Keeping hens · State rules

Can you keep backyard chickens in Queensland, Australia?

Keep 100 or more poultry for eggs or meat in Queensland? You must apply to register as a biosecurity entity within 14 days (Biosecurity Act 2014); whether smaller flocks must register wasn't established.

Read from 7 official sources66 passages quotedChecked October 26, 2026

At a glance

Registering your flock

Conditions apply

State keeping rule

Rule with conditions

Bird-flu housing orders

Status needs rechecking

Welfare rules

Rule identified

A sourced reading of the law in Queensland, Australia, not legal advice. Local bylaws and zoning, property or tenancy rules, and any local rooster or coop limits aren't covered here yet: check your local rules before you get hens.

Keeping your flock

These findings cover the scope stated below. They do not determine whether chickens are allowed at a particular home. City zoning, property restrictions and other local rules are outside this research.

Registering as a poultry keeper

Conditions apply to this finding

Jurisdiction: Queensland

Applies to: Keepers of 100 or more designated birds in Queensland under the Biosecurity Act 2014, as published on the Queensland legislation website on 8 October 2026 (later versions were not checked). Designated birds are captive birds kept for human consumption or to produce eggs for human consumption, or released for free flight since they started to be kept in captivity.

Outside this finding's scope

  • The registration duty under section 141(1)(a) starts at 100 designated birds; whether any other Queensland rule asks smaller flocks to register was not established from the sections read.
  • The holding-facility and stock-route keeper rules in section 139 are not covered here.

What the checked sources say

  • A person who keeps 100 or more designated birds is a registrable biosecurity entity. The birds are counted across all the places in Queensland where the person keeps them, not separately at each place.
  • The keeper is the person who effectively has responsibility for the birds’ care and control, including through an agent or employee; if that person cannot reasonably be identified, the person with legal title to the birds is the keeper.
  • A registrable biosecurity entity must apply for registration within 14 days of becoming one, or within a longer period the chief executive approves, unless it has a reasonable excuse or the chief executive has given it a registration exemption. An exemption must be applied for in the approved form and may be given only if the chief executive is satisfied that no biosecurity circumstance applying to the entity poses a biosecurity risk.
  • Business Queensland says applications are assessed by a Biosecurity Queensland officer and registration lasts 3 years. It explains that a PIC relates to the land where animals are kept, while the registered biosecurity entity is the person or organisation responsible for their day-to-day keeping and care.

Thresholds

  • 100 or more designated birds, counted across one or more places in Queensland.

Exemptions and their limits

  • A reasonable excuse, or a registration exemption from the chief executive, which may be given only if no biosecurity circumstance applying to the entity poses a biosecurity risk.

Authority: Biosecurity Queensland assesses applications (Business Queensland); registration exemptions come from the chief executive (section 146).

Fee: Business Queensland says registration is free if you do not meet the Australian Taxation Office ruling on carrying on a business of primary production (TR 97/11) as a result of owning the animals; you must still be registered. The fee amount for others was not found in the pages read.

The official wording

  • A designated bird is a captive bird that— (a) is kept for human consumption or to produce eggs for human consumption; or (b) has been released for free flight since it started to be kept in captivity.

    s135A · Checked

  • (iii) for designated birds—100; or

    s137(a)(iii) · Checked

  • A person is a registrable biosecurity entity if the person— (a) keeps the threshold number or more of designated animals; or

    s141(1)(a) · Checked

  • For subsection (1), it does not matter whether the keeping or holding happens at 1 place or 2 or more places in the State.

    s141(2) · Checked

  • A person keeps a designated animal if the person effectively has responsibility for the care and control of the animal, whether or not the care and control is exercised through an agent or employee of the person.

    s139(1) · Checked

  • However, if at any time it is not reasonably practicable to identify who is the keeper of a designated animal under subsection (1), the person who at law has title to the animal is the person who keeps the animal.

    s139(2) · Checked

  • A registrable biosecurity entity must, in compliance with this part, and unless the person has a reasonable excuse, apply for registration under this part unless the chief executive has given a registration exemption for the entity.

    s145(1) · Checked

  • The obligation under subsection (1) to apply for registration commences immediately after a person becomes a registrable biosecurity entity, and must be complied with within 14 days after the obligation commences or within any longer period approved by the chief executive under this section.

    s145(2) · Checked

  • A registrable biosecurity entity may apply to the chief executive for exemption (a registration exemption for the entity) from the requirement that the entity apply for registration under this part.

    s146(1) · Checked

  • The application must be in the approved form. (3) The approval may be given only if the chief executive is satisfied that no biosecurity circumstance applying to the entity poses a biosecurity risk.

    s146(2)–(3) · Checked

  • After you submit your application, it will be assessed by a Biosecurity Queensland Officer.

