Keeping hens · National rules

Can you keep backyard chickens in Colombia?

Registration: conditions apply, for the keepers covered below. The national keeping rule, and the bird-flu and welfare rules, follow.

Read from 6 official sources13 passages quotedChecked October 24, 2026

At a glance

Registering your flock

Conditions apply

National keeping rule

No rule identified

Bird-flu housing orders

Status needs rechecking

Welfare rules

Rule identified

A sourced reading of national law in Colombia, 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 or state 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: Colombia

Applies to: Persons with livestock premises producing animals for sale or economic use; poultry premises include backyard birds used for meat and eggs for consumption.

Outside this finding's scope

  • Whether a purely non-commercial backyard flock needs the registration was not established from the definitions read.

What the checked sources say

  • Hold ICA's Registro Sanitario de Predio Pecuario (RSPP).
  • For poultry, file a signed document stating the premises name, area, infrastructure and installed and occupied capacity.
  • Vaccination of birds susceptible to Newcastle disease is compulsory nationwide.

Thresholds

  • No flock-size threshold was quoted.

Authority: Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (ICA)

Fee: Not established from the sources checked.

The official wording

  • ARTÍCULO 4o. REGISTRO SANITARIO DE PREDIO PECUARIO. Toda persona natural o jurídica con predios pecuarios destinados a la producción de las especies que aquí se refiere, contará con el Registro Sanitario de Predio Pecuario.

    Res. ICA 90464/2021, Art. 4 · Checked

  • 3.14 Predio Pecuario: Unidad productiva conformada por uno o varios predios colindantes destinado a la producción de animales para su comercialización y aprovechamiento económico.

    Res. ICA 90464/2021, Art. 3.14 · Checked

  • 3.13 Predio Avícola: Predio dedicado a la producción y/o comercialización de aves incluidas las de traspatio, que se utilizan para la producción de carne y huevos destinados al consumo,

    Res. ICA 90464/2021, Art. 3.13 · Checked

  • 5.2.4. Aviar: Presentar documento suscrito por el responsable de los animales dirigido al ICA en el que indique nombre del predio, extensión en hectáreas del área dedicada a esta actividad, infraestructura, capacidad instalada y capacidad ocupada.

    Res. ICA 90464/2021, Art. 5.2.4 · Checked

  • ARTÍCULO 10. DE LA VACUNACIÓN. Declárese la obligatoriedad de la vacunación de las aves susceptibles a la enfermedad del Newcastle en el territorio nacional.

    Ley 1255/2008, Art. 10 · 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 2026-10-24

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

No rule identified in this research

This does not establish that no authority can order poultry to be housed or confined.

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

Jurisdiction: Colombia

Applies to: ICA control measures for sanitary emergencies and outbreaks.

Outside this finding's scope

  • No specific national order to house backyard birds was identified; this does not establish that none exists.

What the checked sources say

  • ICA sets the control measures needed for any sanitary emergency and controls movement of birds and their products when an outbreak is detected.
  • Current status is not shown here; ICA's avian influenza page links an information board on the current situation.
Checked

Historical evidence, as checked

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

  • b) Establecer las medidas de control necesarias para la atención de cualquier emergencia sanitaria. c) Controlar y regular la movilización de aves y sus productos en el territorio nacional en el caso de detectarse un foco o brote.

    Ley 1255/2008, Art. 13(b)-(c) · Checked

  • TABLERO INFORMATIVO CON LA SITUACION SANITARIA ACTUAL DE INFLUENZA AVIAR EN COLOMBIA.

    ICA 'Influenza Aviar' page · Checked

Small-flock welfare minimums

Rule identified for the scope below

Jurisdiction: Colombia

Applies to: The person responsible for or keeping animals.

What the checked sources say

  • Ensure at minimum that animals do not suffer hunger or thirst, unjustified physical discomfort or pain, disease through negligence, or fear and stress, and that they can express natural behaviour.

The official wording

  • En el cuidado de los animales, el responsable o tenedor de ellos asegurará como mínimo: 1. Que no sufran hambre ni sed; 2. Que no sufran injustificadamente malestar físico ni dolor; 3. Que no les sean provocadas enfermedades por negligencia o descuido; 4. Que no sean sometidos a condiciones de miedo ni estrés;

    Ley 1774/2016, Art. 3(b) · Checked

  • 5. Que puedan manifestar su comportamiento natural;

    Ley 1774/2016, Art. 3(b)(5) · Checked

National or state rules on keeping poultry

No rule identified in this research

Jurisdiction: Colombia

Applies to: Keeping chickens at home.

Outside this finding's scope

  • No national keeping rule identified; this is not permission to keep chickens.

What the checked sources say

  • Municipal councils regulate land use.
  • Districts and larger municipalities monitor health and nuisance effects of keeping domestic animals.

The official wording

  • ARTICULO 313. Corresponde a los concejos:

    Constitución Política 1991, Art. 313 lead-in · Checked

  • 7. Reglamentar los usos del suelo y,

    Constitución Política 1991, Art. 313(7) · Checked

  • 44.3.3. Además de las funciones antes señaladas, los distritos y municipios de categoría especial, 1o., 2o. y 3o., deberán ejercer las siguientes competencias de inspección, vigilancia y control de factores de riesgo que afecten la salud humana presentes en el ambiente,

    Ley 715/2001, Art. 44.3.3 lead-in · Checked

  • 44.3.3.2. Vigilar las condiciones ambientales que afectan la salud y el bienestar de la población generadas por ruido, tenencia de animales domésticos, basuras y olores, entre otros.

    Ley 715/2001, Art. 44.3.3.2 · Checked

This does not establish that keeping is unrestricted or that all rules are local.

Selling eggs in Colombia? →License, small-flock line, markets and cartons, on their own page.Selling: License: not stated

More countries we've checked

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Common questions

Do I have to register backyard chickens in Colombia?
Registration: conditions apply. The finding covers: Persons with livestock premises producing animals for sale or economic use; poultry premises include backyard birds used for meat and eggs for consumption. No flock-size threshold was quoted. Outside this finding's scope: Whether a purely non-commercial backyard flock needs the registration was not established from the definitions read. Authority: Instituto Colombiano Agropecuario (ICA).
Can I keep chickens in my backyard in Colombia?
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 Colombia?
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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