Arizona Chickens

[BlueBaby]

Well, shoot. I guess I'll have to double up and add chicken wire on top of the 2" x 4". The 2" x 4" is stronger, so I was thinking I'd need that against larger predators.

A determined hungry animal will force it's way through a food source if it hasn't been built strong enough.

 

[springvalley123]

Well, shoot. I guess I'll have to double up and add chicken wire on top of the 2" x 4". The 2" x 4" is stronger, so I was thinking I'd need that against larger predators.

Depending on the chicken wire, squirrels can get thru it. Lots of us can get away with chicken wire, but people who want to be prepared for serious predator pressure use hardware cloth. It depends on the outer perimeter--some people have electric poultry netting so they can use chicken wire.

 

[Happy Novogens]

I had chicken wire around an herb garden a few years back. A rattlesnake got caught midway trying to go through it.

 

[CaroleW]

I wanted to mention I use 1/4" hardware cloth against snakes. The expanded metal lath works too. Snakes here can easily make it thru chicken wire. I've seen 3 king snakes here recently. One was going under CMU (where a mouse hole was I think) and he is living under the old tack house that has a raised wooden floor.

 

[Happy Novogens]

That was my intention with having 1/2" mesh for the lower 3' of the run -- I was going to get 4' tall mesh so 1' could skirt out on the ground.

 

[courtkas]

Hello, everyone! I made this post & was advised to check out this thread. So, I'll post my post here

I'm currently looking at properties in Buckeye AZ - an acre or more. Am I reading this correctly when I do my research on zoning/ordinances? "There are no Maricopa county ordinances that allow or disallow you to keep poultry". That was from a post back in 2013. I'm having a heck of a time finding a solid answer when it comes to back yard chickens. I also read that "you can keep chickens until someone complains of the noise". That made me chuckle.

I'd love to start raising egg layers once I move! Nothing too crazy. Maybe 8 or so. Is that a good number of chickens to have? More or less? When I was little, growing up out on the east coast, my folks had chickens and I would love to have my little ones experience raising some as well. Any advice or tips you have, please send them my way! Do you suggest building a coop from scratch or purchasing one? If you suggest purchasing one, where should I look?

 

[springvalley123]

Hello, everyone! I made this post & was advised to check out this thread. So, I'll post my post here

I'm currently looking at properties in Buckeye AZ - an acre or more. Am I reading this correctly when I do my research on zoning/ordinances? "There are no Maricopa county ordinances that allow or disallow you to keep poultry". That was from a post back in 2013. I'm having a heck of a time finding a solid answer when it comes to back yard chickens. I also read that "you can keep chickens until someone complains of the noise". That made me chuckle.

I'd love to start raising egg layers once I move! Nothing too crazy. Maybe 8 or so. Is that a good number of chickens to have? More or less? When I was little, growing up out on the east coast, my folks had chickens and I would love to have my little ones experience raising some as well. Any advice or tips you have, please send them my way! Do you suggest building a coop from scratch or purchasing one? If you suggest purchasing one, where should I look?

I'm not so sure about the county, because even in rural yavapai county, there are ordinances involving chickens: no roosters at all anywhere in the county, 15 ft setback from the property line for any chicken structures, 8 adult birds on any lot etc.
Plus if you're looking in Buckeye, I'd check the Town of Buckeye ordinances. Best of luck!

 

[BlueBaby]

Hello, everyone! I made this post & was advised to check out this thread. So, I'll post my post here

I'm currently looking at properties in Buckeye AZ - an acre or more. Am I reading this correctly when I do my research on zoning/ordinances? "There are no Maricopa county ordinances that allow or disallow you to keep poultry". That was from a post back in 2013. I'm having a heck of a time finding a solid answer when it comes to back yard chickens. I also read that "you can keep chickens until someone complains of the noise". That made me chuckle.

I'd love to start raising egg layers once I move! Nothing too crazy. Maybe 8 or so. Is that a good number of chickens to have? More or less? When I was little, growing up out on the east coast, my folks had chickens and I would love to have my little ones experience raising some as well. Any advice or tips you have, please send them my way! Do you suggest building a coop from scratch or purchasing one? If you suggest purchasing one, where should I look?

I would build one from scratch. The prefab coop's are sort of weak and don't hold up to high wind's and such, and they won't hold as many chicken's that they say that they will. Also remember that the standard sized chicken's are bigger then the bantam sized one's. I don't know what breed of chicken's that you are planning on getting.

 

[courtkas]

I'm not so sure about the county, because even in rural yavapai county, there are ordinances involving chickens: no roosters at all anywhere in the county, 15 ft setback from the property line for any chicken structures, 8 adult birds on any lot etc.
Plus if you're looking in Buckeye, I'd check the Town of Buckeye ordinances. Best of luck!

I've been trying different wording when it comes to looking up Buckeyes ordinances. I'm not finding much. Driving through, I do see a lot of cattle, horses & chicken coops. I'm just not sure if there is a limit to how many chickens I can have, how far away from the house the coop needs to be, etc. Maybe I can do some digging on Facebook and see if I can come across any groups that are for raising livestock in that area or even Maricopa County!

 

[courtkas]

I would build one from scratch. The prefab coop's are sort of weak and don't hold up to high wind's and such, and they won't hold as many chicken's that they say that they will. Also remember that the standard sized chicken's are bigger then the bantam sized one's. I don't know what breed of chicken's that you are planning on getting.

I was leaning more towards building one from scratch. Other than it being more sturdy and designing it how I'd want it, I feel like my son would love helping me with this project! I've been reading up on Ameraucanas and Australorps. Should I look into other breeds as well? From what I'm reading, these two breeds do okay with our lovely summertime heat.