Keeping hens · National rules

Can you keep backyard chickens in Togo?

The national sources we read don't settle registration or who decides where hens can live. Here's what they do say.

Read from 3 official sources29 passages quotedChecked November 2, 2026

At a glance

Registering your flock

Not established

National keeping rule

Not established

Bird-flu housing orders

Status needs rechecking

Welfare rules

Cruelty rule; no care standards found

A sourced reading of national law in Togo, 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

No rule identified in this research

Jurisdiction: Togo

Applies to: Under the 1999 animal health police law, the livestock minister may, by order, impose a census and identification of animals among other animal health measures (Art. 7).

Outside this finding's scope

  • No standing duty to register a flock or its keeper was found in the law or the orders read. This does not prove that none exists.
  • The law is read in the Journal officiel copy of 4 March 1999; later amendments were not checked.

What the checked sources say

  • A census and identification of animals is a measure the livestock minister may impose by order to apply animal health police (Art. 7).

Authority: Ministry in charge of livestock

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 2026-11-08

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: Togo

Applies to: The 1999 law lets the livestock minister take any animal health police measure (Art. 6) and, by order, confine contaminated animals to a set zone, inspect or mark them, and ban animal markets, among other measures (Art. 7). The appearance of a listed disease must be the subject of a declaration of infection by the minister's order (Art. 10); the law also has the competent administrative authority sign, on the regional livestock head's proposal, a decision declaring infection that sets the mandatory control measures, zones, species and duration (Arts 15, 16). The law names no measure keeping poultry indoors; whether these powers are used for one was not established.

Outside this finding's scope

  • This page does not say whether any order applies now. The agriculture ministry lists bird-flu communiqués on its documentation page (agriculture.gouv.tg/documentation/); they were not opened here.
  • A ministry order of July 2023 on African swine fever cites the 1999 law; it is shown only as evidence that the law is still applied, not as a current measure.
  • Three communiqués listed there name bird flu in their titles: a press communiqué on bird flu and swine fever, a communiqué on bird flu and the measures taken by the Togolese government, and a communiqué on the appearance of bird flu; their dates and contents were not read, and no current status is drawn from their titles.

What the checked sources say

  • Owners, keepers and anyone who sees, knows of or suspects a notifiable contagious disease must declare it (Art. 11).
  • The minister's order-making powers include confining contaminated animals to a set zone and banning animal markets (Art. 7).
  • The decision declaring infection must specify the sequestration zone, the observation zone, the animal species the measures apply to, and the duration and conditions of the measures (Art. 16).
  • In exceptional circumstances listed in Art. 18, including collective animal poisoning, a natural disaster or a contagious disease not on the list, the competent administrative authority may prescribe animal health police measures by decision (Art. 18).
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.

Small-flock welfare minimums

Rule identified for the scope below

Jurisdiction: Togo

Applies to: The 1999 animal health police law prohibits inflicting on animals suffering that is not indispensable given living conditions and absolute necessity (Art. 40), and punishes whoever kills or mutilates animals of any species without necessity with one to six months' imprisonment and/or a fine of 100,000 to 200,000 francs (Art. 46).

Outside this finding's scope

  • No national rule on space, housing or feeding standards for small flocks was found in the texts read.
  • The law is read in the Journal officiel copy of 4 March 1999; later amendments were not checked. The Penal Code was not reached on an official host.

The official wording

  • LOI N° 99-002 du 12 février 1999 relative à la police sanitaire des animaux sur le territoire de la république togolaise

    JO of 4 March 1999, p. 2, title · Checked

  • Art. 40 — Il est interdit d'infliger aux animaux des souffrances non indispensables au regard des conditions de vie et des nécessités les plus absolues.

    JO 1999, p. 5, Art. 40 · Checked

  • Art. 46 — Est puni d'un emprisonnement d'un (1) mois à six (6) mois et d'une amende de cent mille francs (100.000F) à deux cents mille francs (200.000 F) ou de l'une de ces deux peines :

    JO 1999, p. 6, Art. 46, lead-in · Checked

  • - l'auteur d'un abattage ou d'une mutilation sans nécessité d'animaux de quelque espèce que ce soit.

    JO 1999, p. 6, Art. 46, second item · Checked

  • Vu la loi n°99-002 du 12 février 1999, relative à la police sanitaire des animaux sur le territoire de la République Togolaise ;

    Order of July 2023, p. 1, first visa · Checked

National rules on keeping poultry

Not established from the sources checked

Scope not established from the sources checked.

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

More countries we've checked

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Common questions

Do I have to register backyard chickens in Togo?
Registration: no rule identified. The finding covers: Under the 1999 animal health police law, the livestock minister may, by order, impose a census and identification of animals among other animal health measures (Art. 7). Outside this finding's scope: No standing duty to register a flock or its keeper was found in the law or the orders read. This does not prove that none exists. The law is read in the Journal officiel copy of 4 March 1999; later amendments were not checked. Authority: Ministry in charge of livestock.
Can I keep chickens in my backyard in Togo?
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 Togo?
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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