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Keeping Chickens and Other Small Livestock in Portugal

Researched and written with AI tools from official sources. How we make our guides

How to register a few hens, rabbits, goats, or pigs with the vet service, what it costs, the size limits, bird flu rules, and when you can sell eggs.

The Portugal Brief 8 min read

Keeping Chickens and Other Small Livestock in Portugal

Last verified: October 2026.

Who this is for

  • You live in Portugal, or are moving here, and want a few hens, ducks, or rabbits for your own eggs and meat.
  • You are thinking of a couple of goats, sheep, or pigs on a small rural plot.
  • You want to know when selling a few eggs becomes a business.

Not for you if: you want to keep hives. Read Keeping Bees in Portugal instead.

A few farm animals kept for your own use count as a household holding (detenção caseira) in Portugal. You do not need a livestock licence, but you must register the holding with the national veterinary authority, DGAV, before the animals arrive. Registration costs €4.59 and is done once, at the local veterinary office. The household limit is about 100 poultry, 80 rabbits, 6 sheep or goats, 4 pigs, or 2 cattle or horses. Above that, you run a small livestock farm and need a farm registration instead.

What counts as a household holding

The law treats farm animals kept "for leisure or for the supply of the keeper and their family" as a household holding. It applies to people and to companies. The animals must be farm species that are not game, such as hens, ducks, rabbits, goats, sheep, pigs, cattle, and horses.

There is one commercial exception. You may sell poultry and rabbits from a household holding at local producers' markets, within limits set in the law. Anything beyond that is a business.

The household category ends at a size limit, measured in livestock units (cabeças normais, or CN). One adult cow or horse is about 1 CN. A laying hen is 0.013 CN. Your holding must stay at or below 3 CN in total, and no single species may pass 2 CN.

How many animals you can keep

The livestock law converts the limit into animal numbers. A household holding may have up to:

  • 100 poultry
  • 80 rabbits
  • 6 sheep or goats
  • 4 pigs
  • 2 cattle
  • 2 horses, donkeys, or mules

If you mix species, check both limits. The 2 CN cap for each species usually bites before the 3 CN total. Some useful values from the law's table:

  • Broiler chicken or guinea fowl: 0.006 CN
  • Laying hen: 0.013 CN
  • Duck or young female turkey: 0.02 CN
  • Male turkey or goose: 0.03 CN
  • Adult sheep or goat: 0.15 CN
  • Breeding doe rabbit: 0.04 CN

A July 2026 change to the livestock law now measures a farm's size by the animals approved in its production plan, which a vet draws up, not by the size of its buildings. It did not change the household limits or the animal table.

If you keep a horse or donkey, it also needs its own passport and microchip. See Keeping a Horse or Donkey in Portugal.

How to register your holding

You register at the local veterinary office (DAV or NAV) of DGAV that covers the land where the animals will live. DGAV publishes a list of regional offices. Call or email first to confirm what they need in your case.

  1. Get a beneficiary number first. You need an IFAP beneficiary registration (Identificação de Beneficiário, or IB) with a valid IFAP number. IFAP is the farm payments agency. DGAV says you can do this in person with one of the farm organisations recognised by IFAP. DGAV offices are not doing it at the moment. This is often the slowest step, so start here.
  2. Fill in the form. The application is Modelo 1340/DGAV, the request to register a household holding.
  3. Pay the fee. It is €4.59, paid by bank transfer to DGAV's account. The IBAN and the reference to use are on the DGAV registration page.
  4. Hand in the file at the local veterinary office, with the proof of payment.

Documents to bring

  • Your Citizen Card, or your passport and tax number (NIF)
  • For a company: its permanent certificate or statutes, the appointment of its legal representative, and its tax number
  • Your IFAP beneficiary registration
  • IFAP parcel forms iE and P3, if you have them
  • If you have no parcel forms: proof that you hold the land (property tax record, deed, or lease) and a location map, for example from an online map
  • If the land is not in your name: a signed authorisation from the owner, with a copy of their Citizen Card if they do not sign in person
  • Form Modelo 1340/DGAV and proof of payment

If your rural land is not yet mapped, see Registering Rural Land on BUPi.

