Keeping hens · National rules

Can you keep backyard chickens in Cabo Verde?

Registration: conditions apply, for the keepers covered below. What we found on bird flu, welfare and the keeping rule follows, including what we couldn't establish.

Read from 2 official sources29 passages quotedChecked November 2, 2026

At a glance

Registering your flock

Conditions apply

National keeping rule

Rule with conditions

Bird-flu housing orders

Status needs rechecking

Welfare rules

Rule with conditions

A sourced reading of national law in Cabo Verde, not legal advice. Local ordinances and zoning, HOA rules, and any local rooster or coop limits aren't covered here yet: check your local code before you get hens.

Keeping your flock

These findings cover the national 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: Cabo Verde

Applies to: Holders of livestock activities of a family or traditional character (Class B), defined as small-scale family animal production for own consumption and/or the local market (Decree-Law 30/2024, Arts 4(l), 5(1)(b)). Birds kept for producing eggs are livestock-species animals (Art. 4(b)). The annex table lists poultry ('Galináceos') up to 1000 birds under Class B, with registration.

Outside this finding's scope

  • The decree applies to livestock activities in groups 014 and 015 of the national classification of economic activities (Art. 2); whether a household keeping a few hens falls within them is not stated.
  • The decree is read as published on 26 June 2024 (in force ninety days after publication, Art. 59); later amendments were not checked.
  • The national animal identification and registration system is regulated by a separate 2018 decree-law (Decreto-lei n.º 45/2018, named in the preamble of Decree-Law 30/2024), which was not read; any identification or registration duties under it are not shown here.

What the checked sources say

  • A Class B activity may start only after the holder registers with the coordinating entity, the regional delegation of the livestock department, by form and with proof of paying the fee (Arts 10(1), 27(1)-(2)).
  • The coordinating entity decides a registration request within five days (Art. 28(1)).

Thresholds

  • Poultry ('Galináceos') up to 1000 birds: Class B, registration (Annex I, Table 3).
  • Larger poultry activities are Class A (semi-industrial up to 10.000; industrial from 10.001) and need a license title before starting (Art. 21(1); Annex I, Table 3).

Authority: Regional delegation of the government department responsible for livestock (coordinating entity, Decree-Law 30/2024, Art. 10(1))

Fee: A fee is payable with the registration (Art. 27(2)); the amount was not established.

The official wording

Bird-flu housing orders

Current status needs rechecking

An official current-status link has not been established.

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 2026-11-08

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

Not established from the sources checked

Uses housing orders in this scope: Not established from the sources checked.

Jurisdiction: Cabo Verde

Applies to: No power to order poultry to be housed or kept indoors because of bird flu was found in the texts read. The 2020 regulation bars poultry establishments where zoonoses or notifiable avian diseases transmissible through eggs have been identified from distributing eggs for consumption (Decree-Regulation 12/2020, Arts 47(1), 50(6)).

Outside this finding's scope

  • This page does not say whether any order applies now, and no official page showing current bird-flu measures was identified in the sources read.
  • Decree-Regulation 11/2020, which the preamble of Decree-Law 30/2024 describes as defining the list of highly contagious and other serious diseases of domestic animals and the measures to prevent, control and fight them, was not read, nor was the 2013 animal health law named in the 2020 regulation's preamble (Law 30/VIII/2013); any bird-flu control powers in them are not shown here.

What the checked sources say

  • Distribution and sale of eggs by the affected establishments are banned until the competent health authority lifts the ban (Art. 50(7)).
  • If several establishments in the same locality are affected, the locality is placed under the ban (Art. 50(8)).
  • In its import chapter, the regulation bars transporting the breeding and productive poultry and day-old chicks covered by Art. 84 through a zone declared contaminated by avian influenza or Newcastle disease (Art. 85); who declares such zones is not stated in the articles read.
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- Os aviários, granjas e outras propriedades avícolas nas quais estejam grassando doenças zoonóticas com informações comprovadas pela autoridade sanitária não podem destinar sua produção de ovos ao consumo.

    Decreto-Regulamentar nº 12/2020, art. 47.º, n.º 1 · Checked

  • 6- Os aviários ou outros estabelecimentos nos quais se faça a avicultura e nos quais tenham sido identificadas zoonoses e outras doenças aviárias de declaração obrigatória que possam ser transmissíveis através dos ovos não poderão distribuir ovos para consumo.

    Decreto-Regulamentar nº 12/2020, art. 50.º, n.º 6 · Checked

  • 7- No caso do número anterior, é interdita a distribuição e venda pelos estabelecimentos de produção de ovos e seus derivados, até que seja suspensa a interdição pela autoridade sanitária competente.

