Keeping hens · National rules

Can you keep backyard chickens in Singapore?

Registration: conditions apply, 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 sources27 passages quotedChecked October 28, 2026

At a glance

Registering your flock

Conditions apply

National keeping rule

Rule with conditions

Bird-flu housing orders

Status needs rechecking

Welfare rules

Not established

A sourced reading of national law in Singapore, 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: Singapore

Applies to: Keeping or maintaining a farm: land or premises used for keeping, rearing, breeding or boarding animals or birds for commercial purposes.

Outside this finding's scope

  • No registration duty for non-commercial keepers was identified in the rules read; that is not proof that none exists.

What the checked sources say

  • Under the Licensing of Farms Rules as shown in an archived official copy current at 15 August 2024, a farm needs a licence issued by the Director-General.
  • SFA's farming page lists the Farm Licence for land-based farms keeping birds for commercial food production, for example layer farms.

Authority: Not established from the sources checked.

Fee: Not established from the sources checked.

The official wording

  • “farm” means any land or premises, whether enclosed by fencing or not, used for the keeping, rearing, breeding or boarding of animals or birds for commercial purposes;

    Animals and Birds (Licensing of Farms) Rules, r. 2 · Checked

  • No person shall keep or maintain a farm except in accordance with a valid licence issued by the Director-General under rule 5 and in accordance with the conditions, if any, of that licence.

    Animals and Birds (Licensing of Farms) Rules, r. 4 · Checked

  • Land-based farms for keeping, rearing, or breeding animals or birds, or cultivating plants, for commercial food production e.g. dairy farms, layer farms, mushroom farms, urban farms, and vegetable farms.

    SFA page, licence table, Farm Licence row · 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 2026-11-08

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: Singapore

Applies to: Persons who breed or keep non-commercial poultry.

Outside this finding's scope

  • Whether directives have required housing is not established; no current status is asserted.

What the checked sources say

  • Under the Rules as shown in an archived official copy current at 25 April 2025, the Director-General or an authorised officer may direct anyone who breeds or keeps non-commercial poultry to take specified measures to contain or prevent avian disease. This applies when they are satisfied there is an outbreak or imminent outbreak, or think it necessary to prevent one.
  • Directives may be published by electronic means, including websites.
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.

  • 4.—(1) Where the Director-General or an authorised officer —

    r. 4(1), lead-in · Checked

  • he may issue a directive to any person who breeds or keeps any non-commercial poultry to require the person to take such measures as may be specified in the directive for the containment, or for the prevention of an outbreak or spread, of the avian disease.

    r. 4(1), closing words · Checked

  • is satisfied that there is an outbreak or an imminent outbreak of any avian disease; or

    r. 4(1)(a) · Checked

  • thinks it necessary and expedient for the prevention of an outbreak or spread of any avian disease,

    r. 4(1)(b) · Checked

  • by any electronic means, including internet websites.

    r. 4(2)(e) · Checked

  • AVS has a contingency plan to deal with an outbreak of bird flu in Singapore.

    AVS page 'Bird flu', Emergency Preparedness · Checked

Small-flock welfare minimums

Not established from the sources checked

Jurisdiction: Singapore

Applies to: Animal owners under Part 4 of the Animals and Birds Act. Whether Part 4 reaches chickens was not established: the Act defines 'animal' as mammals or fish unless prescribed (s. 2), and Part 4's own interpretation section (s. 41) was not read.

Outside this finding's scope

  • The duty-of-care section was identified by its title only; its text and any poultry minimums were not read.

What the checked sources say

  • The Act's Part 4 includes a section titled duty of care of animal owners.
  • AVS's bird-flu page says pet birds should be kept in bird-proof cages or enclosures as a bird-flu precaution. This is advice, not a welfare rule.

The official wording

National rules on keeping poultry

Conditions apply to this finding

Jurisdiction: Singapore

Applies to: Anyone keeping non-commercial poultry, including chickens, in any premises.

Outside this finding's scope

  • Per the same archived copy (current at 25 April 2025), poultry are not 'non-commercial poultry' if kept in a farm or slaughter-house, kept or displayed for sale in a pet shop, or exhibited or used for research under a licence. The owner or operator of outdoor recreational premises open to the public (such as a park, garden, resort or golf course) may keep more than 10 only with the Director-General's approval and if all the birds are vaccinated as the Director-General specifies. Managing bodies of premises may have their own rules.

What the checked sources say

  • No more than 10 poultry, including chickens, may be kept in any premises (AVS bird-flu page, last updated 19 November 2025). The Rules set this limit for non-commercial poultry (r. 3(1)).
  • Under the Rules as shown in an archived official copy current at 25 April 2025 (not rechecked on Singapore Statutes Online), keeping more than 10 was an offence with a fine of up to $10,000, imprisonment of up to 12 months, or both.
  • Owners are also subject to the rules of the premises' managing body, which may or may not allow poultry.

The official wording

  • 3.—(1) Subject to paragraph (2), no person shall keep more than 10 non-commercial poultry in any premises.

    Animals and Birds (Prevention of Avian Disease in Non-Commercial Poultry) Rules, r. 3(1) · Checked

  • he has obtained the approval of the Director-General for the keeping of more than 10 non-commercial poultry in the outdoor recreational premises; and

    r. 3(2)(a) · Checked

  • “non-commercial poultry” means any poultry that is —

    r. 2, definition lead-in · Checked

  • not kept in a farm or slaughter-house;

    r. 2, definition limb (a) · Checked

  • “poultry” includes chickens, ducks, turkeys, geese, quails, partridges, pheasants, domestic pigeons, guinea fowls, swans and peacocks;

    r. 2 · Checked

  • shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding $10,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or to both.

    r. 5 · Checked

  • No more than 10 poultry (including chickens) are allowed to be kept in any premises.

    AVS page 'Bird flu', Bird Owners · Checked

  • On top of this, owners are also subjected to rules of the managing body of the premises, which may or may not allow the keeping of poultry within their managed areas.

    AVS page 'Bird flu', Bird Owners · Checked

  • not kept or displayed for sale in a pet shop;

    r. 2, definition limb (b) · Checked

  • not exhibited in any premises in accordance with a licence issued under the Animals and Birds (Licensing of Premises for Pet Shop and Other Purposes) Rules (R 2); or

    r. 2, definition limb (c) · Checked

  • not kept or used in a research facility in accordance with a licence issued under the Animals and Birds (Care and Use of Animals for Scientific Purposes) Rules (R 10);

    r. 2, definition limb (d) · Checked

  • (2) Paragraph (1) shall not apply to any person, being the owner or operator of any outdoor recreational premises that is open to the public or a section of the public, who keeps in the outdoor recreational premises more than 10 non-commercial poultry if —

    r. 3(2), lead-in · Checked

  • all the non-commercial poultry so kept by him have been vaccinated in accordance with such requirements as the Director-General may specify.

    r. 3(2)(b) · Checked

  • (3) In this rule, “outdoor recreational premises” includes any park, garden, resort or golf course.

    r. 3(3) · Checked

  • contravenes rule 3(1); or

    r. 5(a) · Checked

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

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Common questions

Do I have to register backyard chickens in Singapore?
Registration: conditions apply. The finding covers: Keeping or maintaining a farm: land or premises used for keeping, rearing, breeding or boarding animals or birds for commercial purposes. Outside this finding's scope: No registration duty for non-commercial keepers was identified in the rules read; that is not proof that none exists.
Can I keep chickens in my backyard in Singapore?
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 Singapore?
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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