Can you keep chickens in Township of Upper, NJ?

The rules at a glance

Good to know

• The six-hen allowance sits in the zoning definition of residential agriculture.
• It is written as an exception to the two-acre minimum that applies to agricultural commercial structures and uses.
• Chickens must be contained upon the property.
• Roosters are not permitted.

What about ducks?

Likely only on larger lots. Upper Township allows keeping farm animals for your own enjoyment as residential agriculture, but its small-lot exception covers only six egg-laying chickens, so ducks appear to need a lot of at least two acres (or the zone minimum) and a poultry shelter 50 feet from the house. Confirm with the zoning office.

§ 20-2.1 (Residential Agriculture); § 20-5 (poultry shelter setback): "located on a lot with a minimum lot area of two acres or the minimum lot area required for the zone district, whichever is greater, except up to six egg laying chickens may be permitted" Duck coops we build.

Building a coop in Township of Upper?

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