    Decreto-Regulamentar nº 12/2020, art. 50.º, n.º 7 · Checked

  • 8- Se forem vários os estabelecimentos afetados dentro da mesma localidade, é interdita a localidade em causa, cabendo às autoridades sanitárias dar conhecimento do facto aos entrepostos e fábricas de conservas.

    Decreto-Regulamentar nº 12/2020, art. 50.º, n.º 8 · Checked

  • É proibido o transporte das aves de capoeira referidas no número anterior através de uma zona declarada contaminada por gripe aviária ou pela doença de Newcastle.

    Decreto-Regulamentar nº 12/2020, art. 85.º (import chapter) · Checked

  • Lei n.º 30/VIII/2013, de 13 de Maio, que estabelece as normas de segurança sanitária, de saúde animal, de salubridade do seu meio ambiente, dos produtos de origem animal e de saúde pública veterinária,

    Decreto-Regulamentar nº 12/2020, preamble · Checked

  • o Decreto-Regulamentar n.º 11/2020, de 25 de setembro, que define a lista de doenças altamente contagiosas e outras consideradas graves, aplicáveis a animais domésticos bem como as medidas de prevenção, controlo e luta

    Decreto-lei n.º 30/2024, preamble · Checked

Small-flock welfare minimums

Conditions apply to this finding

Jurisdiction: Cabo Verde

Applies to: The 2024 livestock decree-law's stated object includes ensuring respect for animal welfare and health standards (Decree-Law 30/2024, Art. 1(1)), and producers must promote the use of the best available techniques that ensure the welfare and health of the animals on the holding (Art. 6(2)(a)). Animal housing must meet listed basic requirements (Art. 7).

Outside this finding's scope

  • The same scope limit applies as for registration: the decree covers livestock activities in groups 014 and 015 of the national classification of economic activities (Art. 2).
  • No separate national animal welfare law was read.

What the checked sources say

  • Housing must have a water supply for cleaning and for enough drinking water of suitable quality (Art. 7(c)).
  • Housing must allow the animals' essential biological needs, keeping their health and welfare (Art. 7(f)).
  • Class B poultry minimum facilities: coops and runs with drinkers and feeders (Annex I, Table 3).

The official wording

National rules on keeping poultry

Conditions apply to this finding

Jurisdiction: Cabo Verde

Applies to: Every producer must keep their animals confined in facilities suited to the species, numbers and purpose, on terms to be set by order of the government member responsible for livestock (Decree-Law 30/2024, Art. 8(1)). The decree's definition of a livestock installation ends by saying that such installations, except grazing land, may not be next to dwellings or homes (Art. 4(m)).

Outside this finding's scope

  • The decree applies to livestock activities in groups 014 and 015 of the national classification of economic activities (Art. 2); whether a household keeping a few hens falls within them is not stated.
  • The ministerial order under Art. 8 was not found.
  • Municipal rules on keeping animals were not surveyed. Silence is not permission.

The official wording

Selling eggs in Cabo Verde? →License, small-flock line, markets and cartons, on their own page.Selling: License: depends

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Common questions

Do I have to register backyard chickens in Cabo Verde?
Registration: conditions apply. The finding covers: Holders of livestock activities of a family or traditional character (Class B), defined as small-scale family animal production for own consumption and/or the local market (Decree-Law 30/2024, Arts 4(l), 5(1)(b)). Birds kept for producing eggs are livestock-species animals (Art. 4(b)). The annex table lists poultry ('Galináceos') up to 1000 birds under Class B, with registration. Poultry ('Galináceos') up to 1000 birds: Class B, registration (Annex I, Table 3). Larger poultry activities are Class A (semi-industrial up to 10.000; industrial from 10.001) and need a license title before starting (Art. 21(1); Annex I, Table 3). Outside this finding's scope: The decree applies to livestock activities in groups 014 and 015 of the national classification of economic activities (Art. 2); whether a household keeping a few hens falls within them is not stated. The decree is read as published on 26 June 2024 (in force ninety days after publication, Art. 59); later amendments were not checked. The national animal identification and registration system is regulated by a separate 2018 decree-law (Decreto-lei n.º 45/2018, named in the preamble of Decree-Law 30/2024), which was not read; any identification or registration duties under it are not shown here. Authority: Regional delegation of the government department responsible for livestock (coordinating entity, Decree-Law 30/2024, Art. 10(1)).
Can I keep chickens in my backyard in Cabo Verde?
The national 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 Cabo Verde?
Housing orders come and go, so we never show one as current. We haven't confirmed an official current-status page for it.

Allowed where you live? Then keep the records.

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