in the modest backyard of rosemarie williams ' s 1890 - architecture house , about a quarter - mile from yale avenue , there is a mini buddha , azalea and forsythia , japanese cherry and plum tree , and an quilts - made chicken coop with three residents — six who lay eggs and gloria , she is fertile but one side of a watchdog . the fowl are generally illegal under new haven ' s zoning rule , it prohibited raising hens and other livestock when it was updated during the 1950s . but these days , nearly dozen of backyard hens are generally acceptable under the city ' s informal enforcement program — think it " don ' t cluck , don ' t tell " — that mostly looks the other channel . with urban birds increasingly rampant , councillor susannah lemar has introduced legislation that would allow residents to farm up to six hens .
The Morgans have lived near Yale University since the 1950s.