    Apply for registration · Checked

  • The registration period for a biosecurity entity is 3 years.

    Who must register · Checked

  • A PIC relates to the land where animals are kept. The RBE is the person, people or organisation responsible for the day-to-day keeping and care of the animals.

    Biosecurity entity registration and other systems · Checked

  • Registration is free if you don't meet the Australian Taxation Office ruling of carrying out the business of primary production (TR 97/11) as a result of owning the animals.

    Apply for registration · Checked

  • You do not need to pay the fee if you do not claim primary producer status on your tax return, but you must still be registered as a biosecurity entity.

    Opening fee criteria · Checked

Bird-flu housing orders

Current status needs rechecking

Check the official current-status page

Orders can change between checks. A missed check or an expired order does not establish that no order applies.

Housing-order finding as checked on 2026-10-26

The scope and conditions below are a dated record, not confirmation of today's position.

Conditions apply to this finding

Uses housing orders in this scope: Yes, according to the checked evidence, within the limits listed under “Outside this finding’s scope” below.

Jurisdiction: Queensland

Applies to: Biosecurity orders by authorised officers and biosecurity emergency orders by the chief executive under the Biosecurity Act 2014 (as published on the Queensland legislation website on 8 October 2026 (later versions were not checked)). Biosecurity matter includes any living thing other than a human, so the orders can reach poultry.

Outside this finding's scope

  • These powers do not themselves require birds to be housed; a requirement exists only under an order that imposes one.
  • Whether any order requiring poultry to be confined or kept at a place applies now was not established.

What the checked sources say

  • If an authorised officer reasonably believes a person has failed, or may fail, to meet their general biosecurity obligation at a place, the officer may give that person a biosecurity order. The order may require them, at the place, to prohibit or restrict in a stated way the removal of biosecurity matter or a carrier, which includes living animals. The recipient must comply unless they have a reasonable excuse.
  • The chief executive may make a biosecurity emergency order, published on the department’s website, for responding to a biosecurity event. It states the area it mainly covers and the duties of occupiers of places in that area, and may require actions reasonably necessary to prevent the spread of the biosecurity matter it targets.
  • Whether any order requiring poultry to be confined applies now was not established; check the Business Queensland current-situation page. Authorised officers give biosecurity orders and the chief executive makes emergency orders.
Checked
Recheck due

Historical evidence, as checked

These quotations record what was checked on the dates shown. They do not confirm an order's current status.

  • (1) Biosecurity matter is— (a) a living thing, other than a human or part of a human; or

    s15(1)(a) · Checked

  • (1) A carrier is any animal or plant, or part of any animal or plant, or any other thing— (a) capable of moving biosecurity matter attached to, or contained in, the animal, plant or other thing from a place to another place; or

    s17(1)(a) · Checked

  • (1) If an authorised officer reasonably believes that a person has failed, or may fail, to discharge the person’s general biosecurity obligation at a place, the authorised officer may give the person (the recipient ) an order (a biosecurity order ).

    s373(1) · Checked

  • Without limiting sections 373 and 374 , the biosecurity order may require the recipient to do any of the following at the place—

    s375 opening · Checked

  • (h) prohibit, or restrict in a stated way, the removal of biosecurity matter or a carrier;

    s375(h) · Checked

  • The recipient of a biosecurity order must comply with the order unless the recipient has a reasonable excuse.

    s377 · Checked

  • The chief executive may, by notice signed by the chief executive and published on the department’s website, make an order (a biosecurity emergency order ) for responding to a biosecurity event.

    s113(1) · Checked

  • (b) the area to which the order primarily relates (the biosecurity emergency area for the biosecurity emergency order); and (c) the duties and obligations imposed on— (i) occupiers of any place within the biosecurity emergency area or a part of the area; and

    s114(1)(b)–(c)(i) · Checked

  • (f) actions required to be taken by a person that are reasonably necessary or desirable to prevent the introduction, establishment or spread of biosecurity matter the subject of the order or to otherwise control or eradicate the biosecurity matter;

    s114(2)(f) · Checked

  • Current situation: H5 bird flu

    page title · Checked

Small-flock welfare minimums

Rule identified for the scope below

Jurisdiction: Queensland

Applies to: People in charge of chickens in Queensland, commercial or not, under the Animal Care and Protection Act 2001 and the compulsory Code of practice about domestic fowl in Schedule 1 of the Animal Care and Protection Regulation 2023 (as published on the Queensland legislation website on 8 October 2026 (later versions were not checked)).

