Western Australian Backyard & Small-Acreage Livestock Rules, by Council

WA has no single state-wide bird-count default — the state-wide WA article covers what the state actually sets (50+ poultry triggers livestock owner registration and a PIC with DPIRD, under the Animal Welfare Act 2002), but the actual number of chickens or livestock you can keep comes down to your own council's local law. This page collects what each council's own published policy actually says, sourced directly from each council wherever possible.

City of Stirling

Stirling's Health Local Law 2009 permits up to 6 poultry on residential-zoned land (excluding grouped housing), or up to 30 pigeons (75 for members of a registered pigeon club). Poultry must be kept at least 10m from any dwelling. Pigs are explicitly banned from being kept on any premises. Most strikingly, large animals — sheep, goats, pigs, alpacas, horses, deer, camels, llamas, geese, emus, ostriches and kangaroos (including miniature forms) — are not permitted anywhere in the City of Stirling, regardless of property size or zoning; this is a complete ban, not a permit-required arrangement.

Sources: City of Stirling — Health Local Law 2009 (PDF); Keeping Other Domestic Animals

City of Wanneroo

Wanneroo runs a detailed six-tier table by lot size: up to 600m² — 2 poultry, no ducks; 601–800m² — 4 poultry, no ducks; 801–1,000m² — 6 poultry, including up to 2 ducks; 1,001–5,000m² — 12 poultry including ducks; 5,001–10,000m² — 25 poultry including ducks; over 10,000m² — 50 poultry including ducks. Roosters, turkeys, geese and peacocks/peahens aren't permitted in any residential area at all. Large animals must be kept at least 9m from any dwelling, food premises, shop, public building, hospital or school, and ostriches and emus aren't permitted in residential, commercial or industrial areas.

Sources: City of Wanneroo — Poultry & Livestock; Animals Local Law 2021

City of South Perth

South Perth's Health Local Laws 2002 allow an owner/occupier to keep up to 12 poultry birds (defined here as domestic fowls specifically). Distinctively, the City takes an all-or-nothing approach to other bird types: it's prohibited to keep a rooster, goose, duck, turkey or peafowl at all within the City — not just capped at a lower number, but banned outright regardless of permit.

Source: City of South Perth — Poultry

City of Nedlands

Nedlands' Health Local Law 2017 allows up to 12 poultry in a residential area, with poultry defined broadly to include domestic fowl, chickens, bantams, ducks, guinea fowl and pheasants. Unlike South Perth's outright ban, Nedlands allows a rooster, turkey, goose/gander or peacock/peahen with written approval from the City — these aren't banned outright, just requiring sign-off first.

Source: City of Nedlands — Keeping of Animals

City of Rockingham

Rockingham's Health Local Laws 1996 restrict large animals — cattle, horses, donkeys, pigs, sheep, goats, deer, camels, llamas/alpacas, and emus/ostriches — to the Rural and Special Rural zones only, and even there, development approval is required and stocking must not exceed rates recommended by the WA Department of Agriculture and Food. Poultry follows the same rural-zone-only default, up to 20 birds. Distinctively, Rockingham offers a formal exemption pathway to keep poultry in a residential area anyway, requiring written consent from all neighbouring landowners, a management plan, and an enclosure plan — more of an "ask your neighbours first" process than most councils use.

Sources: City of Rockingham — Keeping Other Animals; Keeping of Pigeons, Poultry and Other Birds (PBH/842)

City of Swan

Swan takes a permissive approach to backyard poultry: no council approval is required at all to keep poultry, pigeons or parrots — though private property covenants can still prohibit it, and it's worth checking via Landgate before assuming. For livestock on smaller rural properties, Swan uses a sustainability-based approach rather than a fixed number: planning approval is required once stocking exceeds the land's base (dry) stocking rate, calculated using Department of Agriculture WA guidelines — a different, land-capability-driven method rather than a simple lot-size table.

Sources: City of Swan — Keeping Chickens; Local Planning Policy POL-C-090, Keeping of Livestock

City of Joondalup

Joondalup's current Animals Local Law permits up to 6 poultry (including a maximum of 2 ducks) in a residential area — keeping more is a specific offence under the local law. Roosters, turkeys, geese/ganders and peacocks/peahens aren't permitted in a residential area at all. Poultry sheds must sit at least 1m from a boundary and 9m from any dwelling or street. Ostriches and emus aren't permitted anywhere in the district. Council has a 2025/2026 proposed local law under consultation that would raise the residential poultry allowance to 12 — check the current status directly with council, as this hadn't taken effect as of research.

Source: City of Joondalup Animals Local Law (current); Proposed Animals Local Law 2025/2026 (consultation draft)

City of Cockburn

Cockburn's current local laws permit up to 12 hens or ducks on a residential property, rising to 25 poultry on land in the resource zone and 50 poultry on rural-zoned land. Roosters, turkeys, geese, peacocks and peahens aren't permitted without specific approval. Cockburn is also consulting on a new Keeping of Animals Local Law 2026 that would, for the first time, allow up to 2 livestock animals for domestic/pet purposes without needing approval — a loosening from the current rule, which requires planning approval to keep any number of livestock at all. Check the current status directly with council.

