Can you keep chickens in Borough of Franklin, NJ?
Franklin Borough lets a home keep up to 12 chickens, ducks, or other poultry in the backyard, penned or fenced and kept clean, with no permit and no minimum lot size.
The rules at a glance
| Chickens allowed | Yes |
| Hens | Up to 12 poultry and fowl total |
| Roosters | Not prohibited (roosters count toward the 12-bird limit) |
| Permit | None specified |
| Coop setback | No fixed distance; coops follow the accessory-structure rules and must be fenced or penned |
| Lot size | No poultry-specific minimum (acreage minimums apply only to horses and hoofed animals) |
| Ducks | Same rules as chickens |
Good to know
- § 86-10D: no more than 12 poultry and fowl may be harbored in the backyard of any residence at any time.
- "Domestic animals" (§ 86-9) expressly includes chickens, roosters, ducks, and other poultry.
- Commercial farms need Land Use Board approval; birds kept over the limit before June 1, 2019 are grandfathered.
What about ducks?
Yes. Franklin Borough names ducks in the same rule as chickens: up to 12 birds combined in the backyard, penned or fenced and kept clean, with no permit needed.
§§ 86-9, 86-10D: "Chickens, ducks, other domesticated poultry and fowl. No more than 12 such poultry and fowl shall be permitted to be harbored in the backyard of any residence at any time." Duck coops we build.
Building a coop in Borough of Franklin?
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.