Keeping Birds and Poultry

Keeping roosters	Baby birds found
Keeping poultry	Ducklings found
Keeping wild ducks	Ducks fouling
Keeping aviary birds	Dead duck(s) on private property

Keeping roosters

Rural areas:
There are no restrictions on the keeping of roosters in rural areas.
Contact us to find out if you are listed as living in a rural area .

Urban areas:
Roosters are only permitted on properties larger than 2,000m2 in size in urban areas.
Contact us to find out if you are listed as living in a urban area

Keeping poultry

Geese, domestic ducks, pigeons, turkeys, doves, peacocks, chickens and any other "domestic fowl" are classed as poultry under Council's Bylaw 4, Chapter 13.

Rural areas:
There are no restrictions on the keeping of poultry in rural areas.
Contact us to find out if you are listed as living in a rural area

Urban areas:
The Bylaw limits the number of poultry that may be kept without Council consent to 12. Poultry housing must be weatherproof and capable of being easily cleaned. The housing is not permitted to be closer than 2 metres from the boundary or within 10 metres of a dwelling.

If you wish to obtain an exemption to this rule you must apply, in writing, to the Council's Team Manager of Environmental Health. Contact us for details.
Contact us if you wish to report someone you believe is acting outside of the bylaw.

Keeping wild ducks

Keeping or "fostering" wild ducklings is permitted. People often "foster" wild ducklings during Spring.

Keeping aviary birds

The Council does not have controls regarding the keeping of aviary birds, apart from the expectation that birds are not to create a nuisance by way of smell or noise, or attracting rodents or flies due to unsanitary conditions.

Baby birds found

If you find an uninjured baby bird (with a tail no longer than a thumbnail) the best thing to do is to put it into nearby bush and watch for an hour or so to see if its mother returns. Baby birds spend their first 3 or so days out of the nest hopping around in bush, so it is likely that its mother is nearby.

Ducklings

Ducks are generally attentive mothers and ducklings may appear to have been abandoned when in fact the mother is nearby.

If you find ducklings alone, put them inside a cardboard box with an old towel and either a hot water bottle or an empty drink bottle filled with hot water. The box should be left outside in the vicinity of where they were found for 1 - 2 hours. The chirping will often attract the mother back.

If the mother has not returned after two hours, the ducklings should be taken to the Animal Welfare Centre.

Please do not take the ducklings to parks such as Western Springs to be released there as there are diseases which may be picked up by the ducklings and, often, they will try to find their way back to their own area anyway.

Dead duck(s) on private property

These are the landowner's responsibility. It is recommended that the carcass be wrapped in newspaper and disposed of via the weekly refuse collection. Alternatively it could be buried.

Ducks fouling

This is often a problem when someone has been feeding ducks. You should cease feeding the ducks and attempt to frighten them away from your property. Extreme cases, where the ducks have settled on the property or in your pool, may require the ducks to be relocated. Please do not take the ducks to parks such as Western Springs to relocate them as there are diseases which may be picked up by the birds and they may try to find their way back to their own area anyway.