Backyard chickens, town by town
In 7 of Hunterdon County's 26 municipalities you can keep hens on a residential lot with no permit, no minimum lot size and no zone that shuts you out. Another 10 allow them behind a permit, a lot-size minimum, or the zone you happen to live in. In 4 the code does not allow them on an ordinary residential lot. In 4 the code does not settle the question either way, and 1 does not publish its code online at all.
These answers paraphrase each town's own code as it read on August 8, 2026. Check with your town before you build a coop.
Verified August 8, 2026
Shading is the gate on keeping hens at all. Count caps, coop standards and rooster rules sit on the cards below.
Every town, and what its code says
- Allowed by right
No permit, no minimum lot size, and no zone that excludes it.
Backyard chickens/poultry are allowed; the code does not set a lot-size minimum or a per-acre headcount cap the way some neighboring towns do. The operative rule is a setback: no poultry or livestock shelter (excluding dog runs or pet shelters) may be erected, used, or located closer than 100 feet to any dwelling or to any property line. Roosters are not addressed separately.
Searched "poultry," "livestock," "chicken," "rooster," "fowl" across the Animals chapter (Ch. 158, dogs/cats/pet waste/wildlife only, no poultry content), the Farming/Right-to-Farm chapter (Ch. 81, general commercial-farm references only), and the AR Agricultural Residential zoning district text (§ 102-13, no itemized use list found). No lot-size minimum or head-count cap for backyard poultry was found beyond the shelter setback.
Read August 8, 2026
- Allowed by right
No permit, no minimum lot size, and no zone that excludes it.
Chickens/poultry are allowed as part of "agricultural uses" in R Residence Districts (farms, orchards, raising of livestock), subject to numeric limits: fowl/livestock may not be housed closer than 50 feet to any property line, and more than 100 fowl (or 2 head of livestock) may not be housed closer than 100 feet to any property line. Poultry count toward an "animal unit" allowance of 50 birds = 1 animal unit; 0.5 animal unit is permitted per acre, plus 1 additional animal unit per additional acre. Hogs are prohibited on parcels of five acres or less; no separate rooster restriction is stated.
This is a general agricultural-use provision, not a chickens-specific ordinance; applies township-wide in R zones, not gated to a minimum lot size beyond the acreage math above.
§ 165-134 (Permitted principal uses, R Residence Districts), Subsec. C
Read August 8, 2026
- Allowed by right
No permit, no minimum lot size, and no zone that excludes it.
Poultry/livestock raising is permitted as part of agricultural use, most explicitly in the A-1 and A-2 Agricultural Zones (right-to-farm provision covering crops, livestock, and poultry), and accessory livestock buildings are permitted township-wide subject to siting rules: no closer than 75 feet to any property line, and at least 100 feet from a residential structure on an adjoining lot. No numeric cap on flock size or separate rooster restriction was found (unlike Clinton's animal-unit table).
Searched "chicken," "hen," "rooster," "fowl". Code only uses "poultry" and "livestock," no headcount limits found.
Read August 8, 2026
- Allowed by right
No permit, no minimum lot size, and no zone that excludes it.
Up to 6 chickens/poultry per property are allowed; roosters are prohibited outright. Coops must be covered, ventilated, and predator/rodent-resistant, providing 4 sq ft/bird if equal-or-greater outdoor run space is also provided, or 10 sq ft/bird if it isn't; the run must be well-drained, kept clean, and droppings collected at least weekly. A separate section of the same article, § 6-7.8, caps the maximum weight of any single animal at fifty (50) pounds; that rule covers animals generally and is not part of the chickens section. Shelter location and setbacks are pushed out to the zoning chapter at Ch. 26, § 2609.
§ 6-7.9 contains only the six-bird cap, the rooster ban, the enclosure standard (4 sq ft per bird with equal-or-greater outdoor space, 10 sq ft without) and the run and droppings standard. The 50-lb maximum-weight rule is its own section at § 6-7.8, and the shelter-setback cross-reference to the zoning chapter is its own section at § 6-7.7, so neither belongs to the chickens rule.
Read August 8, 2026 · Checked against the code text again August 8, 2026
- Allowed by right
No permit, no minimum lot size, and no zone that excludes it.
