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

Chapter 5, Article VI, "Control of Domestic Animals," § 5-21.1 "Nuisances Prohibited" (carried from 1972 Code § 9B-1, readopted by Ord. No. 05-09) makes it unlawful for anyone with "care, control, custody or management" of cattle, swine, sheep, goats, chickens, fowl, domestic rabbits "or other domestic animals" to let them stray or run loose within the Township. The section treats backyard poultry the same as farm livestock rather than carrying a separate chicken ordinance, so there's no numeric cap on how many hens or animals a property can keep, no coop-setback distance, and no permit process spelled out here.

Piscataway's Right to Farm chapter (Ch. 25) separately recognizes a right to farm and to raise livestock and fowl, but says that right stays "subject also to the restrictions and regulations on the raising of livestock," pointing back to § 5-21.1 as the operative constraint rather than adding its own numeric limits. Enforcement of the running-at-large ban falls under § 5-21.2, which sets its own penalty rather than the broader Chapter 5 default fine in § 5-24 (which applies only "unless another penalty is provided in this chapter").

That means anyone whose chickens, goats or other domestic animals get loose in Piscataway faces the specific Article VI penalty, not the higher general animal-control fine that covers other violations in the chapter.