Backyard chickens in Lafayette, Louisiana

Yes. Backyard hens are legal within the City of Lafayette and unincorporated Lafayette Parish under Lafayette Consolidated Government's Code of Ordinances, Chapter 10 (Animals). Chickens are allowed in this location, with no maximum number of chickens set, roosters are allowed, and no permit is required for a single-family residential property. Coops/pens must simply meet the required setback from occupied structures (§ 10-191). Chickens must be confined at all times and not allowed to run at large.

Note: LCG recodified Chapter 10 of its animal ordinances in December 2023 (Ord. No. JO-080-2023), so section numbers may have shifted from the historical § 10-191 citation below — confirm the current section number with LCG's Animal Care Center before building a coop.

Lafayette sits in the heart of Acadiana on the Gulf Coast, with long, hot, humid summers (routinely in the 90s°F with heat indices well above that) and short, mild, wet winters that rarely see hard freezes. Coops need excellent cross-ventilation and shade far more than insulation, and elevated, well-drained coop floors are essential given the area's heavy rainfall, flooding risk, and termite pressure.

Lafayette's bayous, drainage canals, and wooded lots create good habitat for raccoons, opossums, and rat snakes that raid coops at night or steal eggs, while hawks are a daytime threat to free-ranging birds. Foxes and coyotes are present in the parish's more rural and edge-of-town areas. Bury hardware cloth at least 12 inches down and secure latches to deter the area's dexterous nighttime predators.