Fowl are permitted in all zones without a coop-specific permit, on a sliding density scale: up to 25 fowl on a 65,340-sq-ft lot (1.5 acres), up to 150 fowl on a 130,680-sq-ft lot (3 acres), pro-rated between those sizes, and up to 300 fowl per acre beyond 3 acres (higher with off-tract manure disposal and Land Use Board/Board of Health approval). Buildings housing more than 500 fowl or 5 head of livestock must sit at least 100 feet from any road or side/rear lot line. Roosters are not separately addressed.
This is the "Right to Farm" section of the Land Use chapter, not a standalone animal-keeping ordinance. It applies township-wide, not just to farms. Also sets swine and large-livestock (horse/cow/steer) thresholds in the same section.
Read August 8, 2026 · Checked against the code text again August 8, 2026
- Allowed by right
No permit, no minimum lot size, and no zone that excludes it.
Chickens (and other fowl/livestock) are permitted but can't be kept inside a dwelling or cellar. They must be confined to a suitable coop with an enclosed runway, meeting the setback requirements in the Land Use chapter (§ 145-303). The coop/enclosure must stay clean and not become a nuisance. In the R-2, R-3, R-4, and DB zones specifically, roosters are banned and outdoor slaughter of farm animals is prohibited.
No maximum head count or minimum lot size was found (unlike Hampton's numeric chicken ordinance), just the housing/coop and no-rooster/no-outdoor-slaughter rules.
Read August 8, 2026
- Allowed by right
No permit, no minimum lot size, and no zone that excludes it.
Farm/agricultural uses, including raising and training of poultry, small animals, and livestock, are permitted townshipwide, but generally require a lot of at least 5 acres. The code carves out an exception with no stated acreage minimum for "the raising of fowl, small animals and livestock for purely personal, educational or recreational purposes," provided it creates no nuisance or public-health menace, subject to the same setback rules as commercial-scale keeping (fowl/livestock shelters generally 50 ft from any property line; swine enclosures 200 ft from any property line, capped at 1 adult swine per acre; shelters for 1,000+ birds also need a 200-ft setback).
The text settles it: the carve-out is granted "for purely personal, educational or recreational purposes, involving no nuisance or menace to the public health and subject to other applicable provisions of this section", so subsections (2)-(5) do apply in full. Operative language of the carve-out: "Said use is conducted upon a lot not less than five acres in area, except for the raising of fowl, small animals and livestock for purely personal, educational or recreational purposes." The absence of a headcount cap and of an acreage floor for personal-scale keeping is a real finding, not an ambiguity: Readington simply does not cap backyard flock size, and the shelter setback is 50 feet (rising to 200 feet only at 1,000+ birds).
§ 148-51E (Land Development, Accessory Buildings and Structures, farm/agricultural uses)
Read August 8, 2026 · Checked against the code text again August 8, 2026
- Allowed with conditions
The code sets a minimum lot size for keeping birds.
Backyard chickens are allowed as part of the "Agricultural and Horticulture" accessory use. Keeping of livestock, horses, or poultry is limited to lots of at least three acres, and capped at one head of livestock/horse or 50 fowl per acre on lots under 10 acres. Roosters are not addressed separately; no minimum/maximum count specific to hens vs. roosters.
This sits under the "A-1 Agricultural and Horticulture" use category within the master Use Regulations schedule (Ch. 115, Art. V), not a standalone animals ordinance. Riding academies, commercial dog kennels, and fur-bearing-animal raising are excluded from this provision.
Read August 8, 2026
- Allowed with conditions
A permit or license from the town is required first.
Chickens are allowed on residential lots with a zoning permit, capped by lot size: up to 6 chickens on lots to 1 acre, up to 10 on lots of 1 to under 3 acres, up to 15 on lots of 3 to under 5 acres. Roosters are banned on any residential lot under 5 acres. Coops need a permit application with a sketch/survey, a minimum 5-foot setback from any property line, at least 2 sq ft of coop space and 4 sq ft of run space per bird, must generally sit in the rear yard (never the front), be closer to the owner's own dwelling than to a neighbor's, and stay at least 25 feet from any neighboring dwelling.
Chicken coops are explicitly exempted from being treated as "accessory buildings or outbuildings" for other zoning purposes (§ 63-22.F). The Zoning Officer can revoke the permit for noncompliance.
