{
 "answer": "In the District municipality of St. Mary's, Nova Scotia, backyard hens & livestock rules are set by Municipality of the District of St. Mary's Land Use By-Law, verified 2026-09-27. Max hens: 5 in the Low Density Residential Zone and Medium Density Residential Zone, and 15 in all other zones. Permit or licence: No Development Permit is required for keeping fowl and/or rabbits (subject to s. 4.29 provisions).",
 "municipality_id": "gx-003160",
 "municipality": "St. Mary's",
 "status_type": "District municipality",
 "jurisdiction": "Nova Scotia",
 "country": "CA",
 "topic": "backyard_animals",
 "label": "Backyard hens & livestock",
 "status": "found",
 "last_verified": "2026-09-27",
 "official_website": "http://www.saint-marys.ca/",
 "documents": [
  {
   "primary": true,
   "is_official": true,
   "title": "Municipality of the District of St. Mary's Land Use By-Law",
   "category": "backyard_animals",
   "document_type": "bylaw",
   "status": "adopted",
   "adopted_date": "2022-10-18",
   "document_url": "https://www.saint-marys.ca/policies-bylaws/2012-lub-district-of-st-marys-2022-10-18/file.html",
   "summary": "Fowl and/or rabbits (max 5 combined in Low/Medium Density Residential zones, 15 elsewhere) permitted without a development permit if confined to the lot; keeping a rooster triggers \"homestead livestock\" rules requiring a 4,000 sq m lot per animal unit and 50m building setbacks.",
   "discovered_by": "ns-newcats",
   "discovered_at": "2026-09-27",
   "capture_sha256": "5125d8eb0a89079d96bde0ddc20f98c9090a1891a08cd13a2a6bc97903f5e358",
   "captured_at": "2026-09-28T01:09:57+00:00",
   "capture_http_status": 200,
   "snapshot_url": "https://pub-e61c5ee2a8704225bfa8de0c280e8a2c.r2.dev/bylaws/5125d8eb0a89079d96bde0ddc20f98c9090a1891a08cd13a2a6bc97903f5e358.pdf",
   "link_dead": false,
   "facts": {
    "hens_permitted": true,
    "max_hens": "5 in the Low Density Residential Zone and Medium Density Residential Zone, and 15 in all other zones",
    "roosters_prohibited": false,
    "bees_permitted": true,
    "livestock_rule": "Homestead livestock requires 4,000 square metres per animal unit; housing/manure setbacks double zone main-building setbacks and 50 metres from off-site dwellings/watercourses/wells.",
    "permit_or_licence": "No Development Permit is required for keeping fowl and/or rabbits (subject to s. 4.29 provisions).",
    "setback": "Coops shall meet zone requirements for accessory buildings; accessory buildings with footprint less than 16 square metres have a minimum setback from rear or side property lines of 1 metre."
   },
   "fact_citations": {
    "hens_permitted": "s. 4.29",
    "max_hens": "s. 4.29(b)",
    "roosters_prohibited": "s. 4.29(c)",
    "bees_permitted": "s. 19 (AGRICULTURAL USES); Table 7.B",
    "livestock_rule": "s. 4.30.1",
    "permit_or_licence": "4.29; \"keeping of fowl and/or rabbits on a lot, and no Development Permit is required\"",
    "setback": "\"coops shall meet zone requirements for accessory buildings\"; \"have a minimum setback from rear or side property lines of 1 metre if the footprint of the accessory building is less than 16 square metres\""
   },
   "transcript_url": "/ca/ns/st-mary-s/backyard-hens/municipality-of-the-district-of-st-mary-s-land-use-by-law/",
   "transcript_quality": "exact"
  }
 ],
 "source": "https://govanswers.org/ca/ns/st-mary-s/backyard-hens/"
}