The Cobb County chicken ordinance lets residents in unincorporated areas keep backyard hens, but the specifics turn on your lot size: properties of two acres or more fall under the county’s general livestock rules, while anything smaller follows a separate backyard chicken provision with a density cap, a 25-foot coop setback, and a required application to the Community Development Department. Roosters are banned across the board, and so is slaughtering birds on the property.1Municode Library. Cobb County, GA Code of Ordinances – Article IV District Regulations
First Check: Are You Actually in Unincorporated Cobb County?
The county ordinance only governs unincorporated Cobb. If your address sits inside the city limits of Marietta, Kennesaw, Smyrna, Acworth, Austell, or Powder Springs, the county’s rules don’t apply to you at all. Each city sets its own poultry rules, and they can differ significantly, including flock caps, minimum lot sizes, coop height limits, and separate building permits for the coop itself.2City of Marietta, GA. Chickens
If you’re not sure which side of the line you’re on, the county’s online property search tool or a quick call to the Zoning Division will confirm it. Following the wrong set of rules can cost you a coop you already built.
Two Tiers Based on Lot Size
Cobb County’s zoning code sits in Chapter 134 of the county ordinances. Lots of two acres or more have long been able to keep poultry under the general livestock and non-domestic animal provisions, as a permitted accessory use in most residential zoning districts, including R-20 and R-30, without any special application.1Municode Library. Cobb County, GA Code of Ordinances – Article IV District Regulations
For everyone else, the Board of Commissioners adopted a separate backyard chicken provision covering lots under roughly 80,000 square feet (about 1.84 acres). This is where most Cobb homeowners land, and this is the version of the ordinance with the strictest requirements on density, enclosure placement, maintenance, and paperwork.3Cobb County Georgia. Community Development Forms
How Many Hens You Can Keep
On lots under 80,000 square feet, the cap is one hen per 5,000 square feet of lot area. Divide your total lot size by 5,000 and round down. A 10,000-square-foot lot gets you two hens. A typical 20,000-square-foot R-20 lot tops out at four. Code enforcement will make you rehome anything over the ratio.
What the Ordinance Prohibits
Two rules catch new chicken keepers more than any others.
Roosters are not allowed on residential properties in unincorporated Cobb County. There’s no exception for breeding or flock management. If a chick you bought as a sexed pullet grows up crowing, you’ll need to rehome it.
On-site slaughter of any chicken is also prohibited, whether the meat is for sale or for your own table. The ordinance carves out no personal-use exception, so meat birds have to go to an off-site processing facility.
Beyond those two bright lines, your flock cannot create a nuisance as defined under Georgia law. Persistent odor, pest infestations, and noise complaints (hens can be louder than people expect) are all treated as code violations.
Coop Placement and Upkeep
Chickens must stay in a fenced enclosure in the rear yard at all times. Free-ranging in the front yard or drifting onto a neighbor’s lot violates the ordinance.
Coops and other structures housing chickens must sit at least 25 feet from any property line on lots under 80,000 square feet. On larger agricultural lots under the general livestock provision, buildings must be at least ten feet from adjoining residential structures, though the two-acre buffer usually makes that a non-issue.1Municode Library. Cobb County, GA Code of Ordinances – Article IV District Regulations
You’re responsible for keeping the coop and the area around it clean enough to prevent odors, insects, and rodents. Secure feed storage matters: open bags of chicken feed draw rats, and a rodent problem turns a quiet coop into a code enforcement case fast. Ventilation, predator-proof fencing, and routine waste removal are effectively required by the nuisance language even where the ordinance doesn’t spell them out.
The Application for Smaller Lots
If your lot is under 80,000 square feet, you have to submit a completed application to the Cobb County Community Development Department before bringing any birds home. The Zoning Division handles these, and the forms are posted on the Community Development Forms page of the county website under “Updated Backyard Chickens Ordinance Information.”3Cobb County Georgia. Community Development Forms
Your application needs an accurately scaled site plan or property survey showing the proposed coop location, its distance from every property line, and the boundaries of the fenced enclosure. You also need to state how many hens you plan to keep. If the coop on your plan misses the 25-foot setback or sits outside the rear yard, the application won’t move forward.
The county charges an application fee set by Community Development’s current fee schedule. Check the published schedule or call the Zoning Division for the current amount rather than relying on an older figure. Once approved, build the coop exactly as drawn. Code enforcement does verify that the physical setup matches what you submitted, and deviating from the approved plan can trigger a violation notice or revoke your permission to keep chickens.
HOA Rules Can Still Block You
County approval doesn’t override your subdivision. The backyard chicken provision explicitly states that keeping chickens cannot conflict with your HOA’s rules. Covenants, conditions, and restrictions run with the deed and bind every homeowner regardless of what county zoning allows.
Before you spend anything on a coop, pull your HOA’s governing documents and look for restrictions on livestock, poultry, farm animals, or pets generally. Some CC&Rs ban all animals except dogs and cats. Others use broad language against anything producing odor or noise. If your HOA prohibits chickens and you keep them anyway, the association can fine you, place a lien on the property, or go to court for a removal order.
What Happens If You Violate the Ordinance
The Cobb County Code Enforcement Division handles zoning complaints daily, including those about backyard chickens.4Cobb County Government. Code Enforcement Cases usually start with a neighbor’s complaint rather than proactive inspections. When an inspector confirms a violation, you’ll get a notice with a window to fix it.
The common ones: exceeding the hen-per-square-footage ratio, keeping a rooster, missing the 25-foot setback, letting birds roam outside the enclosure, and letting sanitation slide into nuisance territory. Repeated or unresolved violations can bring fines and, eventually, an order to remove the chickens. Keeping neighbors on your side (managing odor, locking down feed, keeping noise down) is the most reliable way to stay out of the enforcement pipeline.
If You Sell Eggs
Egg or bird sales from your backyard flock are taxable income at the federal level, no matter how small. Hobby income gets reported on Schedule 1 of Form 1040, and you can’t deduct expenses against it.5Taxpayer Advocate Service. Hobby vs Business Income If you run the flock more like a business, with records, regular marketing, and a profit motive, the IRS may treat the sales as self-employment income, and net earnings of $400 or more in a year trigger self-employment tax on top of regular income tax.6Internal Revenue Service. Topic No 554, Self-Employment Tax Most people selling a few dozen eggs to neighbors won’t hit that threshold, but it’s easier to track from the start than to reconstruct it later.