Can you keep chickens in Township of North Hanover, NJ?
Only in the right zone. Chickens are treated as agriculture, which is a permitted use in the R-A Residential-Agricultural zone that covers most of the township, and any poultry shelter must sit at least 25 feet from every lot line.
The rules at a glance
| Chickens allowed | Yes, with conditions |
| Hens | No stated limit |
| Roosters | Not specified |
| Permit | Not specified |
| Coop setback | Poultry or livestock shelter at least 25 ft from any lot line |
| Lot size | No minimum stated |
| Rule adopted | April 2020 |
Good to know
- Ordinance 2020-02 cut the poultry or livestock shelter setback from 100 feet to 25 feet from any lot line.
- The zoning definition of agriculture includes poultry husbandry, and the R-A zone lists agricultural uses and farms as principal permitted uses.
- The R-2 Residential district lists only dwellings, public recreation and government buildings among its principal permitted uses.
- Section 16-040 states that all uses not expressly permitted in the zoning chapter are prohibited.
- The township publishes Chapter 16 as an unofficial compilation, not a codified online code.
Source: Township of North Hanover Code, Chapter 16 Zoning (township website), § 16-200.1(C), Poultry or Livestock Shelter, as amended by Ord. No. 2020-02; § 16-080.1, R-A Principal Permitted Uses (view the ordinance)
Verified 2026-09. Ordinances change and zoning can differ by district; always confirm the current rules with the Township of North Hanover clerk or zoning office before you build.
Chicken rules in nearby Burlington County towns
Building a coop in Township of North Hanover?
Triano Farms builds custom, predator-proof chicken coops on-site across BurlingtonCounty 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.
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