Keeping hens · National rules

Can you keep backyard chickens in Slovakia?

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 4 official sources26 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 Slovakia, 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: Slovakia

Applies to: Owners or keepers of farm animals (Act 39/2007 § 40a(2)); keepers of more than 300 poultry for the decree's register and enrolment duties (Decree 342/2013 § 1).

What the checked sources say

  • Owners or keepers of farm animals must apply to register their holding before they start keeping farm animals (Act 39/2007 § 40a(2)). The application states the holding's capacity and the species, category and number of animals (§ 40a(3)(f)); a unique registration number is given within ten days (§ 40a(4)).
  • Registration is run by the Ministry of Agriculture or a legal person it appoints (§ 40a(1)).
  • Decree 342/2013 requires a keeper of more than 300 chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, pheasants or quails (or more than 1,500 fattening poultry) to keep a holding register and enrol the holding in the central animal register (§ 1).
  • The Act's sections read do not define farm animals (hospodárske zvieratá), so whether a small household flock below 300 birds must register under § 40a(2) was not established (Act 39/2007 §§ 2, 19 and 40a). Ask your regional veterinary and food administration.
  • A fee was not found in the sections read (§ 40a).

Thresholds

  • Decree 342/2013 § 1: more than 300 chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, pheasants or quails, or more than 1,500 fattening poultry, for the holding register and central-register enrolment. No threshold appears in Act 39/2007 § 40a.

Authority: Ministry of Agriculture or the legal person it appoints (registration); regional veterinary and food administration (RVPS)

Fee: Not established from the sources checked.

The official wording

  • Vlastník hospodárskych zvierat alebo držiteľ hospodárskych zvierat je povinný pred začatím chovu hospodárskych zvierat požiadať o registráciu chovného zariadenia 131b ) osobu podľa odseku 1.

    Zákon 39/2007, § 40a ods. 2 · Checked

  • Výkon registrácie chovného zariadenia na chov alebo držanie hospodárskych zvierat zabezpečuje ministerstvo alebo právnická osoba, ktorú výkonom registrácie poverí ministerstvo.

    Zákon 39/2007, § 40a ods. 1 · Checked

  • opis chovného zariadenia s uvedením jeho kapacity a druh, kategóriu a počet hospodárskych zvierat v chovnom zariadení.

    Zákon 39/2007, § 40a ods. 3 písm. f) · Checked

  • Osoba podľa odseku 1 zaeviduje žiadosť podľa odseku 2 a do desiatich dní odo dňa jej doručenia pridelí chovnému zariadeniu jedinečné registračné číslo;

    Zákon 39/2007, § 40a ods. 4, opening words · Checked

  • Čl. 4 bod 27 nariadenia (EÚ) 2016/429 v platnom znení.

    Zákon 39/2007, poznámka pod čiarou 131b · Checked

  • Držiteľ, ktorý chová viac ako 300 kusov kúr, moriek, husí, kačíc, bažantov, prepelíc (ďalej len „hydina“) alebo viac ako 1 500 kusov hydiny určenej na výkrm alebo viac ako päť kusov bežcov (ďalej len „držiteľ“), vedie register hydiny a bežcov v chove,

    Vyhláška 342/2013, § 1 ods. 1, opening words · Checked

  • Držiteľ prihlási do centrálneho registra zvierat chov na predpísanom tlačive s názvom „Registrácia chovu“,

    Vyhláška 342/2013, § 1 ods. 2, opening words · 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: Slovakia

Applies to: Emergency measures ordered by the Chief Veterinary Officer and measures ordered by regional veterinary and food administrations under Act 39/2007 (§§ 6, 8 and 34).

What the checked sources say

  • The Chief Veterinary Officer may order the emergency measures he considers necessary in the urgent cases set out in Act 39/2007 § 34(1) and § 35(9) (§ 6(5)(a)(2)); one such case is veterinary authorities finding agents of an Annex 3 disease in Slovakia (§ 34(1)(b)), and Annex 3 lists avian influenza. The Ministry of Agriculture confirms these measures (§ 5(d)).
  • Regional veterinary and food administrations order and lift measures for named persons in their area, including on suspicion of serious danger from listed diseases (§ 8(3)(e)).
  • An emergency measure the State Veterinary and Food Administration published on 28 October 2005 ordered owners and keepers to feed and water free-range poultry in a closed space or under a shelter that keeps wild birds away. That is a past measure; this page does not say whether it applies now.
  • Whether these powers are used to order poultry indoors was not established in the sections read (Act 39/2007 §§ 5, 6, 8 and 34).
  • This page does not say whether any bird-flu measure applies now; check the State Veterinary and Food Administration's avian influenza page.
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.

  • nariadiť núdzové opatrenia, najmä obmedzenie pohybu osôb, zákaz pohybu osôb a ich styku a zhromažďovania alebo iné núdzové opatrenia, ktoré vzhľadom na závažnosť nebezpečenstva pre zdravie zvierat alebo zdravie ľudí považuje za potrebné,

    Zákon 39/2007, § 6 ods. 5 písm. a) bod 2 · Checked

  • je oprávnený v naliehavých prípadoch podľa § 34 ods. 1 a § 35 ods. 9

    Zákon 39/2007, § 6 ods. 5 písm. a), lead-in · Checked

  • Hlavný veterinárny lekár je oprávnený pri obchode a pri uvádzaní na trh zvierat, násadových vajec, zárodočných produktov, živočíšnych vedľajších produktov a produktov živočíšneho pôvodu nariadiť mimoriadne núdzové opatrenia, ak

