Keeping hens · National rules

Can you keep backyard chickens in Greenland?

The national sources we read don't settle registration or who decides where hens can live. Here's what they do say.

Read from 5 official sources20 passages quotedChecked November 2, 2026

At a glance

Registering your flock

Not established

National keeping rule

No rule identified

Bird-flu housing orders

Status needs rechecking

Welfare rules

Rule identified

A sourced reading of national law in Greenland, 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

No rule identified in this research

Jurisdiction: Greenland

Applies to: Registration of places where poultry or other livestock are kept.

Outside this finding's scope

  • No rule requiring poultry keepers in Greenland to register was identified in the texts read on 2026-11-02 (the animal diseases ordinance of 2004 as published, the agriculture act as consolidated in 2025 and the zoonoses act). This is not a finding that no registration applies.

What the checked sources say

  • The animal diseases ordinance for Greenland lets the Danish Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries set rules on a duty to report livestock holdings to the Central Livestock Register (CHR) (Anordning nr. 524/2004, § 14(1), as published in 2004).
  • The agriculture act lets Naalakkersuisut set registration and reporting duties for farming, which it defines as commercial use of land including raising livestock (Landstingslov nr. 5/1996, §§ 1(2) and 12, as consolidated in 2025).

Authority: Not established from the sources checked.

Fee: Not established from the sources checked.

The official wording

  • § 14. Ministeren for fødevarer, landbrug og fiskeri kan fastsætte regler om pligten til at afgive oplysninger om husdyrbrug til Centralt Husdyrbrugs Register (CHR).

    § 14(1), first sentence · Checked

  • § 12. Naalakkersuisut kan fastsætte regler om registrerings- og meddelelsespligt i forbindelse med udøvelsen af landbrug, som muliggør indsigt i driftsforholdene og dermed tilsynet med lovens overholdelse.

    § 12 · Checked

  • Stk. 2. Ved landbrug forstås i denne lov erhvervsmæssig udnyttelse af arealer til planteavl, afgræsning eller opdræt af husdyr samt akvakultur, herunder omfattes enhver form for jordfaste anlæg og bygninger til de nævnte formål.

    § 1(2), first sentence · Checked

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 2026-11-02

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: Greenland

Applies to: General powers to order measures against animal disease in Greenland, which may include isolation of animals: by the Danish minister under the animal diseases ordinance (as published in 2004) for the diseases in its Annex 2, and by VFMG under Greenland's zoonoses act for diseases that pass between animals and people. Whether either power covers bird flu was not established.

Outside this finding's scope

  • No current order is stated here, and no official status page was found. The copy of the ordinance read lists influenza infections in poultry, including fowl plague, among the Annex 1 Group A diseases that must be reported, but Annex 2 Group I as printed in that copy lists no poultry diseases, only a stray line ending 'pullorum)', so whether bird flu falls under the ordinance's § 8 power was not established. The zoonoses act does not regulate zoo-sanitary matters, and Fødevarestyrelsen says its disease work in Greenland excludes diseases that pass to people; which authority may order bird-flu measures was not settled.

What the checked sources say

  • To eradicate, prevent, limit or counter the spread of the diseases in its Annex 2, the Danish Minister for Food, Agriculture and Fisheries may set rules and order special measures, which for animal holdings may include isolation (Anordning nr. 524/2004, § 8(1)-(2), as published in 2004).
  • VFMG may issue bans and orders for special measures to limit the spread of zoonoses, which for animal holdings may include isolation (Inatsisartutlov nr. 12/2016, §§ 3(1) and 9(1)-(2)).
  • Anyone keeping animals that have, or may have, a disease listed in Annex 1 of the ordinance must report it to a vet (Anordning nr. 524/2004, § 5(1), as published in 2004).
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.

  • § 8. Ministeren for fødevarer, landbrug og fiskeri kan for at udrydde, hindre, begrænse eller imødegå risiko for udbredelse af de i lovens bilag 2 nævnte sygdomme fastsætte regler om og meddele påbud om gennemførelse af særlige foranstaltninger

    § 8(1), opening · Checked

  • Stk. 2. Foranstaltningerne i henhold til stk. 1 kan bl.a. omfatte: 1) For dyrehold og vildtlevende dyr: a) Særlige undersøgelser, herunder prøveudtagning med henblik på diagnosticering, b) tilsyn, c) mærkning, d) behandling, e) vaccination, f) isolation, g) særlige betingelser for levering af dyr, h) aflivning af dyr, herunder i et område omkring et udbrudssted, eller særlig slagtning og i) destruktion.

    § 8(2)(1)(a)-(i) · Checked

  • Fjerkræsygdomme Influenzainfektioner, herunder Fowl Plague Newcastle disease Hønsetyfus (Salmonella gallinarum og Salmonella pullorum)

    Bilag 1, Gruppe A, poultry diseases · Checked

  • § 9. Veterinær- og Fødevaremyndigheden kan meddele forbud og påbud om gennemførelse af særlige foranstaltninger for at begrænse eller imødegå risiko for udbredelse af zoonoser og zoonotiske agens.

