Backyard hens & livestock — St. Thomas, Ontario

Can I keep chickens, bees, or livestock on my property?

In the City of St. Thomas, Ontario, hens permitted: False; roosters prohibited: True; bees permitted: False; livestock rule: No person shall keep horse, bovine, donkey, mule, pig, goat, sheep, or other listed livestock in the City.. Source: Animal Control By-law 71-2011 (as amended to By-law 115-2021), verified 2026-08-29.

Animal Control By-law 71-2011 (as amended to By-law 115-2021) adopted bylaw
hens permitted False s. 6.1
roosters prohibited True s. 6.1
bees permitted False s. 6.1
livestock rule No person shall keep horse, bovine, donkey, mule, pig, goat, sheep, or other listed livestock in the City. s. 6.1
setback not less than 12.2m from any school, church, dwelling unit or other premises used for human habitation or occupancy s. 6.3(ix)
scout note

Section 6.1 prohibits keeping bees, a horse, bovine, donkey, mule, pig, goat, sheep, goose, turkey, guinea fowl, chicken, duck and other listed animals anywhere in the City of St. Thomas, effectively banning backyard hens and bees; narrow exceptions exist only for qualifying service animals, and several species (bovine, llama, emu, ostrich, wild native animals) cannot be kept even as service

Machine-readable: backyard-hens.json · Official website: https://www.stthomas.ca/ · Last verified 2026-08-29 · Backyard hens & livestock in other municipalities