Metro Melbourne Livestock Rules, by Council

Victoria has no single state-wide bird-count default the way NSW does — the state-wide VIC article covers what the state actually sets (PIC thresholds, welfare space standards, rural zoning), but the actual number of chickens or poultry you can keep comes entirely from your own council's local law. This page collects what each Greater Melbourne council's own published policy actually says, sourced directly from each council wherever possible. Looking for a council outside Melbourne? See the Regional Victoria livestock rules by council page.

Banyule City Council

Banyule's Community Local Law 2025 permits up to 10 poultry and 4 guinea pigs without a permit, plus 4 rabbits. Roosters are not permitted at all (maximum allowed: 0). Keeping more than these numbers requires an annual excess animal permit from council.

For larger livestock, Banyule's local law is explicit: on any parcel of land under 4,000m², cattle, pigs, goats, sheep, alpacas, camels, donkeys, horses, bulls, emus, ostriches and other agricultural animals all require a permit before being kept at all — the default permit-free allowance is zero.

Sources: Banyule City Council — Domestic Animal Management Plan 2025–2029 (PDF); Banyule General Local Law No. 1 (2015)

Maroondah City Council

Maroondah's Community Local Law 2023 permits up to 5 poultry (chickens, ducks, fowl and similar) without a permit, plus 20 pigeons. Roosters are not permitted (maximum allowed: 0). On land under 0.5ha, keeping more than 5 poultry, 20 domestic birds or 20 pigeons requires a Keeping Additional Animals permit.

For larger livestock, the same local law is explicit: on land 5,000m² or smaller, horses, donkeys, cattle, sheep, goats, alpacas, llamas and pigs are all set at zero without a permit — council can seize and dispose of animals kept in breach where a permit hasn't been granted.

Source: Maroondah City Council — Permitted Number of Animals; Maroondah City Council Community Local Law 2023

Merri-bek City Council

Merri-bek (formerly Moreland) permits up to 4 chickens (hens) without a permit on a standard property — none at all in a flat, unit, apartment or townhouse unless a permit is granted. Non-racing pigeons are capped at 5, racing pigeons at 20. Coop structures must sit at least 10m from a street frontage, 3m from any other street, 1.5m from a boundary, and 7m from any dwelling (including the owner's own home) — keeping additional chickens or building a coop closer than 6m to a neighbouring dwelling requires an excess animal permit.

Sources: Merri-bek City Council — Keeping Multiple Pets; Keeping Chickens (PDF)

Knox City Council

Knox's Amenity Local Law 2020 sets permit-free poultry numbers that scale with property size, with properties over 4,000m² exempt from the numeric cap entirely (though Planning Scheme controls may still apply). Knox's definition of poultry — chickens, ducks, geese, peacocks, pheasants, turkeys, bantam, squab and guinea fowl — specifically excludes roosters, which are treated separately and require their own permit consideration.

The same 4,000m² threshold governs larger livestock too: council states plainly that livestock are not permitted on any land less than 4,000m² unless allowed under an applicable Act or the Planning Scheme, and roosters aren't permitted on any land regardless of size without the same authorisation.

Source: Knox City Council — Keeping Extra Animals and Birds

Boroondara City Council

Boroondara's Amenity Local Law tiers poultry by type: 6 chickens or pheasants, 2 turkeys, ducks or geese, and 4 of any other poultry type not specifically listed — these are cumulative if you keep more than one type. Roosters, peafowl and guinea fowl are not permitted (maximum allowed: 0).

Source: Boroondara City Council — Amenity Local Law (PDF)

Whitehorse City Council

Whitehorse's Community Local Law 2024 permits up to 6 poultry — chickens, ducks and geese in any combination — without a permit. Roosters, drakes and ganders are not permitted (maximum allowed: 0). Farm animals require a permit and are only considered on properties over 2,000m².

Sources: Whitehorse City Council — Keeping and Owning Multiple Pets; Poultry (Chickens, Ducks and Geese)

Glen Eira City Council

Glen Eira's Community Local Law 2019 permits up to 6 poultry and 20 pigeons without a permit. Roosters fall under Glen Eira's "general livestock" category (alongside donkeys, cattle, sheep, goats and pigs), which is capped at zero without a permit — a stricter framing than most councils, which usually list roosters as their own line item.

Source: Glen Eira City Council — Register Your Dog or Cat

Kingston City Council

Kingston's permit-free poultry allowance scales with property size: up to 10 poultry (or 2 live game birds) on land under 4,000m², rising to 25 poultry (or live game birds) on land 4,000m² or larger. Additional tiered allowances apply for small and large cage birds depending on lot size — given the added complexity of Kingston's size-based tiers, confirm the exact figures for your specific property directly with council.

Source: Permit to Keep Animals, Kingston City Council, via Australian Business Licence and Information Service

Bayside City Council

Bayside permits up to 10 poultry without a Local Law Permit, provided they're not part of a commercial or breeding operation and are kept with suitable accommodation to prevent nuisance. Keeping more than 10 requires contacting council's Local Laws team directly for a permit.

Source: Bayside City Council — Raising Chickens

Moonee Valley City Council

Moonee Valley ties its poultry allowance directly to property size: zero poultry without a permit on land under 150m², rising to 6 poultry (excluding roosters) on land 150m² or larger. Roosters are capped at zero regardless of property size. Racing pigeons follow the same pattern (0 under 150m², up to 40 on larger land), and farm animals require a permit and at least 2,000m² of open land per animal.