Outside this finding's scope

  • Pre-hatched young earlier than the last half of development are outside the Act’s definition of animal.
  • The controlled-feeding exception applies only to the daily food-access rule (section 15(1)(b) of the code), not to water or the other duties.
  • Only the code’s food, water and inspection rules (Schedule 1 sections 15 to 18) are set out here. Its other rules, including those for keeping domestic fowl in cages, in sheds (a shed is any structure with a roof and walls used to keep domestic fowl) and in the outdoor area of a free-range system, were not summarised and may also apply.

What the checked sources say

  • The Act covers live birds and avian pre-hatched young in the last half of development. A person in charge includes an owner or holder of a lease, licence or other proprietary interest, a person with custody, and an employer or engager of a custodian acting within that engagement; a mortgage or security holder becomes one only on taking a step to enforce it. Business Queensland says the duty of care includes commercial and non-commercial poultry owners.
  • A person in charge owes the animal a duty of care and must not breach it. The duty is breached only by failing to take reasonable steps to provide appropriately for its food and water, accommodation or living conditions, display of normal behaviour and treatment of disease or injury, or to ensure its handling, confinement or transport is appropriate. What is appropriate depends on the animal’s species, environment and circumstances and on what a reasonable person in the keeper’s circumstances would be expected to do.
  • Compliance with the Code of practice about domestic fowl in Schedule 1 is compulsory. A person in charge of a domestic fowl (Gallus gallus domesticus) must give it access to food within 60 hours after hatching and at least once in each 24-hour period after that; the later daily rule does not apply to broiler breeders or layer pullets (females under 16 weeks) on a controlled feeding regime that manages weight while meeting the bird’s physiological needs.
  • The food must contain enough nutrients for good health and welfare, meet the bird’s physiological needs and not harm its health; in a free-range system, food available outdoors is taken into account for the shed. Water must be available within 60 hours after hatching and at least once in each 24-hour period after that, at a temperature and quality the bird will drink, meeting its needs and not harmful.
  • At least once in each 24-hour period the fowl, any cage it is kept in, its water troughs, drinkers and feeders, and any shed light, humidity, temperature and ventilation control system must be inspected; inspecting the fowl includes assessing its health, checking for injuries and checking its behaviour for welfare risks.
  • Schedule 9 lists the 2002 Model code of practice for the welfare of animals—Domestic poultry (4th edition), which a person may comply with; where it is inconsistent with a similar provision of the compulsory code, the compulsory code prevails.
  • Under section 40, following a code’s relevant requirements for an act, or a code’s stated circumstances for an omission, is an exemption from the related offence; where those code provisions are incomplete it is an exemption only if the defendant also complied with any duty of care owed to each animal. This exemption does not apply to an offence against section 15 or an offence to which division 3 applies (section 39).

The official wording

  • An animal is any of the following— (a) a live member of a vertebrate animal taxon; Examples— • an amphibian • a bird

    s11(1)(a) · Checked

  • a live pre-natal or pre-hatched creature as follows if it is in the last half of gestation or development— (i) a mammalian or reptilian fetus; (ii) an avian, mammalian or reptilian pre-hatched young;

    s11(1)(b) · Checked

  • a pre-natal, larval or pre-hatched creature, other than a creature mentioned in subsection (1)(b) or (c);

    s11(3)(b) · Checked

  • A person is a person in charge of an animal if the person— (a) owns or has a lease, licence or other proprietary interest in the animal; or (b) has the custody of the animal; or

    s12(1)(a)–(b) · Checked

  • is employing or has engaged someone else who has the custody of the animal and the custody is within the scope of the employment or engagement.

    s12(1)(c) · Checked

  • Despite subsection (1)(a), a person who holds a mortgage or other security interest in an animal only becomes a person in charge of the animal if the person takes a step to enforce the mortgage or other security.

    s12(2) · Checked

  • A person in charge of an animal owes a duty of care to it. (2) The person must not breach the duty of care.

