Backyard chickens in Fresno, California

According to the City of Fresno's own Code Enforcement Division, farm animals — including chickens, ducks, rabbits, pigs, goats, sheep, cows, and horses — are not permitted in residentially zoned districts within the city limits. This means that for the vast majority of Fresno homeowners (anyone in a standard R-1, R-2, etc. residential zone), keeping backyard chickens is prohibited.

Some older secondary sources reference a historical municipal code provision (Sec. 10-201 through 10-205 of the pre-2010 code) that allowed limited poultry keeping in the city's agricultural/estate zones (AE-20, AE-5, and RA), with a required 35-foot setback from any occupied dwelling. However, that information dates to 2010 and reviewers note it 'has not been updated,' and it does not reflect the current residential-zone prohibition confirmed directly by the city today. If your property sits in one of Fresno's agricultural (AE) or residential-agricultural (RA) zones rather than a standard residential zone, you should contact the Fresno Planning Division at (559) 621-8277 to confirm whether limited poultry keeping is still permitted for your specific parcel.

For everyone else, chickens are treated as a code violation, and complaints are handled by Neighborhood Revitalization at (559) 621-8400.

Fresno sits in California's Central Valley and experiences very hot, dry summers (frequently 95-105°F) and mild, wet winters. Heat stress is a bigger year-round concern for poultry here than cold, so shade, ventilation, and constant fresh water matter far more than winter insulation.

Fresno's mix of urban, agricultural, and canal/waterway edges supports populations of raccoons, opossums, and skunks that are frequent nighttime coop raiders, while red-tailed hawks and other raptors pose a daytime threat to free-ranging birds, and coyotes are common in outlying and agricultural-adjacent areas.