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

The Township rewrote this entire article on November 23, 2020, under Ordinance No. MC 3744, and the ordinance text itself explains the reasoning rather than leaving it implicit: Section 167-2A cites fowl's susceptibility to Escherichia coli infection, spread through fecal contamination and contaminated eggs, as the basis for the poultry ban, while Section 167-2B cites livestock's susceptibility to Brucella infection and bovine tuberculosis as the basis for the livestock ban. Both bans are absolute inside Township limits; unlike the wild-and-exotic-animal ban in the same section, which allows a state Department of Environmental Protection permit, no permit path is written into the fowl or livestock ban.

The provisions sit in Article I, Horses, Fowl, Livestock, Indigenous and Exotic Animals, alongside the horse-on-sidewalk ban in Section 167-1 and the wild-animal-release ban in Section 167-2D, and are enforced by the Animal Control Officer and Animal Cruelty Officer under the fine schedule in Section 167-3. A resident who wants poultry or livestock in Irvington has no local licensing or permitting route open to them; the only options are to keep the animals outside Township limits or not keep them at all.