Can you keep backyard chickens in New Mexico?
New Mexico's statutes couldn't be read from an official source, so who sets keeping rules, and whether keepers must register, wasn't established.
Read from 2 official sources7 passages quotedChecked October 25, 2026
At a glance
Registering your flock
State keeping rule
Bird-flu housing orders
Welfare rules
A sourced reading of New Mexico's state law, 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
Not established from the sources checked
Jurisdiction: New Mexico
Applies to: New Mexico Livestock Board (NMLB) rules 21.30.2, 21.30.4 and 21.34.20 NMAC, read on 25 October 2026.
Outside this finding's scope
- None of the NMLB rules read requires a poultry keeper to register. The Livestock Code itself (NMSA Chapter 77) was not read, so this is not proof that no duty exists. New Mexico’s statutes (NMSA 1978) could not be read for this research: the official online compilation was not reachable, and no other official copy of the current text was found.
Authority: Not established from the sources checked.
Fee: Not established from the sources checked.
Bird-flu housing orders
Current status needs rechecking
Check the official current-status pageOrders 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: New Mexico
Applies to: The New Mexico Livestock Board’s disease rules (21.30.4 NMAC), in which livestock includes poultry. The Livestock Code sections that the rule names as its statutory authority (Sections 77-2-7, 77-3-1, 77-3-13 and 77-3 NMSA 1978) were not read.
Outside this finding's scope
- The NMLB rules read let the board stop the movement of livestock by hold order and set quarantine steps for other diseases (such as foot-and-mouth disease), but no power to quarantine or confine poultry on a premises for avian influenza was found in them. Whether New Mexico law gives such a power is not established. New Mexico’s statutes (NMSA 1978) could not be read for this research: the official online compilation was not reachable, and no other official copy of the current text was found.
- This finding does not establish that any order applies now.
What the checked sources say
- NMLB rules define a hold order as a directive from the board, through the state veterinarian, to stop the movement of certain livestock (poultry included) because they may be diseased or exposed to a contagious disease that has not yet been confirmed in them.
- Avian influenza is listed among the diseases of concern to poultry that are to be reported immediately to the board’s state veterinarian when discovered or diagnosed.
- As checked on 25 October 2026, NMLB’s animal health page linked a county quarantine map for seeing the quarantine and hold over status of a particular disease in New Mexico by county.
- Current mandatory housing status remains unconfirmed; check NMLB’s animal health 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.
Section 77-2-7, 77-3-1, 77-3-13 and 77-3 NMSA 1978.
21.30.4.3 NMAC (statutory authority) · Checked
July 16, 2024, unless a later date is cited at the end of a section or paragraph.
21.30.4.5 NMAC (effective date) · Checked
E. "Livestock" means cattle, sheep, swine, bison, goats, horses, mules, asses, poultry, ratites, camelids, and farmed cervidae .
21.30.4.7(E) NMAC · Checked
F. "Hold order " means a directive by the New Mexico livestock board by or through the state veterinarian to stop movement of certain livestock because of the possibility those livestock are diseased or exposed to a contagious disease, but the disease has not been confirmed in those livestock.
21.30.4.7(F) NMAC · Checked
In addition to the diseases listed in 21.30.4.8 NMAC above, the following diseases and conditions are considered to be of significant economic impact and when discovered or diagnosed are to be immediately reported to the New Mexico livestock board’s state veterinarian:
21.30.4.9 NMAC, opening · Checked
E. Diseases of concern to poultry such as (but not limited to): (1) avian influenza; (2) newcastle disease; (3) psittacosis*.
21.30.4.9(E) NMAC · Checked
Click the link below at any time to see the quarantine and hold over status of a particular disease in NM by county.
Small-flock welfare minimums
Not established from the sources checked
Jurisdiction: New Mexico
Applies to: New Mexico animal welfare law for small flocks; the animal cruelty statutes (including NMSA 30-18-1) were not read.
Outside this finding's scope
- New Mexico’s statutes (NMSA 1978) could not be read for this research: the official online compilation was not reachable, and no other official copy of the current text was found. The New Mexico Livestock Board rules read for this research (21.30.2, 21.30.4 and 21.34.20 NMAC) do not set care standards for small flocks; other Livestock Board rules were not read. This is an open question, not an answer that no duty exists.
National or state rules on keeping poultry
Not established from the sources checked
Jurisdiction: New Mexico
Applies to: New Mexico state law on keeping chickens and the zoning powers of New Mexico municipalities and counties (NMSA Chapters 3 and 4), which were not read.
Outside this finding's scope
- New Mexico’s statutes (NMSA 1978) could not be read for this research: the official online compilation was not reachable, and no other official copy of the current text was found. So it is not established whether New Mexico sets any statewide keeping rule or leaves the question to cities and counties.
Bird flu right now? PoultryPal's bird-flu tracker for New Mexico has the latest we've checked.
Next door
Every state on the map →Common questions
- Do I have to register backyard chickens in New Mexico?
- Registration: not established. The finding covers: New Mexico Livestock Board (NMLB) rules 21.30.2, 21.30.4 and 21.34.20 NMAC, read on 25 October 2026. Outside this finding's scope: None of the NMLB rules read requires a poultry keeper to register. The Livestock Code itself (NMSA Chapter 77) was not read, so this is not proof that no duty exists. New Mexico’s statutes (NMSA 1978) could not be read for this research: the official online compilation was not reachable, and no other official copy of the current text was found.
- Can I keep chickens in my backyard in New Mexico?
- The state 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 New Mexico?
- Housing orders come and go, so we never show one as current. This page links the official status page to check today. PoultryPal's bird-flu tracker page for New Mexico has the latest we've checked.
Allowed where you live? Then keep the records.
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