Source: City of Cockburn — Approval to Keep Poultry, Pigeons and Other Birds; Proposed Keeping of Animals Local Law 2026 (consultation draft)

City of Kalamunda

Kalamunda's Keeping and Control of Animals and Nuisance Local Law 2011 tiers poultry by lot size: under 600m² — no poultry or pigeons without approval; 600–2,000m² — up to 6 poultry or pigeons combined; over 2,000m² — up to 20 poultry or pigeons combined, including 1 restricted poultry (rooster, peafowl, turkey or goose). This "1 restricted bird allowed on larger lots" provision is more permissive than most WA councils, which typically ban these species outright regardless of size. Large animals use a land-capability, stocking-rate-based planning approach rather than a fixed number.

Source: City of Kalamunda — Animals & Livestock

City of Armadale

Armadale allows residents to keep poultry without needing to inform the City at all. Outside a rural zone, up to 20 poultry — chickens/hens, ducks and other birds commonly kept for egg production — are permitted. Peafowl, geese, guinea fowl, turkeys and roosters aren't permitted. Livestock or farm animals outside a designated rural zone require a specific Non-Rural Permit application, with strict conditions assessed before approval.

Source: City of Armadale — Livestock, Poultry and Bees

City of Melville

Melville allows residents to keep poultry — chickens, fowls and ducks — without approval, provided no more than 12 are kept at any time and they're housed in a properly constructed, secure enclosure.

Source: City of Melville — Poultry

City of Kwinana

Kwinana permits up to 10 poultry without a permit in residential and special residential zones (roosters, geese, turkeys and peafowl aren't allowed there), rising to 25 poultry in special rural and rural zones — a permit is needed to exceed 25 even rurally. Aviary birds have no numeric limit, provided they don't cause a nuisance under the Environmental Protection Act 1986. Up to 2 beehives are permitted without a permit. Farm animals and livestock (cows, sheep, pigs, goats and similar) aren't allowed in residential areas at all — only on rural properties, and only with prior planning approval from the City.

Source: City of Kwinana — Keeping Bees, Poultry, Birds, Horses and Livestock

City of Mandurah

Mandurah's Animals, Environment and Nuisance Local Law 2010 ties poultry to lot size: under 1,000m² — up to 6 poultry (including a maximum of 2 ducks); 1,001m² and over — up to 12 poultry (including ducks). Poultry must sit at least 5m from any residential building, and at least 5m from a public street, public building, commercial premises or food business. Pigeons are capped at 12 (100 for members of an affiliated poultry or pigeon club). As with the rest of WA, keeping 50 or more poultry or pigeons requires DPIRD livestock owner registration.

Sources: City of Mandurah — Animals, Environment and Nuisance Local Law 2010 (PDF); Guidelines, Keeping of Poultry, Pigeons and Birds (PDF)

City of Bayswater

Bayswater runs a granular scaling table, moving in roughly single-bird increments as lot size grows: 0 poultry under 500m², rising to 9 at 500–599m², 10 at 600–699m², and up by about one bird per 100m² increment through to 24 at 1,900–1,999m² and beyond — a finer-grained approach than most councils' broad size bands. Roosters aren't permitted at any time. Coops need at least 20m² of floor area, sit 1.2m from any boundary, and 9m from a dwelling, public building, workplace or food premises (closer only with specific Manager approval). Livestock — sheep, goats, cows, horses, alpacas, camels and llamas — require council approval; native animals need a separate licence, with penalties up to $500,000 for unlicensed keeping.

Source: City of Bayswater — Other Pets

Town of East Fremantle

East Fremantle uses a land-density formula: 1 bird per 100m² of land (500m² = 5 birds, 800m² = 8 birds), with an overall cap of 10 poultry per property and no roosters permitted. Poultry keepers must register with the Town. Coops need at least 1.8m height, must sit at least 7m from a dwelling and 1.2m from a boundary (unless neighbour consent is given), and — distinctively — poultry can only be kept on a property with a single dwelling; duplexes, group housing, multiple dwellings and non-residential buildings can't keep poultry at all.

Source: Town of East Fremantle — A Guide to Keeping Poultry (PDF)

Town of Bassendean

Bassendean's Animals, Environment and Nuisance Local Law 2019 permits up to 12 fowls or 6 ducks without approval. Geese, turkeys, peafowl and roosters all require approval before being kept — not banned outright, but not automatically permitted either.

Source: Town of Bassendean — Chickens & Poultry

City of Vincent

Vincent's Animal Local Law 2022 replaced an older, stricter law that had included a "Poultry Prohibited Zone" across the City's southern suburbs. Under the current law, residents — other than those in apartments — can keep up to 6 chickens or pigeons in an enclosed pen without approval, provided no public health nuisance results. Registered beekeepers can keep 2 hives on a property of 400m² or less, or 4 hives on larger land.

Source: City of Vincent — Vincent Introduces Simple Law for Animal Owners

City of Albany

Albany's Animals Local Law 2020 sets a combined cap: an ordinary owner/occupier must not keep more than 6 poultry and 6 pigeons combined; members of a properly constituted poultry or pigeon club can keep up to 50 pigeons and 12 poultry. Roosters, turkeys, geese, peacocks and peahens aren't permitted in a residential area at all. The actual type and number of animals permitted also depends on the property's zoning.

Source: City of Albany — Animals Local Law 2020; Livestock & Poultry

City of Busselton

Busselton permits poultry — fowls, peafowls, turkeys, geese and ducks all counted together — up to a combined maximum of 20, kept at least 12m from any residential home in a properly constructed, clean enclosure. Unlike many councils, Busselton doesn't single out roosters or "noisy" species for a separate, stricter rule — they're all treated the same under the 20-bird combined cap.

Source: City of Busselton — Health FAQs

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