If you go over the household limit

Above the household limit, you are running a livestock activity. Small farms of up to 15 CN fall into the lightest class, class 3. A class 3 farm needs prior registration under the livestock licensing system (REAP), on its own form and with a fee. Ask your regional veterinary office where to start.

Running a class 3 farm without that registration is a serious economic offence. For a private person, the fine for a serious economic offence is €650 to €1,500. Making changes to a registered farm without updating the registration is a lighter offence, with a fine of €150 to €500 for a private person.

DGAV can also order household keepers of one or more species to register as class 3 farms, in a region or across the country. The law allows this when there is a health risk, such as a disease outbreak.

The poultry stock declaration

Keepers of laying hens must declare how many birds they have twice a year, in February and September. This applies only to establishments with 350 or more laying hens. Smaller flocks are exempt, so a household flock of up to 100 birds does not need to declare.

If your flock does reach 350 laying hens:

  1. Count the hens present on 1 February and on 1 September.
  2. Declare the number by the last day of that month.
  3. Declare online in DGAV's AviDec application, or at any regional veterinary office.
  4. Ask your regional office for AviDec login details well before the deadline.

Beekeepers have a separate September declaration for hives. See the bees guide linked above.

Bird flu and when hens must stay in

Bird flu (gripe aviária) is a notifiable disease. If you suspect it, you must tell DGAV straight away. Signs include more deaths than usual, sick birds, birds eating or drinking less, or a drop in laying.

All poultry keepers, including household flocks, must apply biosecurity measures. The main aim is to stop contact between your birds and wild birds. In practice, keep feed and water where wild birds cannot reach them, and keep new birds apart before you mix them in.

When the risk rises, DGAV issues a public notice (edital). Past notices have ordered poultry in high-risk areas, including backyard flocks, to stay inside their housing. The current notice, dated 10 April 2026, lifted that confinement. It keeps the duty to report suspected disease, the biosecurity duty, and rules for live bird fairs and markets.

DGAV confirmed three bird flu cases in wild gulls between May and August 2026, in Ílhavo and Lisbon. It recorded no outbreaks in poultry in 2026 up to its latest update. Past confinement orders came in autumn and winter, during bird migration. Build a coop with enough covered space for your hens to stay in for weeks if needed. Check DGAV's bird flu page for the current rules.

Selling eggs

Giving eggs to friends and neighbours needs no paperwork. Selling them does.

Small quantities. If you have up to 50 hens, you may sell up to 350 eggs a week directly to the final consumer, or to a local shop that sells straight to consumers. You must register with DGAV first. Send DGAV's application form to the regional veterinary office.

Larger sales. To sell eggs more widely, your laying hen establishment must be registered with DGAV before it starts. Each establishment gets a producer code, which is stamped on the eggs. The code also helps you read the eggs you buy:

  • First digit, how the hens are kept: 0 organic, 1 free range, 2 barn, 3 cage
  • PT, for Portugal
  • A region number: 1 and 2 North, 3 and 4 Centre, 5 Lisbon and Tagus Valley, 6 Alentejo, 7 Algarve, 8 Madeira, 9 Azores
  • A serial number for the individual establishment

Neighbours and local rules

National law sets the animal limits. Your council (câmara municipal) and parish council (junta de freguesia) may add local rules. These can cover distances from houses, wells, and streams, manure storage, or livestock inside towns. Ask your junta or the câmara before you build a coop.

Crowing cockerels are a common cause of complaints. See Noise and Neighbours in Portugal for how noise rules work. If your animals will drink from your own well, see Sinking a Water Borehole in Portugal.

Quick checklist

  • Get your IFAP beneficiary number before anything else.
  • Register the household holding with DGAV before the animals arrive. It costs €4.59.
  • Stay within 3 CN in total and 2 CN for each species. That is up to 100 poultry or 80 rabbits.
  • You do not need to file the poultry stock declaration unless you reach 350 laying hens.
  • Report suspected bird flu to DGAV at once, and plan for times when hens must stay in.
  • Register with DGAV before you sell any eggs. Small sellers are limited to 50 hens and 350 eggs a week.
  • Ask your junta about local rules before you build.

This guide is general information, not legal or veterinary advice. Confirm current fees and procedures with your regional DGAV office before you apply.

Sources

This guide is written from official sources and, where relevant, organisations' own websites.

Last verified October 2026. Rules and fees change; check the official source before acting.

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