    s17(1)–(2) · Checked

  • For subsection (2), a person breaches the duty only if the person does not take reasonable steps to— (a) provide the animal’s needs for the following in a way that is appropriate— (i) food and water;

    s17(3)(a) opening · Checked

  • (ii) accommodation or living conditions for the animal; (iii) to display normal patterns of behaviour; (iv) the treatment of disease or injury; or

    s17(3)(a)(ii)–(iv) · Checked

  • ensure any handling of the animal, including any confinement or transportation of the animal, by the person, or caused by the person, is appropriate.

    s17(3)(b) · Checked

  • In deciding what is appropriate, regard must be had to— (a) the species, environment and circumstances of the animal; and (b) the steps a reasonable person in the circumstances of the person would reasonably be expected to have taken.

    s17(4) · Checked

  • This includes: poultry owners (commercial and non-commercial)

    Duty of care to poultry · Checked

  • the code called ‘Code of practice about domestic fowl’ stated in schedule 1 ;

    s3(1)(a) · Checked

  • A person must comply with a code of practice mentioned in subsection (1).

    s3(2) · Checked

  • domestic fowl means a member of the species Gallus gallus domesticus .

    Schedule1 s1 · Checked

  • A person in charge of a domestic fowl must ensure the fowl has access to food— (a) within 60 hours after the fowl is hatched; and (b) at least once in each 24-hour period after the expiry of the 60-hour period mentioned in paragraph (a).

    Schedule1 s15(1) · Checked

  • However, subsection (1)(b) does not apply if the fowl is— (a) a broiler breeder or layer pullet; and (b) given access to food under a controlled feeding regime.

    Schedule1 s15(3) · Checked

  • controlled feeding regime means a regime that manages the amount of food consumed by a fowl to control the weight of the fowl while still ensuring the amount of food consumed is sufficient to meet the fowl’s physiological needs.

    Schedule1 s15(5) · Checked

  • layer pullet means a female domestic fowl that is less than 16 weeks of age.

    Schedule1 s1 · Checked

  • broiler breeder means a domestic fowl used to breed meat chickens.

    Schedule1 s1 · Checked

  • Also, the person must ensure— (a) the food contains enough nutrients to ensure the fowl’s good health and welfare; and (b) the quantity of the food meets the fowl’s physiological needs; and (c) the food is not harmful to the fowl’s health.

    Schedule1 s15(2) · Checked

  • For subsection (2)(a) and (b), in deciding the amount of nutrients and quantity of food that must be provided to the fowl in the shed of a free range system, regard must be had to the amount of nutrients and quantity of food available to the fowl in the outdoor area of the system.

    Schedule1 s15(4) · Checked

  • A person in charge of a domestic fowl must ensure the fowl has access to water— (a) within 60 hours after the fowl is hatched; and (b) at least once in each 24-hour period after the expiry of the 60-hour period mentioned in paragraph (a).

    Schedule1 s16(1) · Checked

  • Also, the person must ensure— (a) the water is of a temperature and quality the fowl will drink; and (b) the quality and quantity of the water meets the fowl’s physiological needs; and (c) the water is not harmful to the fowl’s health.

    Schedule1 s16(2) · Checked

  • A person in charge of a domestic fowl must ensure each of the following are inspected at least once in each 24-hour period— (a) the fowl; (b) if the fowl is kept in a cage—the cage; (c) the water troughs, drinkers and feeders provided for the fowl;

    Schedule1 s17(a)–(c) · Checked

  • if the fowl is kept in a shed—the electronic or mechanical system used to control light, humidity, temperature and ventilation in the shed.

    Schedule1 s17(d) · Checked

  • An inspection under section 17 must include— (a) for an inspection of a fowl— (i) assessing the fowl’s health; and (ii) checking the fowl for injuries; and (iii) checking whether the fowl’s behaviour indicates there may be a risk to the fowl’s welfare; or

    Schedule1 s18(a) · Checked

  • For section 13 (1) of the Act , a document stated in schedule 9 is a code of practice. (2) A person may comply with a code of practice mentioned in subsection (1).

    s4(1)–(2) · Checked

  • ‘Model code of practice for the welfare of animals—Domestic poultry’, 4th edition, prepared for the Primary Industries Standing Committee, published by CSIRO, 2002, SCARM Report No. 83.

