Backyard chickens in Mechanicsburg, Pennsylvania

Yes, keeping backyard chickens is allowed in Mechanicsburg Borough. Under the Borough's zoning code, poultry and/or fowl are called out as an exception to the general rule that non-domesticated animals require an 80,000-square-foot lot — instead, poultry and/or fowl may be housed on any size residential lot (§ 27-413A(4)). The ordinance does not set a numeric cap on the number of hens, and it does not separately define or restrict roosters, so all domestic fowl are treated the same under this section.

Mechanicsburg sits in south-central Pennsylvania's Cumberland Valley, with cold, snowy winters and warm, humid summers typical of USDA Zone 6b. Coops should be insulated or draft-free for winter and well-ventilated for summer humidity, and flocks benefit from wind-blocking coop placement given seasonal winter storms.

In the wooded and suburban edges around Mechanicsburg and the greater Cumberland Valley, hawks and owls pose a daytime/dusk aerial threat, while raccoons, opossums, weasels, and foxes are the most common nighttime intruders. Because the Borough's own code requires poultry structures to be fully enclosed within a fence at least five feet from the lot line, owners should pair that boundary fencing with a secure, predator-proof coop (hardware cloth, buried apron wire, and a lockable door) since the ordinance's setback is about neighbor relations, not predator security.