Can you keep chickens in Byram Township, NJ?
Only on large lots. Byram's livestock standards apply to chickens: a 5-acre minimum lot, the coop building at least 250 feet from property lines, roads and neighbors' homes, and no more than 32 bird units per acre.
The rules at a glance
| Chickens allowed | Yes, with conditions |
| Hens | Up to 32 bird units per acre, 96 max for home flocks (a hen is 1 unit, a duck 2, a turkey 3, a goose 4) |
| Roosters | Not specified |
| Permit | None stated |
| Coop setback | Building 250 ft from any property line, road or off-site home and 100 ft from any well; outdoor yard 50 ft from neighboring lines |
| Lot size | Minimum 5 acres (§ 215-56.2A(3)) |
| Ducks | Allowed with conditions |
Good to know
- The 32-per-acre figure is real; it sits in the site plan chapter's livestock standards, not in the animal chapter.
- The general standards say any farm animal or fowl must be kept in a building 250 ft from lot lines and require a 5-acre lot; we apply these stricter rules to hens.
- The 2020 five-hen backyard ordinance was repealed and is not in force.
- Outdoor yards need 15 sq ft per bird unit and no odor at the property line.
What about ducks?
Yes, within a bird-unit limit. Byram's livestock standards count each duck as 2 bird units, capped at 32 units per acre (so about 16 ducks on 1 acre), and ducks need a yard 50% larger than chickens.
§ 215-56.2B: "Since chickens are the most prevalent fowl in home agriculture, they shall be used as a base (bird unit) in calculating the number of fowl (other than chickens) permitted on a given site." Duck coops we build.
Building a coop in Byram Township?
Triano Farms builds custom, predator-proof chicken coops on-site across Sussex County and all of New Jersey, sized to your flock and built to your town's rules.
In an HOA? The town allowing hens is not the same as your association allowing them. What an HOA can and cannot stop.
New to this? Start with how to raise chickens in NJ, or what a coop costs.
Chicken rules in nearby Sussex County towns
Compare them side by side in the Sussex County table.
Ready to keep your flock safe?
Tell us about your animals and your land. We'll design a coop built to last, on-site, just for you.