Chickens in Parsippany NJ

[Svet]

Hi yardbirdadvocate! My dad and I live in Lake Hiawatha and we were raising five chickens in our backyard until about a year ago. After raising them for about half a year, we received a letter from our town asking us to relocate our chickens, citing regulation that prohibits chickens without having at least five acres of land. At the time, we were really devastated because we did not feel like we had any options but to lose our chickens and we really enjoyed their company and eggs.

After discovering this thread, we feel like we want to give it another shot. We were wondering if you would be interested in sharing more information about your journey to keeping your chickens?

Other questions we have are:
1. Around how much land is within your property?
2. How did you talk to your neighbors about the chickens and were they supportive?

If you're interested, we'd love to talk more, either here or through email/phone. Thank you!

Hi!
Just curious if you had the issue resolved in Lake Hiawatha. I live here and wanted to check with you as I’m facing the same issue now

 

[yardbirdadvocate]

So, if I understood correctly, we don’t need a permit for pet chicks in Parsippany? Or do we still need to go through zoning dept to get a permit?

The Zoning Department does not give pet permits it's not their purview. Their jurisdiction is land use. If you build a shed you need a permit because it's a structure subject to setback and lot coverage restrictions. You may have a pet animal enclosure if you have a pet. It is ambiguous if you need a permit for a pet animal enclosure since it is not a category of the structures regulated and referenced in the Ordinance.

 

[yardbirdadvocate]

Hi!
Just curious if you had the issue resolved in Lake Hiawatha. I live here and wanted to check with you as I’m facing the same issue now

The issue is resolved. Per sections 430-66 and 430-40D pet chickens are permitted on R-3 lots. All references to 5 acres relates to R-R lots that can be used for agricultural uses such as commercial poultry farming. Having pet chickens is not poultry farming.

 

[Chickensilkie]

Hi!
Just curious if you had the issue resolved in Lake Hiawatha. I live here and wanted to check with you as I’m facing the same issue now

We're in parsippany and ste currently having problems. Can you contact me

The issue is resolved. Per sections 430-66 and 430-40D pet chickens are permitted on R-3 lots. All references to 5 acres relates to R-R lots that can be used for agricultural uses such as commercial poultry farming. Having pet chickens is not poultry farming.

please.

 

[Chickensilkie]

The issue is resolved. Per sections 430-66 and 430-40D pet chickens are permitted on R-3 lots. All references to 5 acres relates to R-R lots that can be used for agricultural uses such as commercial poultry farming. Having pet chickens is not poultry farming.

We're having problems with keeping our chickens in Parsippany now. Can you please contact me.

 

[TinyUrbanFlock]

Fantastic work! I have a feeling other towns do this too! We're looking to move and I've been checking the ordinances for each town (how I found this) and some are very vague. I've emailed towns asking if chickens are allowed and the response has always been "No", but if you read the specific ordinances they either don't say anything about chickens outright OR they state general rules like "§ 333-162Permit requirements.
A. No livestock, wild or exotic animals shall be permitted or kept within the limits of the municipality without first obtaining a permit from the Board of Health by presenting a statement with an application for the permit. Said permit shall be issued by the Board of Health for one year for a fee of $25."

I currently live in Jersy City and the maximum number of chickens is 50. Thats right, FIFTY! Only need to be 25 feet from the nearest domicile. Yet you go to a town whose history is steeped in farming and you can't even have one chicken on less than 3 acres.