    Zákon 39/2007, § 34 ods. 1, lead-in · Checked

  • orgány veterinárnej správy zistia na území Slovenskej republiky prítomnosť pôvodcov, ktorí vyvolávajú niektoré z chorôb uvedených v prílohe č. 3 ,

    Zákon 39/2007, § 34 ods. 1 písm. b), opening words · Checked

  • aviárna influenza (vysokopatogénna aviárna influenza u hydiny, vtákov chovaných v zajatí a voľne žijúcich vtákov a nízkopatogénna aviárna influenza u hydiny a vtákov chovaných v zajatí)

    Zákon 39/2007, príloha č. 3 · Checked

  • potvrdzuje núdzové opatrenia, ktoré nariaďuje hlavný veterinárny lekár Slovenskej republiky

    Zákon 39/2007, § 5 písm. d), opening words · Checked

  • nariaďuje a zrušuje opatrenia na základe skutočností zistených pri výkone svojej pôsobnosti alebo pri podozrení z vážneho alebo bezprostredného ohrozenia zdravia zvierat alebo zdravia ľudí produktmi živočíšneho pôvodu chorobami uvedenými v prílohách č. 1 , 3 až 5

    Zákon 39/2007, § 8 ods. 3 písm. e), opening words · Checked

  • Dátum publikácie: 28. októbra 2005

    ŠVPS SR, MNO page, date line · Checked

  • hydinu vo voľnom výbehu kŕmiť a napájať v uzavretom priestore, alebo pod prístreškom ktorý dostatočne bráni prilietavaniu voľne žijúcich vtákov

    ŠVPS SR, MNO page, ordered measures · Checked

  • hlavný veterinárny lekár Slovenskej republiky nariadil vyššie uvedené dočasné opatrenia.

    ŠVPS SR, MNO page, reasons · Checked

Small-flock welfare minimums

Rule identified for the scope below

Jurisdiction: Slovakia

Applies to: Every owner or keeper of an animal (Act 39/2007 § 22).

What the checked sources say

  • Owners and keepers must ensure the animal's protection and welfare: good health, its physiological and behavioural needs, enough freedom of movement and social contact, by meeting requirements on inspecting animals, housing and equipment, and feeding, watering and medicines (§ 22(1)).
  • Cruelty is prohibited, including keeping an animal in unsuitable conditions or so that animals cause each other suffering, and restricting feed and water so that health is harmed (§ 22(2)(f) and (n)).
  • Numeric space minimums for small flocks were not found in the sections read (§ 22).

The official wording

  • Vlastník zvieraťa alebo držiteľ zvieraťa je povinný pri chove zvieraťa alebo držaní zvieraťa zabezpečiť jeho ochranu a pohodu,

    Zákon 39/2007, § 22 ods. 1, opening words · Checked

  • ktorý s ohľadom na druh zvieraťa, stupeň jeho vývoja, prispôsobenia sa a domestikácie zaručí jeho dobrý zdravotný stav, fyziologické potreby a etologické potreby, dostatočnú voľnosť pohybu, sociálne vzťahy, rozvíjanie jeho daností a fyziologické prejavy správania,

    Zákon 39/2007, § 22 ods. 1, middle words · Checked

  • a to dodržiavaním požiadaviek na a) kontrolu zvierat, b) ustajnenie zvierat a na používané zariadenia, c) kŕmenie, napájanie, podávanie liekov, veterinárnych liekov a veterinárnych prípravkov,

    Zákon 39/2007, § 22 ods. 1 písm. a) až c) · Checked

  • Zakazuje sa týranie zvieraťa, ktorým je každé konanie okrem odôvodneného zdravotného a schváleného postupového dôvodu, ktorým sa

    Zákon 39/2007, § 22 ods. 2, lead-in · Checked

  • zviera chová v nevhodných podmienkach alebo tak, že si zviera samé spôsobuje utrpenie a bolesť alebo si zvieratá spôsobujú utrpenie a bolesť navzájom,

    Zákon 39/2007, § 22 ods. 2 písm. n) · Checked

  • obmedzuje výživa a napájanie zvieraťa, čím sa poškodzuje jeho zdravotný stav,

    Zákon 39/2007, § 22 ods. 2 písm. f) · Checked

National rules on keeping poultry

No rule identified in this research

Jurisdiction: Slovakia

Applies to: Rules on where chickens may be kept on a residential or other plot.

What the checked sources say

  • A national rule on where chickens may be kept was not found in the sections read (Act 39/2007 §§ 19, 22, 40 and 40a; Decree 342/2013 §§ 1 and 2).
  • Municipalities may issue regulations in matters of self-government (Act 369/1990 § 6(1)) and set by regulation activities that are banned or restricted at certain times or places, as part of keeping public order (§ 4(5)(a)(5) and § 4(3)(n)).
  • Whether your municipality's regulations limit keeping hens was not established; check its general binding regulations (VZN).

The official wording

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

Selling eggs in Slovakia? →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 Slovakia?
Registration: conditions apply. The finding covers: Owners or keepers of farm animals (Act 39/2007 § 40a(2)); keepers of more than 300 poultry for the decree's register and enrolment duties (Decree 342/2013 § 1). Decree 342/2013 § 1: more than 300 chickens, turkeys, geese, ducks, pheasants or quails, or more than 1,500 fattening poultry, for the holding register and central-register enrolment. No threshold appears in Act 39/2007 § 40a. Authority: Ministry of Agriculture or the legal person it appoints (registration); regional veterinary and food administration (RVPS).
Can I keep chickens in my backyard in Slovakia?
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 Slovakia?
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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