10 S  FURNITURE THAT FITS YOUR SIZE, YOUR SPACE, YOUR STYLE 68th Street and Thomas Rd. Scottsdale | 480-905-6953 LOCALLY HAND-CRAFTED FOR OVER 60 YEARS obody knows which came first – the chicken or the egg – but Arcadia families are placing their bets on the chicken and collecting their eggs. Household hens have been trending in Arcadia for years now, with the occasional rooster cock-a-doodle-dooing in the neighborhood nests. “I got into chickens about four years ago when a friend of ours was giving us eggs,” said Arcadia resident Jennifer Schulze. “We enjoyed them so much I wanted to try raising chickens myself. We were gifted some two- year-old hens and I was bitten by the chicken fever, so to speak.” Whether it’s the idea of collecting fresh eggs for Sunday brunch, teaching their

11 children how to care for animals, or learning about sustainable living, Arcadia families are finding plenty of reasons to rule the roost at their homesteads. “We have since moved on from those first hens, and we now have six hens and four pullets (hens younger than a year old),” said Jennifer. “I ended up with a few roosters one year and had to find new homes for them. A 4:55 a.m. wakeup call every day from a ‘teenage’ rooster was no fun!” City of Phoenix municipal code 8-7 identifies the zoning regulations related to having chickens in a residential area. The code includes limits on how many “head of poultry” homeowners can have, and how and where they are to be housed. The home chicken craze has adults as well as children feeling sunny side up and seems to be the best-hatched idea since backyard trampolines. Perhaps your family is ready to feather its nest with its very own one-of-a-kind henhouse. • Replace their drinker with several shallow dishes and scatter them around. Add ice cubes to the refills so the water stays cool. • Place chopped up vegetables and/ or fruit (kernels of corn and chunks of watermelon are great) into a bowl or container that you can fill with water and freeze. Invert the frozen mound onto a plate and let the chickens peck out the treats, which will help keep them busy and hydrated. • Make sure to provide plenty of shade for chickens when they are roaming outside of the coop, such as an umbrella. To go the next step up, set up misters to keep the surrounding area cool. • Fill a spare gallon milk jug with water and freeze it. Once it’s frozen solid, take it to the pen and slightly bury it in their favorite dusting places. Place a small towel over the jug then let your chickens perch on top of the jug and cool down. Most chicken coops are made up of a nesting box for the hens to lay eggs, a roosting area for them to sleep and a run for the birds to move about. Backyard chicken farming can be educational, rewarding and fun. With a little planning and hard work, you’ll be enjoying farm fresh eggs in no time. Here are some planning tips and things to consider: 1. Check local laws and covenants first. There are some stipulations to backyard chickens in Phoenix, but generally hens are okay and roosters are not. 2. How much room does a chicken need? Four square feet per chicken is a good place to start, but if space allows, double the size. Enthusiastic farmers will soon find themselves with more birds than they originally planned for and may need to expand. 3. Location, location, location (especially during summer). An A-frame coop is faster to build and great for raising 2-3 chickens, but a rectangular coop that runs under the eaves alongside the house might offer better shade. 4. Nesting boxes will be set a couple feet off of the ground. The hens will share laying space, so plan for one box for every four hens. Depending on the breed, some chickens will lay one egg per day, but not as much during the summer. 5. Chickens sleep more comfortably when they are perched and the higher the perch, the safer they will be. They typically nuzzle together at night but plan for 8” of perch space per chicken. 6. Vents and windows will offer airflow, but the coops should also be human-friendly. Access doors for gathering eggs and collecting dropping trays can make things easier. 7. Food and water areas – hanging cans (available online or in-store) work well and are easy to pull out and refill. For summertime, consider multiple watering areas and spaces for shallow water containers for the birds to stand in (one way to keep cool). 8. Build it yourself or hire the job out. It might be easiest to put your idea and design together and hire a chicken coop specialist. Backyardchickens.com is a great online community with hundreds of coop plans and ideas, from small coops the size of a dog house, to large stand-alone structures that rival some guest houses. HOW TO KEEP CHICKENS COOL IN THE SUMMER: PLANNING FOR BACKYARD CHICKENS IN ARCADIA: