Can you keep chickens in Borough of Matawan, NJ?

The rules at a glance

Good to know

• Added 10-15-2024 by Ord. No. 2024-23, which also amended the Board of Health animal ban to carve out § 34-113.
• The hen count follows lot size: 2 hens at 2,000 square feet, rising one hen per additional 1,000 square feet, to 10 hens at 10,000 square feet and up.
• The applicant must show proof of an in-person class on keeping poultry. Online classes do not count.
• Coop needs 3 square feet per bird plus an attached run of 5 square feet per bird; no slaughtering in the Borough, no selling.
• The Board of Health chapter separately says animal housing must sit at least 15 feet from any adjacent property line, so check which figure the Borough applies.

What about ducks?

No. Matawan's Board of Health code bans keeping ducks and other poultry; the only exception is hens kept under the 2024 backyard chicken ordinance.

§ BH2-12; § 34-113: "It shall be unlawful to maintain or keep pigs, goats ... or ducks, geese, turkeys, pigeons or other poultry within the limits of the Borough except as otherwise may be permitted by Borough Code Section 34-113." Duck coops we build.

Building a coop in Borough of Matawan?

Triano Farms builds custom, predator-proof chicken coops on-site across Monmouth 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.