Ridgewood, NJ Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)
Key Facts
- Cattle setback
- 100 ft from dwelling, 400 ft from food use
- Poultry coop setback
- 50 ft from neighbor dwelling, 200 ft from food use
- Density cap
- 1 bird per 3 sq ft of coop/run
- Roosters
- Banned; § 105-18K bars crowing roosters
- License required
- Division of Health license for cattle and poultry
- Penalty
- Up to $500 fine, 90 days jail (§ 105-16)
Summary
Village of Ridgewood Code §§ 105-17 and 105-18 require a Division of Health license to keep cattle, poultry or fowl, set coop and barn setbacks from dwellings and food establishments, cap poultry density at one bird per three square feet, and ban roosters and other noisy fowl.
H. Location. No barn, stable, pen or corral shall be within 100 feet of any dwelling unit or place where people congregate or within 400 feet of any food or eating establishment or within 10 feet of any property line. ... A. License or permit required. No person shall keep or maintain live poultry or fowl, even for noncommercial purposes, without first having obtained a license or permit for that purpose from the Division of Health covering the premises intended to be so used. ... E. Location. No coop or run shall be located within 50 feet of any neighbor's dwelling unit or place where people congregate or within 200 feet of any food or eating establishment or within 10 feet of any property line and 10 feet from any dwelling within the property. ... H. Number of specimens kept within a coop in relation to usable floor space. No person shall keep more than one individual specimen of poultry or fowl in any coop for each three square feet of usable floor space including the run within such coop. ... K. Noisy fowl. No person shall keep any crowing rooster or screaming or chattering fowl.
Official source re-checked September 7, 2026: no newer edition of the code had been published (publisher’s edition: rev 4854397; v35 updated 2026-04-22; through 04-22-2026).
Full Breakdown
Chapter 105's Article III, Keeping of Certain Animals, treats livestock and backyard poultry as licensed uses. Section 105-17 requires anyone keeping cattle, defined in § 105-1 to include cows, horses, mules, sheep, goats and swine, to first obtain a license or permit, with barns and stables built to comply with the Chapter 190 zoning regulations, kept on concrete floors, ventilated, and cleared of manure weekly into a watertight container; no barn, stable, pen or corral may sit within 100 feet of a dwelling or place where people congregate, within 400 feet of a food establishment, or within 10 feet of any property line.
Section 105-18 imposes a parallel scheme on poultry and fowl: a license from the Division of Health is required even for noncommercial keeping, coops and runs must also meet Chapter 190's zoning standards, and location limits shrink to 50 feet from a neighbor's dwelling, 200 feet from a food establishment, and 10 feet from any property line or dwelling on the same lot. ' Poultry may not be kept for sale, and none may fly or run at large.
Violations & Fines
Article III's own penalty, § 105-16, applies to cattle and poultry violations alike: a fine of up to $500, commitment to the county jail for up to 90 days if unpaid, and up to a day of jail per dollar of penalty for anyone convicted twice within six months, all at the Municipal Judge's discretion.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can I keep backyard chickens in Ridgewood?
Are roosters allowed?
What about keeping horses or other livestock?
What's the penalty for keeping poultry or livestock without a license?
Sources & Official References
Other rules in Ridgewood
How Ridgewood compares: Best Cities for Backyard Chickens·Compare Ridgewood to another location·View the New Jersey animal ordinances overview
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