Read August 8, 2026 · Checked against the code text again August 8, 2026
- Allowed with conditions
A permit or license from the town is required first.
Chickens are allowed on residential lots with a zoning permit, capped by lot size: up to 6 on lots to 1 acre, up to 10 on lots of 1 to under 3 acres, up to 15 on lots of 3 to under 5 acres. Roosters are banned on any residential lot under 5 acres. Coops need a minimum of 2 sq ft per bird plus a run of 4 sq ft per bird, must sit in the rear yard within the building envelope, closer to the owner's dwelling than any neighbor's, at least 25 feet from a neighboring dwelling, and the run must have wire/mesh fencing plus overhead netting to keep other animals out. Separately, up to two horses are allowed on residential lots of 3+ acres (plus one more per additional acre), and 4-H/student livestock projects are allowed on lots of 3+ acres.
This ordinance is essentially identical to Bloomsbury's chicken ordinance (Ch. 63, Art. IV), same numbers, same structure, suggesting a shared source. Poultry/livestock shelters generally need a 100-ft property-line setback, but chicken coops are carved out with their own 25-ft-from-neighboring-dwelling standard instead.
§ 16.12.010.M(4), § 16.12.030.E(3)
Read August 8, 2026
- Allowed with conditions
Whether hens are allowed depends where in town you are.
The answer depends on the zone, and every residential zone was checked. In the Amwell Valley Agricultural District, the township's dominant zone, "all farm and agricultural uses" are a permitted accessory use with no acreage minimum, so hens are allowed by right alongside a house. Same in the Residential (Ringoes) zone, where the accessory list reads "all farm and agricultural activities, including nurseries, small animal and livestock raising." In the Sourland Mountain District the same activity is a conditional use requiring Planning Board approval, except that on lots under 30 acres the Zoning Officer must approve an accessory building of 2,000 sq ft or less for farm animals if it needs no new clearing and meets farm-building setbacks. In the Village District neither agriculture nor livestock appears in any use list, and § 92-86 prohibits all uses not expressly permitted, so hens are not allowed there. No flock-size cap and no rooster rule anywhere in the chapter.
Chapter 53 (Animals) was also pulled in full and is dog licensing only, with no fowl provision. "Agricultural use" in § 92-4 excludes intensive poultry production, which is a commercial-scale carve-out, not a limit on a household flock.
Read August 8, 2026 · Checked against the code text again August 8, 2026
- Allowed with conditions
A permit or license from the town is required first.
Chickens are permitted on residential lots with explicit count caps: a maximum of 8 chickens (excluding roosters) on a residential lot up to one acre, and a maximum of 24 chickens (excluding roosters) on a lot of one or more acres. Roosters may be kept only on a residential lot of three acres or more. Coops need a roofed shelter with at least 2 sq ft per adult bird plus an attached fenced run of at least 4 sq ft per bird, sited in the rear or side yard, placed closer to the owner's own dwelling than to any neighbor's, and never within 25 feet of a dwelling on an adjoining lot; free-ranging is prohibited and a diagram must accompany the zoning application. Certified commercial farms under the Right to Farm rules are exempt.
Ch. 104 § 104-23 (Use Regulations) carries a dedicated "A-7, poultry" use with hard numbers, added 4-17-2019 by Ord. No. 2019-03, plus a chicken-shelter standard at H(6)(g). Subsection (a) reads "a residential lot of up to acre" in the published text, an apparent typographical omission of "one"; the (b) tier ("exceeding one or more acres") makes one acre the intended break.
§ 104-23.A(7) [A-7, poultry]; § 104-23.H(6)(g) (Chicken shelters); § 53-15, § 53-16 (animal-control fencing/running at large) · second chapter
Read August 8, 2026 · Checked against the code text again August 8, 2026
- Allowed with conditions
A permit or license from the town is required first.
Backyard chickens are permitted for single-family and two-family homes on a minimum 1/4-acre lot. Max 6 chickens on a 1/4-acre lot, plus 2 more per additional 1/4 acre (so 12 on a full acre). Roosters are prohibited. Coops must be in the rear yard, 15+ ft from a neighboring house, ≤15 ft tall, ≤150 sq ft, with 3+ sq ft per bird, surrounded by a predator-proof fence up to 6 ft tall. A $10/year license from the Borough Clerk is required, and tenants need landlord consent to apply.
