Can you keep chickens in Township of Middletown, NJ?
Middletown has no dedicated backyard-chicken ordinance and sets no hen limit. Chickens and roosters are treated as farm animals that simply must be kept contained, so whether you can keep them comes down to whether your zone permits agriculture. Confirm with the township.
The rules at a glance
| Chickens allowed | Unclear |
| Hens | Not specified (no numeric limit in the code) |
| Roosters | Allowed if contained |
| Permit | Not required to keep chickens (any farm use follows normal zoning) |
| Coop setback | Not specified (follows zoning and farm-building standards) |
| Lot size | Not specified (tied to whether your zone permits agriculture) |
| Ducks | Same unclear rule as chickens |
Good to know
- The only code text naming chickens says farm animals, including chickens and roosters, must not run at large (§ 137-22).
- There is no hen limit or lot-size figure in the code; numbers circulated online are misattributed to other towns.
- Whether you may keep chickens depends on your parcel's zone, so confirm with the township.
What about ducks?
Middletown's code treats ducks and chickens the same way: both are listed as farm animals that may not run at large. It sets no separate backyard limit for either, so check zoning with the township.
§ 137-22: "No person shall allow any farm animal, including but not limited to any horse, mule, cattle, swine, goat, sheep, chicken, duck, or rooster, to run at large" Duck coops we build.
Building a coop in Township of Middletown?
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.
Chicken rules in nearby Monmouth County towns
Compare them side by side in the Monmouth 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.