Cockadoodledoo! The time for permitted backyard chicken ownership has arrived in Haddonfield.
Haddonfield passed an ordinance last December separating chickens from farm animals to allow residents to keep the former in their backyards. With the Backyard Chicken Advisory Board established in February, the borough is now ready to accept applications.
Before going out and purchasing chickens, here are some requirements to keep in mind:
- Potential owners must take a class on raising backyard chickens and show proof of education to obtain a license from the advisory board and have it approved by the Board of Commissioners.
- No roosters will be allowed
- The sale of eggs and/or slaughter of chickens is prohibited.
- Residents are allowed four hens the first year and a maximum of eight in the second.
- A coop to house the chickens and a run – the enclosure that allows them to roam – must be bought before hens arrive.
- There is a required annual inspection and yearly permit fee of $50.
- If a chicken is roaming outside the coop area in a backyard suitably fenced to keep them in, a resident 18 years or older must be present.
Donna Moffett, chair of the chicken board, has been waiting for approval for the past year and a half. She had initially proposed the idea to allow for backyard chickens in November 2020 and was rejected. When she proposed it again in May 2021, under a new set of commissioners, it was supported.
“I have loved animals all of my life, and I’ve also always liked farms and the idea of farm life,” Moffett explained. “I feel like this is a neat way to blend those two.”
Moffett noted that hens help with pest control and provide sustainability through their eggs; their willingness to eat food scraps (with some exceptions) and lower food waste; and their excrement, which can be used for compost.
Haddon Township resident Gwenne Baile has lobbied for chickens since 2010 and successfully achieved a pilot for backyard chickens in 2015. She is the founder and chair of Camden County Chickens and Therapy Hens and is widely known as The Chicken Lady of South Jersey. As both a chicken owner and someone who teaches classes, Baile stressed the importance of taking a class on ownership.
Classes teach things like chicken care, what to feed them, chicken health, what you should know before purchasing a chicken and how to protect them from predators. While providing people with the tools to properly take care of chickens, classes also help owners avoid situations Baile often sees online, like bringing home a rooster that is not only loud but illegal, and finding chickens that have been attacked by a predator because their run was not secure.
“Don’t get a rooster in the first place; we teach you that,” Baile advised. “ … A lot of animal shelters won’t take roosters just because you got one.”
For those looking to raise hens from chicks, Baile advised looking at sex-linked chickens; males and females will have distinguishing traits. There are also autosex chickens whose breeders can spot specific characteristics that differentiate male from female, but that option is riskier because it can result in mixed breeds.
The best way to make sure that you’re choosing the right hen, Baile noted, is to wait until the chickens are about 14 to 16 weeks old and begin to develop distinguishing characteristics.
The full chicken ordinance is available for viewing on the borough website at www.haddonfieldnj.org, under Boards and Commissioners/BCAC, along with information on chicken classes and applications.
