Are Chickens Allowed in Ontario, California?

BySusan Medlin

If by “Ontario” you mean **Ontario, California** (in San Bernardino County), the answer is: it’s unclear based on the publicly available information whether backyard chickens are specifically allowed or disallowed under the city’s regulations. I couldn’t find any definitive ordinance, permit requirement, or municipal code text confirming that chickens are permitted. But absence of public info doesn’t necessarily mean they’re banned—there may simply be no clear published rule or the rule may be buried in zoning, animal control, or nuisance code sections.

What I Did Find

  • Ontario, CA’s Residential Code Compliance page mentions property maintenance, zoning, exterior structures, pets, and nuisance-type standards. But I found *no specific reference* to keeping chickens or poultry. :contentReference[oaicite:0]{index=0}
  • The “Community Improvement / Code Enforcement” sections show that the city enforces property maintenance, exterior building standards, accessory structures, and pet regulation broadly. But again, no specific chicken-keeping rules were visible in the documentation I found. :contentReference[oaicite:1]{index=1}
  • General state or California statewide references (and third-party guides) sometimes list Chicken Laws by city/county, but Ontario, CA’s status is not clearly listed among cities with explicit permissive or prohibitive chicken ordinances. :contentReference[oaicite:2]{index=2}

Why It’s Not Clear

  • The city’s municipal and code enforcement documents do not have a searchable section or clarity about “hens, chickens, poultry” often, meaning the rule may be embedded in a less obvious section (like zoning, nuisance, or animal control) or simply not well codified publicly.
  • Rules often depend heavily on your specific property’s zoning classification (single-family residential, agricultural, etc.), lot size, and which zoning overlays or development standards apply. Those details may determine whether chickens are allowed even if the city doesn’t have a general policy spelled out for all residential areas.
  • There could be owner/HOA or neighborhood restrictions beyond city code. Many times, these restrictive covenants are separate from municipal code and may prohibit livestock or poultry even if the city code might permit them (or does not explicitly forbid them).

What You Should Do to Be Sure

Here are steps you can take if you want to find out for *your property* whether chickens are allowed in Ontario, CA:

  • Check your zoning: Determine what zoning category your property is (R-1, R-2, etc.) and whether that zone has provisions about “animals,” “domestic animals,” “livestock,” “poultry,” or “fowl.” The Planning & Development or Zoning Department can help.
  • Search the Ontario Municipal Code: Look for sections like “Animal Services,” “Zoning,” “Nuisance,” “Accessory Structures,” or “Livestock & Poultry” to see if chickens are mentioned. Sometimes chicken-specific rules are buried in nuisance or health code sections rather than animal control sections.
  • Consult Animal Control: Contact the city’s Animal Control or Code Enforcement department and ask whether keeping hens is allowed, whether permits are required, and what conditions (setbacks, coop type, number of chickens) apply.
  • Check HOA or neighborhood covenants: If your property is part of a homeowner’s association or has deed restrictions, there may be additional rules that override or augment what the city code allows.
  • Look for complaints or precedents: Sometimes neighbors or city code enforcement have responded to past chicken-keeping cases. If you find people doing it or having tried, the outcomes might give clues about how Ontario treats chickens practically.

What You Should Assume Until Confirmed

While you wait for confirmation, a cautious approach would be:

  • Assume chickens are *not* allowed on lots unless confirmed, especially if your lot is small or in a dense residential neighborhood.
  • If you decide to try, plan your coop/run so it’s clean, sanitary, well-constructed, with proper setbacks (from neighbors, property lines), to avoid nuisance complaints.
  • Stick to hens (no roosters), unless you find explicit rules that allow roosters, because roosters often are disallowed due to noise.
  • Avoid commercial use (selling eggs or chickens) unless you know the business-use laws. Most backyard chicken-laws are meant for personal use only.

Summary

To sum up: **no definitive public evidence** confirms that chickens are legally allowed in Ontario, California, under city ordinances (as of the latest accessible documents). It might be allowed under certain zones or under specific conditions, but if you want to keep chickens, you’ll need to do a little verifying. Let me know if you want me to try to find any ordinance specific to your address or zone in Ontario — I could try digging through municipal zoning code or contacting the city’s animal control and summarizing what I find.