Other animals

Keeping chickens is popular at the moment as it is a wonderful way to recycle your food scraps and get your own supply of fresh eggs. It is also a great way to help manage pests in the garden and reconnect people and children to the source of their food.

It's important to remember that roosters can't be kept in residential areas.

Council has created a fact sheet on keeping chickens(PDF, 661KB) in your backyard.

Guidelines about keeping chickens including the number of chickens you can have and how to house them is found in state legislation.

Rabbits are allowed to be kept as pets if they are a domestic breed, they are considered a pest in the wild. It is very important that you make sure your pet rabbit has a secure enclosure and cannot escape. You can keep two domestic breed rabbits as long as they are the same sex.

You should speak to your vet about regularly vaccinating your pet rabbit to protect it from viruses that are released to control the wild rabbit population.

If you want to keep bees at home you should speak to your neighbours to make sure they don't have any diagnosed allergies, then contact the NSW Department of Primary Industries to register.

It is compulsory to register with NSW Department of Primary Industries adhere to the Australian Honey Bee Industry Biosecurity Code of Practice.

You can also find information on the Illawarra Beekeepers website.

You cannot keep livestock including cattle, horses, goats, sheep and pigs in your residential backyard.

Livestock can be kept on some types of rural land but you would need to follow the Kiama LEP 2011 and NSW Department of Primary Industries on how to keep the animals.

Large animals, such as horses, are not permitted on Council's beaches or the Kiama Coast Walk.