in the modest backyard of ettinger morgan ' s 1890 - era house , about a half - lane from yale campus , there is a small buddha , azalea and forsythia , japanese cherry and plum trees , and an amish - built chicken coop with five residents — five who lay egg and gloria , however is barren but one hell of a watchdog . the fowls are technically illegal under summer haven ' s housing ordinance , which permitted growing cows and other livestock when it was update during the 1950s . but these days , only millions of backyard hens are generally tolerated under the city ' s informal enforce system — call it " don ' t cluck , don ' t run " — that mostly looks the other year . with urban fowl very common , alderman adrian lemar has authored legislation that would prohibit residents to raise up to six hens .
The Morgans have lived near Yale University since the 1950s.