Keeping hens · National rules

Can you keep backyard chickens in North Macedonia?

Registration: conditions apply, for the keepers covered below, under the 2012 animal identification and registration law as published (amending acts of 2014 to 2016 not read). What we found on bird flu, welfare and the keeping rule follows, including what we couldn't establish.

Read from 3 official sources16 passages quotedChecked October 29, 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 North Macedonia, 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: North Macedonia

Applies to: Keepers of farm animals and of 'other animals' (2012 identification and registration law, arts 3 and 9); poultry are not in the farm-animal definition.

What the checked sources say

  • As published in 2012, farm animals are cattle (incl. buffalo and bison), pigs other than wild boar, sheep and goats kept on a holding (art. 3(2) point 1); any other animal is an 'other animal' (point 2).
  • As published in 2012, keepers of other animals registered their holding only where that was needed and practicable and the animals might threaten human or animal health (art. 9(2)); they applied to the Agency (art. 9(3)).
  • Whether a small hen flock must be registered under current law was not established; amending acts of 2014 to 2016 were not read. Ask the Food and Veterinary Agency.

Authority: Агенција за храна и ветеринарство (Food and Veterinary Agency)

Fee: Not established from the sources checked.

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: North Macedonia

Applies to: Disease control measures under the Veterinary Health Law (2015 consolidation, arts 54 and 55).

What the checked sources say

  • As consolidated in 2015, after an outbreak was confirmed, listed measures included restricting movement or quarantining animals on the holding (art. 54(2) point 4); the official veterinarian decided them by decision (art. 54(3)).
  • As consolidated in 2015, for a disease covered by contingency plans, the director set the measures (art. 54(4)).
  • As consolidated in 2015, in protection and surveillance zones that the Agency set to prevent or limit a disease's spread, listed measures included isolating and confining animals on holdings (art. 55(2) point 4).
  • Whether the current law keeps these powers was not checked. This page does not say whether any bird-flu measure applies now; check with the Food and Veterinary Agency.
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: North Macedonia

Applies to: Animals bred or kept for food, wool, skin, fur or other farming purposes (2014 welfare law, art. 11(1)).

What the checked sources say

  • As published in 2014, keepers and owners should protect the welfare of animals in their care and prevent unnecessary pain, suffering or injury (art. 12(1)), and provide conditions suited to the animals' species, development and physiological and ethological needs (art. 12(2)).
  • Amending acts of 2015 and 2016 were not read. Numeric minimums for small flocks were not found in the articles read (arts 11-12).

The official wording

National rules on keeping poultry

No rule identified in this research

Jurisdiction: North Macedonia

Applies to: Rules on where chickens may be kept at an address.

What the checked sources say

  • A national rule on where chickens may be kept was not found in the texts read (2014 welfare law arts 11-12; 2012 identification law arts 2-9). Municipal rules were not researched; ask your municipality whether any local rule applies.

The official wording

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

Selling eggs in North Macedonia? →License, small-flock line, markets and cartons, on their own page.Selling: Registration

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Common questions

Do I have to register backyard chickens in North Macedonia?
Registration: conditions apply. The finding covers: Keepers of farm animals and of 'other animals' (2012 identification and registration law, arts 3 and 9); poultry are not in the farm-animal definition. Authority: Агенција за храна и ветеринарство (Food and Veterinary Agency).
Can I keep chickens in my backyard in North Macedonia?
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 North Macedonia?
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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