Backyard chickens in London, Kentucky

Backyard chickens are allowed in London, Kentucky, but the city ties poultry-keeping to a minimum lot size rather than allowing it on every residential lot. According to information relayed directly from the City of London's building inspector to a resident,

you must have a half acre of land or more, a fence that will prevent the animals from leaving the owner's property, you must remove all feces, and you can only house 5 or less non-crowing poultry and no more than 1 crowing poultry under the city's animal-keeping rules.

This means hens are permitted (up to 5 non-crowing birds) and a single rooster ('crowing poultry') is also allowed, but only on lots of at least 0.5 acres. We were not able to locate the specific, currently codified ordinance number online (London's code is not published on a major open-access codifier such as Municode, American Legal, or eCode360), so this information should be confirmed directly with London City Hall / the Building Inspector's office before building a coop.

London sits in the rolling hills of southeastern Kentucky's Laurel County, with hot, humid summers and cool-to-cold winters that occasionally dip into the single digits °F. Flocks benefit from a draft-free, insulated coop for winter and good ventilation/shade for humid summer months.

The wooded, semi-rural terrain around London supports healthy populations of raccoons, foxes, coyotes, and hawks, along with opossums and snakes that target eggs and chicks. A fully enclosed, hardware-cloth-covered run and a secure, locking coop door are strongly recommended, especially given the city's own half-acre/fenced-enclosure requirement.