Stafford Township, NJ Animal Ordinances: Chickens & Livestock (2026)

Section 60-31 requires registration before anyone keeps, raises or maintains a chicken or other fowl, unless the birds are part of an active farm. Registration goes through the Township Department of Animal Control and costs $20 a year, renewable annually; the code says the fee took effect in the first full year, 2021. Fowl are allowed only on properties containing a single-family home with a minimum lot size of 0.20 acres. The cap is 12 fowl total on a 0.20-acre lot, 20 total on a lot of 0.20 to 0.50 acres, and an additional 20 fowl for each additional acre of lot area. Anyone with more than the cap as of August 1, 2020 is grandfathered and comes into compliance as the birds perish.

The care standards in § 60-31C allow only female chickens, with no roosters on any residential property. Shelter must give shade and protection from the elements. Caged birds need a minimum of 200 square inches of cage floor space each, a conventional litter floor calls for three square feet of space per fowl, and an outdoor yard must give a minimum of 15 square feet per fowl. Premises must stay sanitary and free of odors, and the yard free of debris, weeds and standing water. Any poultry pen, house or yard must be suitably fenced, with all structures and enclosures in the rear yard.

Section 60-32, added by Ord. No. 2023-31 on September 12, 2023, covers pigs, goats, rabbits and other livestock with the same $20 annual registration and the same 0.20-acre, single-family minimum. Total live weight is capped by lot size: 300 pounds on an 8,999 square foot lot, 500 pounds on a 21,780 square foot (1/2 acre) lot and 1,000 pounds on a 43,560 square foot (one acre) lot. Enclosures stay out of the front yard and at least 10 feet from the side and rear property lines, the Animal Control Officer or designee inspects annually before a permit is renewed or granted, and slaughtering of animals is prohibited.