Georgia has a long agricultural tradition, and that heritage makes it one of the more accessible states for people who want to keep farm animals not just for production, but as genuine companions and backyard pets. Whether you picture a small flock of hens scratching around a suburban lot, a pair of Nigerian Dwarf goats on a rural acre, or a miniature pig sharing your property with a rescue dog, Georgia’s patchwork of state law and local ordinances can accommodate your plans — if you know where to look.
The challenge is that no single statewide law governs how many farm animals you can keep or exactly how to house them. Georgia sets no statewide pet limit — your city, county, HOA, or lease does. That means the rules for a homeowner in Gwinnett County look very different from those for someone on five acres in Pike County, and both look different again from what Atlanta’s city code allows. This guide walks you through every layer of the framework so you can move forward with confidence.
Pro Tip: Before you bring any farm animal home, pull your property’s zoning classification from your county’s planning and zoning department. That single piece of information determines which rules apply to you and how much flexibility you actually have.
Which Farm Animals Can You Keep as Pets in Georgia
Georgia does not maintain a statewide prohibited-species list for common farm animals, so the question of what you can keep is answered almost entirely by local zoning and ordinance. That said, the animals most commonly kept as pets on residential or semi-rural Georgia properties include chickens, ducks, geese, rabbits, goats, sheep, miniature pigs, horses, donkeys, and cattle. Each comes with its own set of local rules…