New York City New York Chicken Ordinance
| Are Chickens Allowed in this location | Yes |
| Max Chickens Allowed | Not specified |
| Roosters Allowed | No |
| Permit Required | Yes |
| Coop Restrictions | Roosters Not allowed in built up sections of city. Coop: If you keep poultry for sale must be whitewashed twice a year and be kept clean. No other specifications for poultry not kept for sale. Other than that, must not be a \\ |
| City/Organization Contact name | http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/zoo/zoo-animal-healthcode.pdf Note: Dept of Hlth/City council redoing code re: Art 161 in regard to horses, carriage horses. Chickens are in 161, so no guarantee of no change, but that is not topic of hearing Chris Sakoutis, 347-276-0404, [email protected] |
| Additional Information | Currently the chicken laws are very lax, specifying hens okay, no roosters in \\\"developed\\\" sections of city. As this is NYC there are very few undeveloped areas so the assumption is no roosters, though they are around, especially on city and state properties, ironically enough (William T. Davis wildlife refuge, Clay Pit Pond State Park Preserve, Decker Farm) Article 161 says hens are not to be nuisance, but it doesn\\\'t limit how many you have. If you keep poultry for sale, coop must be whitewashed and hens contained in a run and coop placement from property line is mentioned. Due to the diversity of the city, there are many places you can go to buy a live chicken and have it slaughtered for you. Due to the controversy of the carriage horse industry, Article 161 is being revamped, or perhaps eliminated. Meetings are being conducted in order to establish new regulations, or perhaps ban carriage horses entirely. However, this code also includes stables for horses kept for rental (lessons, pony parties, rent a horse for an hour trail riding) and these are being affected as well, although not a target for the originating bru-ha-ha. Chickens also fall under Art. 161 so although not a targeted part of the meetings, it cannot be guaranteed that no changes will be made. The chicken folks in NY City seem unconcerned, though I did notify them of possibility. One of the suggestions for revision is to eliminate Art. 161 completely, though I doubt that will happen due to all the other aspects of pet care, sale and other things that would be affected. Currently the Dept. Of Health handles enforcement of Art. 161. However, the suggestion is to take the regulations from the Dept. of Health and turn it to the City Council for revision. Exactly how this will be done, and if Dept. Of Health would retain enforcement I do not know. http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/notice/article-161-amend-1209.pdf (meeting notification - no decision yet as to result) http://www.carriagehorsesnyc.blogspot.com/ (shows public opinion to change regulations) http://www.motherearthnews.com/eggs/city-chicken-regulations.aspx (this shows more, but is incorrect on permit part for hens) There is a strong chicken community within NYC, and the whole green revolution is a huge reason why. An excellent resource is: http://www.meetup.com/Just-Food-City-Chicken-Meetup-NYC/about/ Same site offering cool chicken links: http://www.meetup.com/Just-Food-Cit...ges/Helpful_Links_Related_to_City_Chickening/ Another link to posted information regarding chickens and code http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/downloads/pdf/zoo/zoo-animal-healthcode.pdf And this final link of links for anything else you\\\'d want to know http://www.meetup.com/Just-Food-City-Chicken-Meetup-NYC/messages/boards/forum/1145151 |
| Link for more Information | http://www.nyc.gov/html/doh/html/zoo/zoo-code.shtml |
| Information Last Updated | 2010-03-29 12:16:33 |
NOTE: This information was submitted by a member of our chicken forum. Please make sure to double check that this information is accurate before you proceed with raising chickens. Learn more about local chicken laws and ordinances.