Source: Moonee Valley City Council — Pets and Animals

Hobsons Bay City Council

Hobsons Bay's Community Local Law 2025 permits up to 10 poultry (excluding roosters), plus 10 small birds, 2 large birds, 10 pigeons and 60 racing pigeons without a permit. Roosters require a permit (nil allowed otherwise). Cattle, horses, donkeys, pigs, sheep and goats are not permitted under this local law at all.

Source: Hobsons Bay City Council — Draft Community Local Law 2025 (council consultation document)

Cardinia Shire Council

Cardinia's Community Local Law 2024 sets a permit-free table across three land-size tiers. On land under 1,000m²: 5 chickens/poultry, 5 large birds, no roosters, and livestock not permitted at all without a permit. On land up to 4,000m²: the same 5 poultry/5 large bird/no-rooster limits apply, but livestock becomes unlimited by this local law — a notably lower threshold than most Victorian councils, many of which keep livestock at zero right up to 4,000m². On land over 4,000m²: poultry, large birds and roosters are all unlimited by this local law too. A maximum of 20 animals of any kind applies below the 4,000m² threshold.

Source: Cardinia Shire Council — Apply for an Excess Animal Permit

Yarra Ranges Council

Yarra Ranges is one of Melbourne's largest and most rural-character councils by land area, and its animal permit table reflects that: poultry doesn't require a permit at any property size covered in the table, and roosters need a permit on land up to 4,000m² but not above it — more generous than most metro Melbourne councils, several of which cap roosters at zero regardless of size. Cat and dog numbers scale modestly with land size (2 cats regardless of size; 2/3/4 dogs across the up-to-2,000m², 2,000–4,000m² and over-4,000m² tiers).

Source: Yarra Ranges Council — Excess Animal Permit Application (PDF)

Wyndham City Council

Wyndham's Community Amenity Local Law 2023 permits up to 6 hens without a permit, with no roosters. Hens must be kept in a coop in the rear yard and not allowed to free-range around the property. Farm animals and livestock — including ducks — are not permitted in residential areas at all, a notably strict stance that treats ducks as livestock rather than ordinary poultry.

Source: Wyndham City Council — Keeping Animals on Your Property

City of Whittlesea

Whittlesea runs a comprehensive four-tier table by land size (flats/units, under 4,000m², 4,000–20,000m², and 20,000m²+). Poultry: not allowed in flats, 12 under 4,000m², 24 up to 20,000m², unregulated above. Pigs are not allowed at any land size covered by the table. Large or noisy birds (including roosters): not allowed below 4,000m², 5 permitted between 4,000–20,000m². Horses, donkeys, camels and cattle: not allowed below 4,000m², 1 permitted between 4,000–20,000m². Sheep, goats and alpacas: not allowed below 4,000m², 2 permitted between 4,000–20,000m². All figures become unregulated by local law on land 20,000m² or larger (though planning controls may still apply).

Source: City of Whittlesea — Keeping Birds and Poultry

City of Casey

Casey's excess animal permit table scales by land size across three tiers (under 1,000m², 1,000–4,000m², over 4,000m²). Poultry: 5/7/20. Roosters: 0/0/1 — notable, since most metro Melbourne councils keep roosters at zero regardless of land size, while Casey permits one on larger blocks. Large birds follow the same 5/7/20 pattern as poultry; small birds run 10/20/30; pigeons 5/10/20.

Source: City of Casey — Permits for Excess Animals

Melton City Council

Melton's permit table runs across three tiers (up to 4,000m², 4,000–20,000m², and 20,000m²+). Poultry (except roosters): 12 on the smallest tier, unlimited above 4,000m². Roosters: prohibited below 4,000m², 1 permitted between 4,000–20,000m², unlimited above that. Dogs and cats scale from 2 up to unlimited on the largest properties too.

Source: Melton City Council — How Many Pets Can I Have?

Frankston City Council

Frankston permits up to 8 poultry (ducks, geese, hens) without a permit — on the higher end for a metro Melbourne council. An excess animal permit is also needed for more than 2 cats, 2 dogs, 4 rodents (rats, ferrets, mice, rabbits and guinea pigs), or 30 birds generally.

Source: Frankston City Council — Multiple Pets Require Permits

Hume City Council

Hume's General Purposes Local Law No.1 2023 runs a four-tier table (flats/units/townhouses, under 4,000m², 4,000–10,000m², over 10,000m²). Cattle: 0/0/5/10. Sheep and goats: 0/0/6/15 — both entirely prohibited below 4,000m², then permitted in real numbers above it. Dogs and cats scale more modestly, from 1 in flats/units up to 4 on the largest blocks.

Source: Hume City Council — General Purposes Local Law No.1 2023 (PDF)

Mornington Peninsula Shire

Mornington Peninsula runs a detailed six-tier table by land size (under 499m², 500–1,199m², 1,200–2,499m², 2,500–4,999m², 5,000–9,999m², and 10,000m²+). Two animals are held at zero across every single tier: pigs and roosters aren't permitted on any residential land regardless of size. Sheep, goats and llamas scale from 0 up to 6 at the largest tier; horses and donkeys from 0 up to 3; cattle stays at 0 until the very largest tier, where 1 becomes permitted. Poultry starts at 0 on the smallest blocks, reaching 20 on land over 10,000m².

Source: Mornington Peninsula Shire — How Many Animals or Birds Can I Keep on My Property?

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