Keeping hens · National rules

Can you keep backyard chickens in Norway?

Registration is required for the keepers covered below. The national keeping rule, and the bird-flu and welfare rules, follow.

Read from 6 official sources18 passages quotedChecked October 8, 2026

At a glance

Registering your flock

Registration required

National keeping rule

Rule identified

Bird-flu housing orders

Status needs rechecking

Welfare rules

Rule identified

A sourced reading of national law in Norway, 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

Rule identified for the scope below

Jurisdiction: Norway

Applies to: Hobby bird keeping, including garden hens and ducks and other outdoor birds; separate poultry-establishment rules where birds produce for sale.

Outside this finding's scope

  • This does not establish property permission or every registration exception. Certification or approval can replace separate poultry registration; fees remain unknown.

What the checked sources say

  • Register hobby bird keeping with Mattilsynet, including garden hens or ducks, pigeons and other outdoor birds.
  • Birds supplying eggs, meat or chicks for consumption in the keeper’s own household remain hobby birds in the regulator’s classification. Producing eggs or other products for sale brings the poultry rules into play.
  • Poultry registration concerns the establishment where birds are kept. Information includes location and address, operator details, species, production form, capacity, animal numbers and other facilities.
  • Selling eggs also requires food-business registration through Mattilsynet’s form service.

Thresholds

  • No numerical minimum flock size is established in the cited hobby-registration guidance.

Exemptions and their limits

  • A poultry establishment or hatchery that requires certification or approval need not register separately in addition. This does not remove authority oversight; bird and hatching-egg trade requirements are outside this table-egg record.

Authority: Mattilsynet

Fee: Not established from the sources checked.

The official wording

  • Har du fugler som hobby, må du registrere fugleholdet hos Mattilsynet. Det gjelder for eksempel hvis du har høner eller ender i hagen, brevduer eller andre fugler utendørs.

    Opening paragraph · Checked

  • Det regnes som hobbyhold selv om du får egg, kjøtt eller kyllinger til forbruk i egen husholdning fra fuglene.

    Jeg har fugl som hobby · Checked

  • Har du fugler som produserer egg, kjøtt, fjær, avkom eller andre produkter som du vil selge, skal du følge reglene som gjelder for fjørfe.

    Jeg har fugler som produserer noe for salg · Checked

  • Hvis du selger egg, må du i tillegg registrere deg som næringsmiddelvirksomhet i Mattilsynets skjematjeneste.

    Jeg har fugler som produserer noe for salg · Checked

  • Registrering betyr at anlegget der dyrene holdes må registreres hos Mattilsynet.

    Opening explanation · Checked

  • Når du registrerer deg, skal du gi opplysninger om: dyreholdets plassering adresse driftsansvarliges navn og adresse dyreart produksjonsform (type drift) kapasitet mengde dyr og visse andre fasiliteter

    Hvilke fjørfehold skal registreres? · Checked

  • Hvis du har fjørfehold eller rugeri som må sertifiseres eller godkjennes, skal du ikke registrere det i tillegg.

    Hvilke fjørfehold skal registreres? · 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 2026-10-08

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: Norway

Applies to: A conditional housing-order mechanism for areas where wild-bird infection risks spread to commercial poultry.

Outside this finding's scope

  • No currently active or absent order is established. The Rogaland removal is a dated historical finding only.

What the checked sources say

  • Mattilsynet says a housing order may cover all poultry and other captive birds in an area when infection in wild birds risks spreading to commercial poultry.
  • The regulator’s 30 April 2026 update reports that the Rogaland poultry-measures zone was lifted from 1 May 2026. This does not establish current nationwide or local housing-order status.
  • Even without a housing order, the regulator says captive birds must be fed and watered so wild birds are not attracted to, or able to land at, the feeding or watering place.
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.

  • I områder med påvist smitte på villfugl der Mattilsynet vurderer at det er fare for smittespredning til kommersielle fjørfehold, kan det innføres portforbud for alt hold av fjørfe og andre fugler i fangenskap for å hindre spredning av fugleinfluensa.

    Kan det bli innført portforbud for fugler i fangenskap? · Checked

  • Mattilsynet opphever sone med tiltak for fjørfehold i Rogaland fra og med 1. mai 2026.

