Keeping hens · National rules
Can you keep backyard chickens in Uganda?
The national sources we read don't settle registration or who decides where hens can live. Here's what they do say.
Read from 2 official sources21 passages quotedChecked October 25, 2026
At a glance
Registering your flock
Not established
National keeping rule
Not established
Bird-flu housing orders
Status needs rechecking
Welfare rules
Rule with conditions
A sourced reading of national law in Uganda, 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
No rule identified in this research
Jurisdiction: Uganda
Applies to: Keepers of stock, which includes poultry, under the Animal Diseases Act (the agriculture ministry's copy archived in 2014).
Outside this finding's scope
- This does not establish that no registration duty exists; rules made under the Act and district rules were not read.
- The current text on the Laws of Uganda portal is subscription-only and was not compared; later amendments were not checked.
What the checked sources say
- No duty for poultry keepers to register was found in the Animal Diseases Act, read in full in the agriculture ministry's copy archived in July 2014.
- In the same copy, anyone with an animal affected, or suspected of being affected, by a disease the Act lists or the Minister adds must keep it apart from other animals and tell the nearest administrative, veterinary or inspecting officer.
Authority: Not established from the sources checked.
Fee: Not established from the sources checked.
The official wording
“stock” means cattle, sheep, goats, horses, mules, donkeys, swine and poultry;
“poultry” means all domestic or domesticated fowls, ducks, geese, turkeys, guinea fowl, peafowl, pheasants, pigeons, … ornamental or caged birds;
“animals” means all stock, camels and other ruminating animals, cats and dogs, but does not include any other animal, except such as may be declared by the Minister by statutory instrument to be included in the term “animals” for the purposes of this Act;
Any person having in his or her possession or charge any animal affected with disease or suspected of being affected with disease shall as soon as possible— (a) keep that animal separate from animals not so affected or suspected of being so affected;
(c) notify an administrative officer or veterinary officer or inspecting officer, whoever is the nearest, of the fact of the animal being affected or suspected of being affected.
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 2026-10-25
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: Uganda
Applies to: Areas the Minister declares infected by statutory order, or the commissioner of livestock and entomology declares provisionally infected in urgent cases, under the Animal Diseases Act (the agriculture ministry's copy archived in 2014).
Outside this finding's scope
- The Act provides for movement control and isolation in infected areas; the term housing order was not found in it.
- Avian influenza is not in the Act's list of diseases as read; the Minister may add diseases by statutory instrument, and whether that was done was not established.
- This page does not say whether any infected-area declaration is in force.
- The current text on the Laws of Uganda portal is subscription-only and was not compared; later amendments were not checked.
What the checked sources say
- In the agriculture ministry's 2014 copy of the Animal Diseases Act, the Minister may declare any area an infected area by statutory order, and in urgent cases the commissioner of livestock and entomology may declare an area provisionally infected.
- In the same copy, unless rules under the Act say otherwise, no stock, which includes poultry, may be moved in or from an infected area without the written permission of the commissioner or the officer in charge.
- In the same copy, the commissioner or the officer in charge may require owners to isolate their animals from other animals in the infected area.
- Checked
Historical evidence, as checked
These quotations record what was checked on the dates shown. They do not confirm an order's current status.
(1) The Minister may at any time by statutory order declare any area within Uganda to be an infected area for the purposes of this Act.
(2) Notwithstanding subsection (1), in cases of urgency the commissioner of livestock and entomology may declare any area provisionally infected pending such order and upon that declaration sections 18 and 19 shall immediately apply to the area.
The following provisions shall, in the absence of other provision made by rules under this Act, apply to all infected areas— (a) no stock or carcass shall be moved in or from any such area without the written permission of the commissioner of livestock and entomology or the veterinary officer or inspecting officer in charge of the area;
the commissioner of livestock and entomology or the veterinary officer or inspecting officer in charge of the area may require the owner or person in charge of any animal or animals within the area to isolate the animal or animals from other animals within the infected area
“stock” means cattle, sheep, goats, horses, mules, donkeys, swine and poultry;
“disease” means cattle plague (rinderpest), anthrax, … but does not include any other disease, except such as may be declared by the Minister by statutory instrument to be included in the term “disease” for the purposes of this Act;
Small-flock welfare minimums
Conditions apply to this finding
Jurisdiction: Uganda
Applies to: Any person, and owners who permit cruelty, under the Animals (Prevention of Cruelty) Act (the agriculture ministry's copy archived in 2014).
Outside this finding's scope
- Section 1 of the Act read gives no definition of animal, so whether every bird is covered was not confirmed from a definition.
- Selected offences only, not a full welfare code.
- The current text on the Laws of Uganda portal is subscription-only and was not compared; later amendments were not checked.
What the checked sources say
- In the agriculture ministry's 2014 copy of the Act, cruelly beating, ill-treating or torturing an animal is an offence, and so is causing it unnecessary suffering by wantonly or unreasonably doing, or failing to do, any act; an owner who permits either also commits one.
