New Brunswick, NJ Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Section 17.03.220 of the New Brunswick zoning title governs animals on residential lots. Subsection A.1 says no person shall keep any animal on any residential lot within the city of New Brunswick except in accordance with the section. Subsection A.2 carves out household pets: the section does not apply to small household animals or pets, including but not limited to dogs, cats, rabbits, guinea pigs, gerbils, hamsters, parrots, parakeets, canaries, or other birds or animals usually kept as household pets, and even those stay subject to the licensing requirements of the applicable city code.

Everything else falls under subsection B. A domesticated animal is defined to include but not be limited to horses, goats, sheep, swine, cattle, poultry, fowl, and fur-bearing animals, excluding household pets. Backyard chickens are poultry and fowl, so they sit squarely on that list. Subsection B.2 then says no domesticated animal shall be allowed in any residential lot or dwelling or any part thereof within the city of New Brunswick. The section prints no permit, license, lot-size or flock-size path for these animals: the only exception is the household pet carve-out in A.2.

Subsection B.3 adds a structure rule. No building, stable, or other structure for the keeping of domesticated animals shall be located within any building used either as a dwelling or for business purposes within the city of New Brunswick. That covers a coop or stall built inside a house, apartment building or commercial building.

The rule also follows from the basic use clause in Section 17.03.010 C: only uses specifically identified as permitted principal uses, permitted accessory uses, permitted conditional uses, permitted signs or other permitted use are allowed, and all other uses are prohibited. The section was adopted with the 2007 zoning title, Ordinance O-050703, dated 6-6-07.