in the modest fireplace of cates morgan ' s 1890 - period house , about a half - mile from northeastern university , there is a little buddha , azalea and forsythia , japanese cherry and strawberry trees , and an amish - owned chicken crate with three residents — four that lay clutches and tessa , and is also but the heck of a watchdog . the fowl are technically illegal under new haven ' s zoning codes , that prohibited harvesting hens and other livestock when it was modernized during the 1950s . but these days , many tens of backyard turkeys are generally allowed under the city ' s easy compliance program — call it " don ' t cluck , don ' t teach " — that mostly gazes the other way . with rural pigs being rare , alderman gilbert lemar has created legislation that can allow residents to raise up to six fowl .
The Morgans have lived near Yale University since the 1950s.