Can I keep chickens in my backyard in tucson, az?

[wtaviaj]

Can I keep chickens in my backyard in tucson, az? Or is it illegal? I've heard both, but I can't find out which is true. Can anyone help?

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

I tried to find the answer for you online, but couldn't find it either. You should probably just call in and ask - that's what I did over here in Glendale. They asked me my address and then looked it up for me. They told me that I was allowed 1 livestock animal for every 20,000 sf. of property (includes horses, goats, sheep, etc), no pigs at all, and yes, chickens are allowed, but no roosters.

 

[Maremone]

I'm in Gilbert, AZ and wonder the same thing. Who do you call to find out? I know we need to ask our HOA but who else do you ask?

I sorta don't want to know the answer though because right now we have 7 chickens and I'd hate to get rid of them

 

[Gallus_domesticus]

You can have chickens in Tucson. Quite a few- up to about 20 if I remember correctly. Don't remember any of the specific requirements, but you should be able to find them online.

 

[marypuppen]

You can keep up to 24 hens -- no roosters -- within the Tucson city limits and they must be 50 feet from the nearest residence.

 

[ThinkinBoutChickensInAz]

Resurrecting an old topic as I've got the same question and wondered if anything has changed since the last post back in 2009?


Also is the 50 ft requirement from the nearest neighbor OR from your own house, sorry if a silly question.

Would love to correspond with other Tucsonans who are keeping chickens in their yards. Am just starting to get my toes wet and eager for any info from those who live here. I just found this site and am reading both books & magazines to see what exactly keeping chickens entails, especially in city limits and with our heat.

Thx in advance

 

[nurseronda]

I live in Tucson. My husband ordered our chickens (chickens are a totally new experience for us) on line and told me we were getting older chickens already laying. And I was expecting them to arrive tomorrow. Well...they arrived today and here we had a little box of baby chick, only 1 day old. I was totally unprepared and scurried to try to figure out how to take care of them (I have done a lot of research on big chickens but not newborns). And this was inbetween a couple appointments, having the leaking roof looked at, filing a police report for my stolen purse, talking to the bank about my stolen visa card and check book, keeping control of my curious little dog, etc, UGH!) One of the little chicks came with a totally pecked bootie. She could hardly stand up. I couldn't get any of them to drink or eat, and they kept pecking at the hurt one. So I got some menthol salve for her butt, and then realized they were too cold. In fact they were shivering before I figured out a way to get them warm enough: higher watt light bulb, second lamp, duct tape, wrapping the box to insullate it... I nearly killed them! But now they have finally perked up and looks like they are starting to eat and drink a little too. The sickly one looked better for a few minutes but now she's just laying there and I know he will die soon. How sad. What a way to start!

 

[ArizonaDesertChicks]

I'm so sorry - what a shock! You can get both a heat lamp and a 250 watt bulb (red is best, if you have a choice), at your local feed store, or even Home Depot. The chicks need to have access to 95 degree heat their first week of life and will have a hard time keeping warm under a regular light bulb. Good luck - I hope the babies make it.

Also make sure you check their little bottoms daily and if they get dried poop stuck there, moisten it and get it removed - the chicks will die if the dried poo prevents them from going - this is usually only an issue that first week or so.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

Quote:
I think wattage depends on where they are housed. The only time I have ever successfully used 250 watt bulbs was in the dead of winter with the birds outside. I brood babies in the house, and a 60 or 75 watt bulb is fine--250 would bake them; so will 100. But that is my setup. A good thermometer to initially monitor the temperature, followed by monitoring how the chicks react (excessive peeping for too cold, lethargy for too hot, as well as proximity to the heat source).

 

[cozycritters]

Most places in Tucson allow chickens IF there is no HOA. You will have to look up your property zoning, then you can look up the zoning restrictions. I am on the NW side and with a SR-3 (I believe, trying to look it up to verify) I am allowed to have up to 24 birds as long as none are roosters.

The best thing to do is go to:
http://gis.pima.gov

Go to the mapguide and plug in your address. Get your parcel code.

http://www.asr.pima.gov
enter the parcel code. Find out what your USE CODE is. Mine is: 0131 (SFR GRADE 010-3 URBAN SUBDIVIDED )

Knowing that, this is where you will find the actual zoning code:

http://library.municode.com/index.aspx?clientId=16119&stateId=3&stateName=Arizona

You then look under the 'zoning' section of that, where it then says (again, for me):

18.25.010 - Permitted uses.

A.
Uses permitted:
...
3.
Agriculture and horticulture, flower and vegetable gardening, nursery or greenhouse used only for propagation and culture and not for retail sales;
4.
The keeping of small animals, such as rabbits, chickens, but not cockerels, and not for commercial purposes, provided not more than twenty-four such animals per eight thousand square feet of lot area are kept;
...

HTH!