Adopted 2-10-2020, amended 11-20-2023, a genuinely modern, detailed backyard-chicken ordinance.
Read August 8, 2026 · Checked against the code text again August 8, 2026
- Allowed with conditions
Whether hens are allowed depends where in town you are.
In the R-5 District only, a lot may raise fewer than 50 domestic fowl, game birds, or small animals as a non-commercial agricultural accessory use, provided no shelter/feed/fertilizer structure sits closer than 100 ft to any lot or street line. This use is not permitted in the R-1 District at all. A 4-H/student livestock-raising project is allowed on any lot 3+ acres in any R District regardless of zone.
No lot-size minimum is stated for the under-50-fowl allowance itself (only the 100-ft structure setback); roosters aren't separately addressed.
Read August 8, 2026
- Allowed with conditions
Whether hens are allowed depends where in town you are.
Hens are allowed across almost all of Kingwood. In the AR-2 Agricultural and Single-Family Residential District, which covers most of the township, "farms and agriculture" is a permitted principal use with no acreage minimum, and Ch. 74 defines "home agriculture" as production including poultry "for household use only." There is no bird-count cap and no rooster rule; the only numeric constraint is that a poultry or livestock shelter must sit at least 100 feet from any dwelling on the same lot occupied by someone other than the owner-operator or farm workers. Two exceptions: inside the Route 12 Scenic Corridor Overlay, keeping poultry for the occupant's use requires a lot of at least two acres and a 150-foot separation from the neighboring residence; and in the VR-1 (Baptistown) and VR-2 (Barbertown) Village Residential Districts, neither agriculture nor poultry appears in any use list, so § 132-6 prohibits it.
Ch. 57 is dog licensing plus the state cruelty statute; it has no backyard-flock provision. The base AR-2 accessory list at § 132-30.C(6) covers only "horses or ponies" on a two-acre minimum, while the Route 12 overlay's parallel provision at § 132-41.E(6) reads "poultry, horses or ponies" on the same two-acre minimum. Poultry in AR-2 is permitted through the principal use "farms and agriculture," not through the accessory-use list. In the SCO overlay the overlay's terms supersede the underlying district per § 132-30.B(8), which is why the two-acre floor bites there and not elsewhere.
§ 132-30.B(1) and C(6) (AR-2); § 132-41.E(6) (Route 12 SCO Overlay); § 132-31 and § 132-32 (VR-1, VR-2); § 132-6 (Prohibited uses); § 132-50.C (shelter setback); § 74-2, § 74-4 · second chapter
Read August 8, 2026 · Checked against the code text again August 8, 2026
- Allowed with conditions
A permit or license from the town is required first.
On residential/nonfarm lots under 3 acres, keeping chickens for personal, educational, or recreational purposes is allowed up to 5 chickens, in a covered/ventilated/predator-resistant enclosure (min. 4 sq ft per chicken, 6-ft fencing), with the coop/pen at least 30 ft from any property line and not in front of the house, coop capped at 100 sq ft (200 sq ft with a run). Roosters are prohibited (a "d(1)" use variance is required to deviate). A $100 permit from the Zoning Officer is required. On lots 3+ acres, general livestock/horses/poultry/rabbits keeping is allowed at 1 head (or 20 fowl/rabbits) per acre; swine and odor-causing fur-bearing animals are prohibited outright.
Read August 8, 2026 · Checked against the code text again August 8, 2026
- Allowed with conditions
A permit or license from the town is required first.
Chickens are permitted township-wide. On agricultural lots (A-1 Agriculture and Horticulture use) they're capped at 50 chickens per acre on lots of five or more acres. On residential lots under five acres, chickens are allowed with a zoning permit: max 6 on a lot up to 1 acre, max 10 on 1-3 acres, max 15 on 3-5 acres. No roosters are permitted on any residential lot under five acres, and a chicken coop structure (built per the accessory-structure standards) is required.
§ 30-5.5.a.1(d) (Land Use Code, Use Regulations, Agricultural Uses)
Read August 8, 2026 · Checked against the code text again August 8, 2026
- Not allowed on a typical lot
The zoning code does not permit it on an ordinary residential lot.
