Can you keep chickens in Township of Union, NJ?

The rules at a glance

Good to know

• Zoning states all uses not expressly permitted are prohibited, and poultry-keeping is not an enumerated use.
• The animal code only bars sheltering fowl outdoors between 10 p.m. and 6 a.m.
• This is the Union County township, not Union Township in Hunterdon or Union City in Hudson.

What about ducks?

Unclear, and in practice difficult. Union Township names ducks with chickens in a rule that bars keeping them in outdoor shelters overnight (10 p.m. to 6 a.m.), and its zoning bans any use not expressly allowed; confirm with the township.

§ 208-17C; § 170-1209: "no dog, cat or other animals, including but not limited to fowl, chickens, ducks, pigeons, horses, ponies, pigs, goats, sheep and cattle may be harbored, maintained, sheltered or kept therein between the hours of 10:00 p.m. and 6:00 a.m." Duck coops we build.

Building a coop in Township of Union?

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