Keeping hens · National rules

Can you keep backyard chickens in Saudi Arabia?

Registration: conditions apply, for the keepers covered below. The national keeping rule, and the bird-flu and welfare rules, follow.

Read from 2 official sources10 passages quotedChecked October 24, 2026

At a glance

Registering your flock

Conditions apply

National keeping rule

Rule with conditions

Bird-flu housing orders

Status needs rechecking

Welfare rules

Rule identified

A sourced reading of national law in Saudi Arabia, 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

Conditions apply to this finding

Jurisdiction: Saudi Arabia

Applies to: Owners of livestock; livestock includes birds.

Outside this finding's scope

  • How these duties apply to poultry and backyard flocks was not established; MEWA's rural rearing guide was not read.

What the checked sources say

  • Owners must number and register livestock with MEWA within three months of birth.
  • The Minister may oblige owners to register and number livestock as MEWA determines.

Thresholds

  • Within three months of birth (regulation Art. 92); no flock-size threshold was quoted.

Authority: Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA)

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 2026-10-24

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

No rule identified in this research

This does not establish that no authority can order poultry to be housed or confined.

Uses housing orders in this scope: Not established from the sources checked.

Jurisdiction: Saudi Arabia

Applies to: MEWA disease-control powers.

Outside this finding's scope

  • No order mechanism for housing backyard birds was identified; this does not establish that none exists.

What the checked sources say

  • MEWA declares quarantine zones with the Ministry of Interior and may stop movement of people, animals and vehicles.
  • Current status is not shown here; no official status page was identified.
Checked

Historical evidence, as checked

These quotations record what was checked on the dates shown. They do not confirm an order's current status.

  • تتولى الوزارة إعلان مناطق الحجر لمنع انتشار الأمراض أو الآفات أو الأوبئة، بالتنسيق مع وزارة الداخلية، ولها في سبيل ذلك القيام بما يأتي: أ- منع حركة الأشخاص أو الحيوانات أو وسائل النقل، ومنع نقل أي مادة من مناطق الحجر وإليها.

    نظام الزراعة (م/64, 1442/8/10هـ), Art. 21(2)(a) · Checked

  • تتولى الوزارة أو من تفوضه إعلان وتحديد المناطق الموبوءة لمنع انتشار الأوبئة الحيوانية، ولها في سبيل ذلك القيام بما يأتي: 1. تقييد حركة الأشخاص ذوي الصلة أو وسائل النقل من المنطقة أو المواقع المصابة أو إليها أو عبرها.

    اللائحة التنفيذية لنظام الزراعة, Art. 106 lead-in and (1) · Checked

Small-flock welfare minimums

Rule identified for the scope below

Jurisdiction: Saudi Arabia

Applies to: Anyone dealing with livestock, birds included.

What the checked sources say

  • House animals in conditions suited to their species.
  • Give feed suited to the species and weight and safe to health, in sound troughs and drinkers that can be cleaned and disinfected, in amounts enough for the whole day.
  • Do not abuse, neglect, leave loose or underfeed livestock.

The official wording

  • يجب عند التعامل مع الثروة الحيوانية الالتزام بما يأتي: 1. إيواؤها وفق الشروط المناسبة لها بحسب كل نوع، وتُعد الوزارة الاشتراطات اللازمة في هذا الشأن.

    اللائحة التنفيذية لنظام الزراعة, Art. 93(1) · Checked

  • 2. تغذيتها بالأعلاف المناسبة لنوعها ووزنها والآمنة صحياً في معالف ومشارب سليمة وقابلة للتنظيف والتطهير، بكميات تكفيها طوال اليوم وبخاصة في المنشآت التجارية.

    اللائحة التنفيذية لنظام الزراعة, Art. 93(2) · Checked

  • 3. يحظر الإساءة أو الإيذاء أو الإهمال أو العبث بأي نوع من أنواع الثروة الحيوانية أو تركها سائبة أو تعريضها لسوء التغذية أو تركها وهي حية دون تقديم الغذاء الكافي والعلاج اللازم.

    اللائحة التنفيذية لنظام الزراعة, Art. 94(3) · Checked

National or state rules on keeping poultry

Conditions apply to this finding

Jurisdiction: Saudi Arabia

Applies to: Small-scale rural rearing of livestock, commercial or not.

Outside this finding's scope

  • The rural rearing guide's content was not read; this is not permission to keep chickens.

What the checked sources say

  • Small-scale rural rearing follows the controls MEWA announces in its rural rearing guide.
  • MEWA may close or move a livestock facility near dwellings that causes harm.

The official wording

  • التربية الريفية للثروة الحيوانية: حيازة أي نوع من الثروة الحيوانية يتم على أسس تجارية أو غير تجارية على نطاق صغير وفق الضوابط التي تعلنها الوزارة في دليل التربية الريفية للثروة الحيوانية.

    اللائحة التنفيذية لنظام الزراعة, Art. 1 (definition) · Checked

  • 1. للوزارة إصدار قرار بإغلاق المنشأة الزراعية الحيوانية أو نقلها بعد انتهاء العمر الافتراضي لها أو قربها من المساكن ووجود ضرر منها وذلك وفق الشروط والإجراءات التي تحددها الوزارة،

    اللائحة التنفيذية لنظام الزراعة, Art. 81(1) · Checked

Selling eggs in Saudi Arabia? →License, small-flock line, markets and cartons, on their own page.Selling: License: not stated

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Common questions

Do I have to register backyard chickens in Saudi Arabia?
Registration: conditions apply. The finding covers: Owners of livestock; livestock includes birds. Within three months of birth (regulation Art. 92); no flock-size threshold was quoted. Outside this finding's scope: How these duties apply to poultry and backyard flocks was not established; MEWA's rural rearing guide was not read. Authority: Ministry of Environment, Water and Agriculture (MEWA).
Can I keep chickens in my backyard in Saudi Arabia?
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 Saudi Arabia?
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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