Backyard hens are effectively off the table on an ordinary Clinton Town lot. In the R Residence Districts the only permitted use involving poultry is "agricultural uses, such as farms, orchards, plant nurseries and the raising of poultry and livestock, except hogs, on properties of five acres or more in size," and the only animal-related accessory use permitted is "animal shelters for not more than two domestic pets." Zoning then closes the gap: "any use that is not specifically permitted in a zone district is prohibited." The animal-control chapter's fowl permit (annual Board of Health permit, coop at least 20 feet from any dwelling, runway at least 12 feet, no fowl inside a residential building, none running at large) is a health regulation layered on top of zoning, not an independent right to keep birds on a lot where zoning does not allow the use. No headcount cap and no rooster ban appear anywhere.
The controlling text is § 88-60.G(1), Prohibited uses (added 7-14-2021 by Ord. No. 21-16): "Any use that is not specifically permitted in a zone district is prohibited." Clinton Town's zoning is a permissive-list code, so a use absent from § 88-52.A/B is not allowed. Under 5 acres, poultry-raising is not a listed principal use and the accessory list stops at shelters for two domestic pets. Ch. 64's permit scheme sets sanitary conditions for fowl that are lawfully kept; it does not authorize a use zoning prohibits.
§ 88-52.A(7); § 88-52.B(3); § 88-60.G(1); § 64-13 through § 64-16 · second chapter
Read August 8, 2026 · Checked against the code text again August 8, 2026
- Not allowed on a typical lot
The zoning code does not permit it on an ordinary residential lot.
Backyard chickens/poultry are not listed as a permitted, accessory, or conditional use in any zoning district (R-C, R-L, R-1, R-2, R-3, CBD, C-2, C-3), and the Zoning Ordinance states "all uses not expressly permitted in this Ordinance are hereby prohibited." Since no district's use list includes keeping poultry or livestock, chicken-keeping is effectively prohibited citywide by that catch-all clause.
This is a dense historic city with no agricultural zoning district, unlike Kingwood/Holland.
§ Z-104A; permitted-use lists at §§ Z-401.2, Z-402.2, Z-403.2, Z-404.2, Z-405.2
Read August 8, 2026
- Not allowed on a typical lot
The zoning code does not permit it on an ordinary residential lot.
No zoning district (R-15, R-20, R-P, M-F, AH-1 through AH-4, B, C-ROM-1, C-ROM-2, ROM-1) lists poultry, livestock, or backyard chickens as a permitted, accessory, or conditional use, and the Land Use chapter's general rule bars any use "not specifically permitted in a zone district." The Right to Farm chapter protects poultry/livestock only as part of a bona fide commercial farm operation, which does not exist as a zoning category in this dense, small borough.
Same catch-all-omission logic used for Lambertville, applied here to Lebanon Borough's own § 165-93 general-prohibition clause plus a review of every district's permitted/accessory/conditional use lists.
Read August 8, 2026
- Not allowed on a typical lot
The zoning code does not permit it on an ordinary residential lot.
"Livestock", defined to expressly include chickens, ducks, geese, guinea hens, peacocks, turkeys, and all other poultry and fowl, is not permitted in any residential, business, commercial, or industrial zone in the Borough. The one exception: livestock may be conditionally permitted in a residential zone if the lot has a minimum of five acres.
Milford is a small, densely-platted river borough (roughly 1.2 sq. mi.), so five-acre residential lots are effectively unavailable. In practice this reads as a borough-wide ban on backyard chickens.
§ 53-1 (Definitions, "Livestock"); § 53-2 (Keeping of livestock)
Read August 8, 2026
- The code does not settle it
The code has no rule on backyard chickens either way.
Searched Chapter 5 (Animal Control), Chapter 5A (Animals, Sale of), and the Land Use chapter's definitions (§ 50-104) for "chicken," "fowl," "poultry". None found. "Livestock" is defined (§ 50-104) but explicitly "shall exclude any animal weighing less than 50 pounds," so chickens fall outside the livestock rules too. No backyard-chicken permission or prohibition exists anywhere in the code.
Read the chapter this was checked against
Read August 8, 2026
- The code does not settle it
The code says something, and it can honestly be read two ways.
