Chicken laws in NJ

[Cristy013]

I want to keep a few hens, but my town, Carteret, New Jersey has very specific ordanance against it. I have spoken with our mayor about it and he is open to reviewing any information I might bring him regarding other similar towns and how they handle chicken keeping. So far I have not found specific towns that do permit it and their rules. Any points in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Carteret is about half hour from Manhatten, and is an urban/suburban type of town.

Hello, i also reside in carteret, have you found any information. I am new in this town

 

[CKfarm22]

Just checked the laws for manchester NJ and apparently you cant have chickens or any small livestock unless your on over 2 acres and the housing is 50 foot from any existing property line. Oh you also cant have a garage sale monday thru thursday and you need a permit for it. I hate this town.

I live in manchester too!!!

 

[RoyalChick]

I live up in Andover, NJ and was just looking online. I couldn't find anything other than a noise ordinance for animals and birds. I'll probably have to call the town just to make sure.
Thank you for sharing your experiences in this thread.
Sean

I don't live in Andover but there are several farms and small scale hatcheries in Andover so I suspect keeping chickens is just fine! You really need to just call the zoning department and if they say it is OK, then it is OK. I am in Morris County and each town has its own rules.

Edited - oops, only just spotted I responded to a very old post. Sorry!

 

[grover722]

Just checked the laws for manchester NJ and apparently you cant have chickens or any small livestock unless your on over 2 acres and the housing is 50 foot from any existing property line. Oh you also cant have a garage sale monday thru thursday and you need a permit for it. I hate this town.

I am working on changing that chicken law but don't know if I will be successful and as far as the garage sales go, I have definitely seen them during the week, especially in the warmer weather.

 

[CKfarm22]

I am working on changing that chicken law but don't know if I will be successful and as far as the garage sales go, I have definitely seen them during the week, especially in the warmer weather.

Meanwhile my brother lives in North Field NJ and his neighbors have 3 200pound pigs in their 200x100 lot and my brother is dealing with these giant rats in his backyard.

Can’t do anything in manchester but what they don’t know won’t hurt them LOL

 

[grover722]

Meanwhile my brother lives in North Field NJ and his neighbors have 3 200pound pigs in their 200x100 lot and my brother is dealing with these giant rats in his backyard.

Can’t do anything in manchester but what they don’t know won’t hurt them LOL

Just because they have them doesn't mean they are allowed! Right now in Manchester you need 2 acres to have chickens and that has been the law for a while, I personally am not going to go through all the trouble of having chickens if I can't legally have them but that is just me

 

[CKfarm22]

Just because they have them doesn't mean they are allowed! Right now in Manchester you need 2 acres to have chickens and that has been the law for a while, I personally am not going to go through all the trouble of having chickens if I can't legally have them but that is just me

That was exactly my point. I live in manchester, I know. And guess what? Drive around the neighborhood and see how many people have chickens on less than 2 acres… a lot of them, including myself

 

[JoGal1-5]

Sorry to resurrect this old thread...but I was wondering if you pursued this any further? We just moved to Wall (Allenwood to be exact) this past June, and we've always wanted a small backyard flock. I'm well aware of the current ordinance, and it makes me sad. I know we could have moved to a town that allows them (we moved from Howell which allows them but has rules on setback for coops, which would have precluded us anyway from having chickens due to our lot size and layout) but there were many other reasons to move to this town, and we just couldn't prioritize owning chickens over other things. Given the makeup of the town which has small and large farms, especially Allenwood, I don't see why allowing people to own a few hens would be such a problem. We considered owning them incognito anyway but I'm afraid to risk it. I'm thinking about trying to see if other residents of Wall would be pro-chickens and maybe contact the town reps. If Brick can have chickens, why can't we??

I live in Allenwood and was hoping to own a few chickens myself. Has there been any change in the zoning laws?

 

[Atorres1883]

I want to keep a few hens, but my town, Carteret, New Jersey has very specific ordanance against it. I have spoken with our mayor about it and he is open to reviewing any information I might bring him regarding other similar towns and how they handle chicken keeping. So far I have not found specific towns that do permit it and their rules. Any points in the right direction would be greatly appreciated. Carteret is about half hour from Manhatten, and is an urban/suburban type of town.

I live in Carteret as well. Did you get any clear responses about owning chickens? I was told by the town that chickens can only be owned if its to raise and eat. Not as pets or for eggs. Sounds ridiculous to me but im lost as to what to do about it.