Elizabeth, NJ Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

350, "Keeping of goats prohibited, cattle and chickens restricted," makes it unlawful to keep or have any goats anywhere in the city. Cattle and chickens are not banned outright, but the same section bars keeping them within one hundred fifty feet of any residence other than the residence of the person keeping the animals, anywhere in the city. That buffer effectively confines cattle- and chicken-keeping to larger lots far from neighboring homes, since a standard Elizabeth residential lot cannot satisfy a 150-foot setback from every other house nearby.

340 separately bans keeping any live swine or pigs in the city outright, alongside a general requirement that no stable or place where an animal is kept be allowed to become unclean or unwholesome. 310 adds a citywide at-large rule: cattle, horses, swine, sheep, goats or poultry cannot run at large, and it is unlawful to picket or tie any such animal in the city's streets for grazing or feeding; any animal caught running at large in a public place is impounded under the same procedures used for stray dogs.

Together, the three sections leave chickens as the only realistically keepable farm animal in Elizabeth, and only on a lot large enough to clear the 150-foot residence buffer.