    § 9(1) · Checked

  • Stk. 2. Foranstaltningerne i henhold til stk. 1 og stk. 4, kan bl.a. omfatte: 1) For dyrehold og vildtbestande: a) Særlige undersøgelser, b) tilsyn, c) mærkning, d) behandling, e) vaccination, f) isolation, g) særlige betingelser for levering af dyr, h) aflivning af dyr, herunder i et område omkring et udbrudssted, eller slagtning på særlige vilkår, og i) destruktion.

    § 9(2)(1)(a)-(i) · Checked

  • Smitsomme husdyrsygdomme/zoo-sanitære område: Overvågning og bekæmpelse af sygdomme undtagen sygdomme, der smitter fra dyr til mennesker herunder rabies.

    Fødevarestyrelsens opgaver · Checked

  • Gruppe A (omfatter sygdomme, der skal indberettes til myndighederne i henhold til § 6, stk. 2, jf. § 7)

    Bilag 1, Gruppe A heading · Checked

  • § 5. Den, som i sin varetægt har dyr, som er eller kan mistænkes for at være angrebet af en af

    § 5(1), opening (page break follows) · Checked

  • de sygdomme, der er nævnt i lovens bilag 1, skal foretage anmeldelse heraf til en dyrlæge.

    § 5(1), end · Checked

  • Stk. 3. Loven regulerer ikke zoo-sanitære forhold.

    § 1(3) · Checked

Small-flock welfare minimums

Rule identified for the scope below

Jurisdiction: Greenland

Applies to: Anyone who keeps animals; the act covers all animals.

What the checked sources say

  • Keepers must treat animals with care, including housing, feeding, watering and looking after them according to their physiological, behavioral and health needs (Landstingslov nr. 25/2003 as consolidated in 2025, § 3).
  • Buildings, rooms, pens or areas where animals are kept must meet their needs and keep them from harm, and animals must be protected from wind and weather, including access to dry bedding (§ 4(1)).
  • Animals must be checked at least once a day, except animals kept free-range outdoors, which must be checked regularly and protected as well as possible from predators (§ 5).
  • If an animal is treated irresponsibly, the veterinary authority may order how it is to be treated (§ 23(1)).

The official wording

  • § 2. Landstingsloven omfatter alle dyr.

    § 2 · Checked

  • § 3. Den, der holder dyr, skal sørge for, at de behandles omsorgsfuldt, herunder huses, fodres, vandes og passes under hensyntagen til deres fysiologiske, adfærdsmæssige og sundhedsmæssige behov i overensstemmelse med anerkendte praktiske og videnskabelige erfaringer.

    § 3 · Checked

  • § 4. Bygninger, rum, folde eller arealer, hvor dyr holdes, skal indrettes på en sådan måde, at dyrets behov tilgodeses og således, at dyrene ikke kan komme til skade, jf. § 3.

    § 4(1), first sentence · Checked

  • Dyr skal endvidere sikres mod vind og vejr i overensstemmelse med deres behov, herunder behov for adgang til et tørt leje.

    § 4(1), third sentence · Checked

  • § 5. Den, der holder dyr, skal sørge for, at dyret tilses mindst en gang om dagen. Dette gælder dog ikke dyr, der holdes fritgående på udendørs arealer. Sådanne dyr skal dog tilses jævnligt og beskyttes bedst muligt mod rovdyr.

    § 5 · Checked

  • § 23. Behandles dyr uforsvarligt, kan veterinærmyndigheden give den ansvarlige påbud om dyrets behandling.

    § 23(1) · Checked

National rules on keeping poultry

No rule identified in this research

Jurisdiction: Greenland

Applies to: Rules on whether, where or how many chickens may be kept.

Outside this finding's scope

  • No such rule was identified in the Greenland texts read on 2026-11-02. The agriculture act covers farming as commercial use of land, including raising livestock; no rule for household poultry was found. Municipal rules were not researched. This is not a finding that keeping chickens is unrestricted.

The official wording

  • Stk. 2. Ved landbrug forstås i denne lov erhvervsmæssig udnyttelse af arealer til planteavl, afgræsning eller opdræt af husdyr samt akvakultur, herunder omfattes enhver form for jordfaste anlæg og bygninger til de nævnte formål.

    § 1(2), first sentence · Checked

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

Selling eggs in Greenland? →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 Greenland?
Registration: no rule identified. The finding covers: Registration of places where poultry or other livestock are kept. Outside this finding's scope: No rule requiring poultry keepers in Greenland to register was identified in the texts read on 2026-11-02 (the animal diseases ordinance of 2004 as published, the agriculture act as consolidated in 2025 and the zoonoses act). This is not a finding that no registration applies.
Can I keep chickens in my backyard in Greenland?
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 Greenland?
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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