Zakat on Pigeons Kept for Breeding

Question : The questioner says: Honorable Shaykh, this is a question I raised in the previous session that was not addressed. I own a farm and I have pigeons valued at five thousand riyals. Sometimes I sell some of them for five hundred riyals in a month, sometimes more, sometimes less, and sometimes I sell nothing at all. Is zakat due on them or not? And what is the amount?

Answer : There is no zakat on these because they are kept for breeding. So there is no zakat on them. As for the person who deals in pigeons, meaning he buys them today and sells them tomorrow, and buys others to make a profit, then the pigeons fall under the category of what? They fall under the category of trade goods. As for the one who keeps them for breeding, when they grow he sells their offspring, there is no zakat on them. And as for their offspring that he sells, if he takes the price and it is in coins, then if it remains with him for a year he pays zakat on it, and if he spends it before the year is complete, the zakat is dropped. Yes. And that is all.