On five acres or more in the RC, R-5, R-3 and R-1½ zones the answer is yes: "Farms" is a permitted principal use in those zones, "farm" is defined as land actively devoted to agricultural or horticultural use occupying no less than five acres, and the agriculture definition expressly covers keeping poultry "for sale, lease or personal use." Under five acres, and anywhere in the R-15 zone (where "Farms" is not a listed use at all), the code does not say. There is no small-flock provision, no bird-count cap, no coop standard and no rooster rule anywhere in Chapter 400. Structures on farms that house farm animals must sit at least 100 feet from any property line and 200 feet from any residence on an adjacent property.
Ch. 125 is dog licensing only. § 400-4 defines "Prohibited use" as "a use which is not expressly permitted in a zone district," and the only accessory-use entry that could reach a small flock is the unquantified phrase "customary accessory uses," permitted in all zones. Open question for the zoning officer: does Lebanon Township treat a small household flock on a lot under five acres as a "customary accessory use" to a single-family dwelling, or as a prohibited use because it is neither a "Farm" nor expressly listed?
§ 400-9.A (Use regulations, residential districts); § 400-4 (Definitions, "Farm," "Agriculture and Horticulture," "Prohibited use"); § 400-10.A(7) (farm animal structure setbacks) · second chapter
Read August 8, 2026 · Checked against the code text again August 8, 2026
- The code does not settle it
The code has no rule on backyard chickens either way.
Not addressed as a specific backyard-flock rule. Title 6 (Animals) covers only dogs, pet waste, wildlife feeding, and at-large/nuisance animals. Its one relevant definition ("domestic animal" means any cat, dog, or livestock other than poultry) is incidental, not a keeping standard. The zoning code's closest provision is § 726.A.11, which exempts "keeping domesticated animals (including horses)" from the 10%-of-lot accessory-use coverage cap, but sets no chicken count, coop rule, or rooster ban.
Searched "chicken," "poultry," "fowl," "coop," "rooster" across Title 6 (Animals) and Article VII (Zoning Provisions) of the Development Code. No chicken-specific standard found. "Poultry" appears only in a commercial-farm processing/storage clause (§ 710.1.C.8, FP district), not a residential keeping rule.
§ 726.A.11 (Additional Accessory Use Provisions); Title 6 (Animals), definitions · second chapter
Read August 8, 2026
- The code does not settle it
The code has no rule on backyard chickens either way.
Not addressed as a specific backyard-flock rule. The zoning use table (Schedule Three) has no line item for chickens, poultry, or fowl, only "Farm" (a broad agricultural use, permitted in every residential/ag zone) and "Animal boarding"/"Animal hospital" (highway-commercial zones only). The one animal-keeping standard in the Requirements for Certain Principal Uses article addresses horses only (min. 3 acres) and manure storage (100 feet from a property line). Nothing sets a chicken count, coop rule, or rooster ban for a residential lot.
Searched "chicken," "poultry," "hen," "fowl," "livestock" across the Land Development chapter's use schedule, Article XV (Certain Principal Uses), Article XVI (Accessory Uses), the Definitions article, and the separate Dogs and Other Animals and Pigs and Swine chapters. No chicken-specific standard anywhere. A backyard flock would likely be handled informally under the broad "Farm" use or go unaddressed entirely.
§ 109-109 (Farms); Attachment 3, Schedule Three (Schedule of Permitted Uses) · second chapter
Read August 8, 2026 · Checked against the code text again August 8, 2026
- Code not published online
The town does not publish its code online, so there is nothing to read.
Borough Clerk, (609) 397-0070, 2 S. Main St., PO Box M, Stockton NJ 08559. This is the fastest way to get the actual zoning ordinance and the 2024 tree/noise ordinances in hand.
Read August 8, 2026
How this was checked
Every answer comes from the town's own code text, read on August 8, 2026 and then re-read against the controlling chapter in a second pass that corrected four towns. Where a code says nothing this page says so rather than guessing, and where the text can honestly be read two ways it says that too. Shading is about the gate on keeping hens: a permit, a minimum lot size, or the zone. Stockton Borough publishes no code online, so its cell is empty and the Borough Clerk is the only route to an answer. Ordinances change, so check with your town before you spend money on a coop.
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