Keeping hens · National rules

Can you keep backyard chickens in Jersey?

Registration is required 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 5 official sources42 passages quotedChecked November 2, 2026

At a glance

Registering your flock

Registration required

National keeping rule

No rule identified

Bird-flu housing orders

Status needs rechecking

Welfare rules

Rule identified

A sourced reading of national law in Jersey, 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

Rule identified for the scope below

Jurisdiction: Jersey

Applies to: Keepers of 1 or more poultry or other captive birds on any premises. Poultry are birds reared or kept in captivity for the production of meat or eggs for consumption, other products, restocking game or breeding for those purposes.

Outside this finding's scope

  • Keepers whose only captive birds belong to the order Psittaciformes or the order Passeriformes (such as parrots, budgies and canaries), are housed fully within a dwelling or a bird house and have no access to open air.

What the checked sources say

  • Notify the Minister in writing within one month of becoming the keeper: your name, postal address, phone number and email address; the address where the birds are kept (with field number if relevant); whether most of the poultry are normally kept indoors or free range; the number of each species kept; and why they are kept (Animal Health (Bird Diseases) (Jersey) Order 2017, Art. 4(2)).
  • Notify the Minister in writing within one month of any change to those details (Art. 4(3)).
  • Keep a record for each species of the birds and their eggs: numbers kept, numbers entering or leaving, the premises address, who the birds came from and went to, arrival and departure dates, destination if known and the purpose of leaving; keep it for at least 12 months (Art. 4(5)-(6)).
  • Government guidance says to send the application form by email to rva@gov.je, and that garden flocks and flocks kept for only part of the year must register.

Thresholds

  • 1 or more poultry or other captive birds on any premises.

Exemptions and their limits

  • Keepers whose only captive birds belong to the order Psittaciformes or Passeriformes, are housed fully within a dwelling or bird house and have no access to open air.

Authority: Minister for Environment, Agriculture and Fisheries (Animal Health (Jersey) Law 2016); Government of Jersey animal health team (rva@gov.je)

Fee: Not established from the sources checked.

The official wording

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 2026-11-08

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

Rule identified for the scope below

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

Jurisdiction: Jersey

Applies to: Measures the Minister imposes against the bird diseases the Order covers (Newcastle disease, avian influenza and pigeon paramyxovirus 1) by declaring a prevention zone in all or part of Jersey or by notice to the occupiers of premises where birds are kept.

Outside this finding's scope

  • No current order is stated here. Whether a prevention zone or housing requirement is in force at any time must be checked with the Government of Jersey.

What the checked sources say

  • Where the Minister is satisfied there is a risk of a disease spreading and, after a risk assessment, considers it necessary to reduce it, the Minister must declare a prevention zone in all or part of Jersey or serve notices on the occupiers of premises where birds are kept (Animal Health (Bird Diseases) (Jersey) Order 2017, Art. 5(1)).
  • In imposing measures the Minister must consider in particular the need to require birds to be housed or otherwise kept separate from wild birds, to keep feed and water away from wild birds, to require footwear disinfection and other biosecurity measures, and to ban or limit gatherings of birds (Art. 5(4)).
  • Anyone who suspects that an animal or bird is affected by disease must immediately notify the Minister (Animal Health (Jersey) Law 2016, Art. 12(1)); the Government of Jersey avian influenza page gives the reporting phone number and email.
  • The Government of Jersey avian influenza page shows the latest situation (https://www.gov.je/Industry/PetsAndLivestock/AnimalDisease/Pages/AvianFlu.aspx).
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.

Small-flock welfare minimums

Rule identified for the scope below

Jurisdiction: Jersey

Applies to: The owner or person having care of a domestic animal, which the Law defines to include poultry (domestic fowl, ducks, geese, guinea fowl, partridges, peafowl, pheasants, pigeons, quail and turkeys).

What the checked sources say

  • It is an offence for the owner or person caring for the animal, without reasonable cause or excuse, to fail to supply fresh drinking water and a wholesome diet appropriate to its species, age, weight and needs, in sufficient quantity and regularity to keep it in good health (Animal Welfare (Jersey) Law 2004, Art. 5(1)(a)).
  • It is likewise an offence to fail to provide suitable shelter sufficient to keep it in good bodily condition, or veterinary care sufficient to keep it in good health or prevent unnecessary deterioration or suffering (Art. 5(1)(b)-(c)).
  • Abandoning the animal, without reasonable cause or excuse, in circumstances likely to cause it unnecessary suffering is an offence (Art. 5(1)(d)), as is causing a domestic animal unnecessary suffering by any act or omission without reasonable cause or excuse (Art. 4(2)).

The official wording

National rules on keeping poultry

No rule identified in this research

Jurisdiction: Jersey

Applies to: Island-wide rules on whether, where or how many chickens may be kept.

Outside this finding's scope

  • No such rule was identified in the Jersey laws and Government of Jersey pages read on 2026-11-02 (the Animal Health (Jersey) Law 2016, the Animal Health (Bird Diseases) (Jersey) Order 2017, the Animal Welfare (Jersey) Law 2004 and the keeping-livestock guidance). Planning, nuisance and parish rules were not researched. This is not a finding that keeping chickens is unrestricted.

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

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

More countries we've checked

Every country on the map →

Common questions

Do I have to register backyard chickens in Jersey?
Registration: required. The finding covers: Keepers of 1 or more poultry or other captive birds on any premises. Poultry are birds reared or kept in captivity for the production of meat or eggs for consumption, other products, restocking game or breeding for those purposes. 1 or more poultry or other captive birds on any premises. Outside this finding's scope: Keepers whose only captive birds belong to the order Psittaciformes or the order Passeriformes (such as parrots, budgies and canaries), are housed fully within a dwelling or a bird house and have no access to open air. Exemptions and their limits: Keepers whose only captive birds belong to the order Psittaciformes or Passeriformes, are housed fully within a dwelling or bird house and have no access to open air. Authority: Minister for Environment, Agriculture and Fisheries (Animal Health (Jersey) Law 2016); Government of Jersey animal health team (rva@gov.je).
Can I keep chickens in my backyard in Jersey?
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 Jersey?
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.

PoultryPal tracks your birds, eggs, hatches, sales, and expenses — so you can see exactly how your flock is doing. Free to download on iOS and Android.

Download on the App StoreGet it on Google Play