    30.04.2026 change note · Checked

  • Selv om det ikke er portforbud, skal fjørfe og andre fugler i fangenskap, fôres og vannes på en slik måte at ville fugler ikke tiltrekkes av eller kan lande på stedet der det fôres og vannes.

    Feeding/watering paragraph · Checked

Small-flock welfare minimums

Rule identified for the scope below

Jurisdiction: Norway

Applies to: Birds covered by the Animal Welfare Act, with additional regulator guidance for hobby hens.

Outside this finding's scope

  • Selected national requirements only, not a complete welfare checklist or property permission.

What the checked sources say

  • Provide an environment meeting species-specific and individual welfare needs, including stimulating activities, movement, rest and other natural behaviour.
  • Animals must have access to suitable safe shelter outside normal grazing periods.
  • Provide good-quality feed, grazing and water meeting nutritional and fluid needs and promoting health and welfare.
  • Protect animals from injury, disease, parasites and other dangers. Sick or injured animals need proper treatment and euthanasia if necessary.
  • The regulator’s hobby-hen guidance calls for an insulated house in winter, heated if necessary.
  • Hobby-hen guidance identifies perches, dust-bathing material, space for hens to avoid one another and preferably a sheltered laying place. It does not establish a specific mandatory nesting dimension here.

The official wording

  • Loven omfatter forhold som påvirker velferd hos eller respekt for pattedyr, fugler, krypdyr, amfibier, fisk, tifotkreps, blekksprut og honningbier.

    §2 paragraph 1, first sentence · Checked

  • Dyreholder skal sikre at dyr holdes i miljø som gir god velferd ut fra artstypiske og individuelle behov, herunder gi mulighet for stimulerende aktiviteter, bevegelse, hvile og annen naturlig atferd. Dyrs levemiljø skal fremme god helse og bidra til trygghet og trivsel.

    §23 paragraph 1 · Checked

  • Dyr skal ha adgang til egnet og trygt tilholdsrom utenom normal beiteperiode.

    §23 paragraph 2 · Checked

  • fôr, beite og vann er av god kvalitet, dekker dyrets behov for næring og væske og fremmer god helse og velferd.

    §24(a), first sentence · Checked

  • dyr beskyttes mot skade, sykdom, parasitter og andre farer. Syke og skadde dyr skal gis forsvarlig behandling og avlives om nødvendig,

    §24(b) · Checked

  • Selv om noen raser tåler vårt norske klima godt, må de ha et isolert og om nødvendig oppvarmet hus om vinteren.

    Winter housing paragraph · Checked

  • Høner har behov for vagler å sitte på, sand eller annet materiale å støvbade i, nok plass til å unngå hverandre og helst et skjermet sted å legge egg.

    Hvordan skal hønene mine ha det? · Checked

National or state rules on keeping poultry

Rule identified for the scope below

Jurisdiction: Norway

Applies to: The Animal Welfare Act’s national condition on keeping animals.

Outside this finding's scope

  • This welfare condition does not establish permission at any property or absence of other restrictions. Regional-law allocation remains unknown.

What the checked sources say

  • Animals may be kept only where they can adapt to the keeping in a welfare-sound manner.

The official wording

  • Dyr skal bare holdes hvis de kan tilpasse seg holdet på en dyrevelferdsmessig forsvarlig måte.

    §22 paragraph 1 · Checked

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

More countries we've checked

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Common questions

Do I have to register backyard chickens in Norway?
Registration: required. The finding covers: Hobby bird keeping, including garden hens and ducks and other outdoor birds; separate poultry-establishment rules where birds produce for sale. No numerical minimum flock size is established in the cited hobby-registration guidance. Outside this finding's scope: This does not establish property permission or every registration exception. Certification or approval can replace separate poultry registration; fees remain unknown. Exemptions and their limits: A poultry establishment or hatchery that requires certification or approval need not register separately in addition. This does not remove authority oversight; bird and hatching-egg trade requirements are outside this table-egg record. Authority: Mattilsynet.
Can I keep chickens in my backyard in Norway?
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 Norway?
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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