 m from each property line unless a solid fence or hedge at least 1.8 m tall runs along the line. Improper husbandry of bees carries a municipal ticket of $150 ($125 if paid within 30 days). - Farm animals (cattle, horses, swine, sheep, goats, mules, donkeys and similar) and peafowl may not be kept, with limited exceptions. Unlawfully keeping a farm animal or bird is a municipal ticket of $125 ($100 if paid within 30 days). - Rabbits and guinea pigs: four in total per lot. Outdoor rabbits must be securely enclosed. - Ducks and other domesticated birds count as poultry, under the fifteen limit. ## Official forms and pages - [Animal Responsibility Bylaw 11-044 (PDF)](https://www.victoria.ca/media/554) ## Related questions - [How many dogs or cats you can keep in Victoria](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/victoria/how-many-pets.md) ## The same question elsewhere - [Backyard chicken rules in British Columbia, by municipality](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/backyard-chickens.md) - [Oak Bay](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/oak-bay/backyard-chickens.md) - [Esquimalt](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/esquimalt/backyard-chickens.md) - [View Royal](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/view-royal/backyard-chickens.md) - [Saanich](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/saanich/backyard-chickens.md) - [Colwood](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/colwood/backyard-chickens.md) - [Langford](https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/langford/backyard-chickens.md) ## Sources - [Animal Responsibility Bylaw 11-044 (consolidated to July 2022) (PDF)](https://www.victoria.ca/media/554) (read 2026-11-05) - [Ticket Bylaw 10-071 (consolidated June 18, 2026), Schedule C (PDF)](https://www.victoria.ca/media/635) (read 2026-11-05) _Checked by script, not yet by a person: the official wording behind 7 of 8 facts was matched to the official text; 1 is recorded as not set. Gov Handbook is an independent guide, not affiliated with City of Victoria. How answers are checked: https://govhandbook.com/methods/ · Canonical page: https://govhandbook.com/ca/bc/victoria/backyard-chickens/_