Keeping hens · National rules

Can you keep backyard chickens in Poland?

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

Read from 7 official sources31 passages quotedChecked October 27, 2026

At a glance

Registering your flock

Registration required

National keeping rule

Rule with conditions

Bird-flu housing orders

Status needs rechecking

Welfare rules

Rule identified

A sourced reading of national law in Poland, 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: Poland

Applies to: Establishments where poultry are kept (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 335, § 3(1)).

Outside this finding's scope

  • Birds kept permanently in living rooms are excepted from the notification (§ 3(1) pkt 2(b)).

What the checked sources say

  • Notify the district veterinary officer of the places where poultry or other birds are kept (§ 3(1) pkt 2(b)).
  • Establishments referred to in Article 3(1) of EU Regulation 2022/1345 are exempt from the Article 93(1)(a) registration duty of Regulation 2016/429, except establishments keeping bees (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 292, § 1); the place notification above still applies.
  • Both regulations have been in force since 18 March 2026.
  • A fee was not found in the texts read (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 335, § 3; Dz.U. 2026 poz. 292, § 1).

Thresholds

  • No flock-size threshold appears in the notification point read (§ 3(1) pkt 2(b)).

Exemptions and their limits

  • Birds kept permanently in living rooms (§ 3(1) pkt 2(b)).

Authority: District veterinary officer (powiatowy lekarz weterynarii)

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.

Jurisdiction: Poland

Applies to: Disease-control measures brought in by the district veterinary officer, the voivode or the agriculture minister under the Animal Health Act 2025 (arts 27-29).

What the checked sources say

  • The district veterinary officer brings in disease-control measures for his area by a local-law regulation (Animal Health Act 2025, art. 27(1)); they include an order to keep animals, including feeding or watering them, in a specified way (art. 27(2) pkt 24).
  • Where the area goes beyond one district, the voivode brings the measures in at the voivodeship veterinary officer's request (art. 28(1), (3)); the agriculture minister may bring in measures for all or part of Poland (art. 29).
  • The Act has been in force since 18 March 2026.
  • This page does not say whether any area order under arts 27-28, or any further ministerial measure, applies now; standing national measures for poultry establishments are set out under the national keeping rule. Check the Chief Veterinary Inspectorate's HPAI page (map, restricted areas, outbreaks) and your district veterinary officer.
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.

  • Art. 27. 1. Środki zwalczania chorób określone w przepisach, o których mowa w art. 1 pkt 1 lit. a–c, powiatowy lekarz weterynarii wprowadza na obszarze swojej właściwości, w drodze rozporządzenia – aktu prawa miejscowego.

    Animal Health Act 2025, art. 27 ust. 1 · Checked

  • 2. Środkami zwalczania chorób określonymi w przepisach, o których mowa w art. 1 pkt 1 lit. a–c, wprowadzanymi zgodnie z ust. 1 są w szczególności:

    Animal Health Act 2025, art. 27 ust. 2, opening words · Checked

  • 24) nakaz utrzymywania zwierząt, w tym ich karmienia lub pojenia, w określony sposób;

    Animal Health Act 2025, art. 27 ust. 2 pkt 24 · Checked

  • Art. 28. 1. Powiatowy lekarz weterynarii w przypadku konieczności wprowadzenia środków zwalczania chorób określonych w przepisach, o których mowa w art. 1 pkt 1 lit. a–c, na obszarze przekraczającym obszar jego właściwości niezwłocznie informuje o tym właściwego wojewódzkiego lekarza weterynarii.

    Animal Health Act 2025, art. 28 ust. 1 · Checked

  • 3. Wojewoda w przypadku, o którym mowa w ust. 1, na wniosek wojewódzkiego lekarza weterynarii wprowadza, w drodze rozporządzenia – aktu prawa miejscowego, środki zwalczania chorób określone w przepisach, o których mowa w art. 1 pkt 1 lit. a–c.

    Animal Health Act 2025, art. 28 ust. 3 · Checked

  • Art. 29. Minister właściwy do spraw rolnictwa w przypadku konieczności wprowadzenia środków zwalczania chorób określonych w przepisach, o których mowa w art. 1 pkt 1 lit. a–c, na terytorium Rzeczypospolitej Polskiej lub jego części może wprowadzić, w drodze rozporządzenia:

    Animal Health Act 2025, art. 29, opening words · Checked

  • 2026-03-18 IN_FORCE

    ELI API record for Dz.U. 2025 poz. 1795, entryIntoForce and inForce fields · Checked

  • HPAI w Polsce - mapa, obszary objęte ograniczeniami, ogniska

    Chief Veterinary Inspectorate, HPAI page title · Checked

Small-flock welfare minimums

Rule identified for the scope below

Jurisdiction: Poland

Applies to: Every animal (Animal Protection Act, art. 5); keepers of farm animals as defined in the law on organising the breeding of farm animals (arts 4 pkt 18 and 12).

What the checked sources say

  • Every animal requires humane treatment (art. 5).
  • Whoever keeps farm animals must provide care and proper living conditions, and husbandry conditions must not cause injury or other suffering (art. 12(1)-(2)).
  • Whether hens kept at home count as farm animals depends on the breeding law's definition, which was not read; numeric space or equipment minimums for small flocks were not found in the articles read (arts 2, 4, 5 and 12).
  • Quoted from the Sejm Chancellery's unified text dated 31 July 2026.

The official wording

National rules on keeping poultry

Conditions apply to this finding

Jurisdiction: Poland

Applies to: Establishments where poultry are kept (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 335, § 3(1)); farm animals in areas excluded from agricultural production (municipal rules).

What the checked sources say

  • Among other duties at establishments where poultry are kept: do not bring in or take out hens or turkeys not vaccinated against Newcastle disease (§ 3(1) pkt 1(c)); keep poultry away from water bodies wild birds can reach; keep poultry isolated from wild birds, except ducks, geese, ratites, chickens of slow-growing breeds and hens kept in the free-range system (system wolnowybiegowy); feed and water poultry and captive birds (geese excepted) indoors or in a sheltered place, so that feed and water are protected from rodents, domestic and wild animals and their droppings; put nests inside buildings (§ 3(1) pkt 2(a), (c), (e), (f)).
  • Establishments that move poultry or eggs to other establishments or offer them directly for sale have further orders (§ 3(3)).
  • Your municipal council adopts cleanliness and order rules, a local-law act (Act on maintaining cleanliness and order in municipalities, art. 4(1)); they set requirements for keeping farm animals in areas excluded from agricultural production, and may ban keeping them in certain areas or properties (art. 4(2) pkt 7). Whether hens kept at home count as farm animals for these rules was not established in the texts read. Check your gmina's rules.

The official wording

Selling eggs in Poland? →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 Poland?
Registration: required. The finding covers: Establishments where poultry are kept (Dz.U. 2026 poz. 335, § 3(1)). No flock-size threshold appears in the notification point read (§ 3(1) pkt 2(b)). Outside this finding's scope: Birds kept permanently in living rooms are excepted from the notification (§ 3(1) pkt 2(b)). Exemptions and their limits: Birds kept permanently in living rooms (§ 3(1) pkt 2(b)). Authority: District veterinary officer (powiatowy lekarz weterynarii).
Can I keep chickens in my backyard in Poland?
The national sources we read set the limits shown under “National rules on keeping poultry” on this page, and don't settle the rest. Check your local rules before you get hens.
Do I have to keep my hens indoors for bird flu in Poland?
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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