- In the same copy, carrying an animal in a way that causes it unnecessary suffering is an offence.
- In the same copy, an owner who fails to take reasonable care to protect an animal from cruelty is treated as permitting it.
- In the same copy, cruelty carries a fine of up to one thousand shillings, up to three months in prison, or both; later changes to penalties were not checked.
- In the same copy, letting an animal with a contagious or infectious disease be at large in a public place is an offence.
The official wording
Any person who— cruelly beats, kicks, ill-treats, overrides, overdrives, overloads, tortures or infuriates any animal, or causes or procures, or being the owner, permits any animal to be so used,
or by wantonly or unreasonably doing or omitting to do any act, or causing or procuring the commission or omission of any act, causes any unnecessary suffering, or being the owner, permits any unnecessary suffering to be so caused to any animal;
conveys or carries, or causes or procures, or being the owner, permits to be conveyed or carried, any animal in such manner or position as to cause that animal unnecessary suffering;
(2) For the purposes of this section, an owner shall be deemed to have permitted cruelty within the meaning of this Act if he or she has failed to exercise reasonable care and supervision in respect of the protection of the animal from cruelty;
commits an offence of cruelty within the meaning of this Act and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding one thousand shillings or to imprisonment for a period not exceeding three months or to both such fine and imprisonment.
(1) Any person who permits any animal of which he or she is the owner or which is in his or her possession or under his or her control to be at large in any public place while the animal is suffering from any contagious or infectious disease commits an offence
CHAPTER 39 THE ANIMALS (PREVENTION OF CRUELTY) ACT.
National or state rules on keeping poultry
Not established from the sources checked
Jurisdiction: Uganda
Applies to: National duties for anyone keeping stock, which includes poultry, under the Animal Diseases Act (the agriculture ministry's copy archived in 2014).
Outside this finding's scope
- Whether a district or urban council limits keeping chickens at a property was not researched; the Local Governments Act was not read.
- The current text on the Laws of Uganda portal is subscription-only and was not compared; later amendments were not checked.
- The Animals (Straying) Act, listed on the Laws of Uganda portal as Cap. 50, was identified but not read.
What the checked sources say
- In the agriculture ministry's 2014 copy of the Animal Diseases Act, anyone keeping poultry must keep apart, and report to the nearest administrative, veterinary or inspecting officer, an animal affected, or suspected of being affected, by a disease the Act lists or the Minister adds.
- Whether local rules limit keeping chickens where you live was not researched.
The official wording
Any person having in his or her possession or charge any animal affected with disease or suspected of being affected with disease shall as soon as possible— (a) keep that animal separate from animals not so affected or suspected of being so affected;
(c) notify an administrative officer or veterinary officer or inspecting officer, whoever is the nearest, of the fact of the animal being affected or suspected of being affected.
“stock” means cattle, sheep, goats, horses, mules, donkeys, swine and poultry;
More countries we've checked
- BangladeshRegistration: not establishedNot established
- BelgiumRegistration: requiredRegistration required
- BrazilRegistration: conditions applyRegistration: conditions
- ColombiaRegistration: conditions applyRegistration: conditions
- DenmarkRegistration: requiredRegistration required
- EgyptRegistration: conditions applyRegistration: conditions
- FranceRegistration: conditions applyRegistration: conditions
- GermanyRegistration: requiredRegistration required
- GreeceRegistration: not establishedNot established
- IcelandRegistration: conditions applyRegistration: conditions
- IndonesiaRegistration: not establishedNot established
- ItalyRegistration: requiredRegistration required
- KenyaRegistration: no rule identifiedNot established
- LiechtensteinRegistration: requiredRegistration required
- MalaysiaRegistration: not establishedNot established
- MexicoRegistration: not establishedNot established
- NigeriaRegistration: not establishedNot established
- NorwayRegistration: requiredRegistration required
- PakistanRegistration: not establishedNot established
- PhilippinesRegistration: not establishedNot established
- Saudi ArabiaRegistration: conditions applyRegistration: conditions
- SpainRegistration: conditions applyRegistration: conditions
- ThailandRegistration: not establishedNot established
- TürkiyeRegistration: conditions applyRegistration: conditions
- United Arab EmiratesRegistration: conditions applyRegistration: conditions
- VietnamRegistration: requiredRegistration required
Common questions
- Do I have to register backyard chickens in Uganda?
- Registration: no rule identified. The finding covers: Keepers of stock, which includes poultry, under the Animal Diseases Act (the agriculture ministry's copy archived in 2014). Outside this finding's scope: This does not establish that no registration duty exists; rules made under the Act and district rules were not read. The current text on the Laws of Uganda portal is subscription-only and was not compared; later amendments were not checked.
- Can I keep chickens in my backyard in Uganda?
- 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 Uganda?
- 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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