    Schedule9 item1 · Checked

  • Subsection (2) applies if there is an inconsistency between— (a) a provision in a code of practice mentioned in section 3 (1); and (b) a provision in a code of practice mentioned in section 4 (1) that is similar to the relevant compulsory code.

    s5(1) · Checked

  • The provision in the code of practice mentioned in section 3 (1) prevails to the extent of the inconsistency.

    s5(2) · Checked

  • for an offence constituted by doing an act— (i) a code of practice or the scientific use code states requirements for how the act may be carried out; and (ii) the requirements, to the extent they are relevant to the act, have been complied with; or

    s40(1)(a) · Checked

  • for an offence constituted by making an omission— (i) a code of practice or the scientific use code states circumstances in which the omission may be made; and (ii) the stated circumstances for making the omission have happened.

    s40(1)(b) · Checked

  • if the provisions of the code about how an act may be done or the circumstances in which the omission may be made are incomplete, it is only an offence exemption if, in doing the act or making the omission, the defendant complied with any duty of care the defendant owed to each animal

    s40(2), opening condition · Checked

  • This division does not apply to an offence— (a) against section 15 ; or (b) to which division 3 applies.

    s39 · Checked

  • shed means a structure of any kind that has a roof and walls and is used to keep domestic fowl.

    Schedule1 s1 · Checked

  • This part applies if a domestic fowl is— (a) kept in a shed, including a shed that is part of a free range system; and (b) not kept in a cage.

    Schedule1 s10 · Checked

  • free range system means a system consisting of— (a) a shed in which domestic fowl are kept other than in a cage; and (b) an outdoor area the fowl can access.

    Schedule1 s1 · Checked

Rules on keeping poultry

Conditions apply to this finding

Jurisdiction: Queensland

Applies to: The general biosecurity obligation in the Biosecurity Act 2014 (as published on the Queensland legislation website on 8 October 2026 (later versions were not checked)), which applies to a person dealing with biosecurity matter or a carrier, such as living animals, who knows or ought reasonably to know of a biosecurity risk.

Outside this finding's scope

  • No statewide permission or ban on keeping chickens was found in the Biosecurity Act 2014 and Animal Care and Protection Act 2001 sections read. Local laws and planning rules were not read, and who sets them was not established.

What the checked sources say

  • A person who deals with biosecurity matter or a carrier, or carries out an activity, and knows or ought reasonably to know that it poses or is likely to pose a biosecurity risk, has a general biosecurity obligation to take all reasonable and practical measures to prevent or minimise that risk.
  • Business Queensland says anyone who suspects an animal might be infected with H5 bird flu has a legal responsibility to report it immediately.

The official wording

  • (1) This section applies to a person who deals with biosecurity matter or a carrier, or carries out an activity, if the person knows or ought reasonably to know that the biosecurity matter, carrier or activity poses or is likely to pose a biosecurity risk.

    s23(1) · Checked

  • (2) The person has an obligation (a general biosecurity obligation ) to take all reasonable and practical measures to prevent or minimise the biosecurity risk.

    s23(2) · Checked

  • Anyone who suspects an animal might be infected with H5 bird flu has a legal responsibility to report it immediately .

    Report suspect cases · Checked

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Common questions

Do I have to register backyard chickens in Queensland, Australia?
Registration: conditions apply. The finding covers: Keepers of 100 or more designated birds in Queensland under the Biosecurity Act 2014, as published on the Queensland legislation website on 8 October 2026 (later versions were not checked). Designated birds are captive birds kept for human consumption or to produce eggs for human consumption, or released for free flight since they started to be kept in captivity. 100 or more designated birds, counted across one or more places in Queensland. Outside this finding's scope: The registration duty under section 141(1)(a) starts at 100 designated birds; whether any other Queensland rule asks smaller flocks to register was not established from the sections read. The holding-facility and stock-route keeper rules in section 139 are not covered here. Exemptions and their limits: A reasonable excuse, or a registration exemption from the chief executive, which may be given only if no biosecurity circumstance applying to the entity poses a biosecurity risk. Authority: Biosecurity Queensland assesses applications (Business Queensland); registration exemptions come from the chief executive (section 146).
Can I keep chickens in my backyard in Queensland, Australia?
The sources we read don't settle it, and we haven't identified who decides. Check your local rules before you get hens.
Do I have to keep my hens indoors for bird flu in Queensland, Australia?
Housing orders come and go, so we never show one as current. This page links the official status page to check today.

Allowed where you live? Then keep the records.

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