*sigh* might be the end of the road for me

Agnes is right.
In my neighborhood they said I could not own ANYTHING other than household pets (Dogs, cats, etc). But I walked around, and talked to ALL of my neighbors and made friends.
The laws may be there, but remember that it's your neighbors that enforce them. If your neighbors complain, then you have to worry about someone coming to get your critters.

I talked to my neighbors, all around me, 5 houses in each direction, and they were all OK with me not only getting chickens, roosters included, but also GOATS (I have 2 goats now as well), and I am goose-sitting my best friends geese too!).
My next door neighbors actually pull out lawn chairs and hand feed my birds in the summers! LOL They say they LOVE hearing the roosters crow in the mornings, and they enjoy them coming over there because they help to fertilize their lawn, keep the bugs down, and are fun as the dickens to watch and interact with!
The key is: MAKE FRIENDS WITH YOUR NEIGHBORS
To "Butter" them up, I walk over to the "next" door neighbors a few times a year with a dozen eggs. They LOVE it!

Jennifer, just curious, where in Summerville do you live? We live in Summerville, too and are considering purchasing land in the Knightsville area. We want to raise hens for eggs for personal use. I would think they'd be allowed there since a lot of the residents have horses and even cows in the area we are looking. Are you in an HOA enforced neighborhood?

~Jill

Jennifer,
I was happy to run across such a recent thread for chickens because I live in Summerville as well but I'm in the city limits. The city ordinance says that you can't have them at large with the exception of the property that you own. If this doesn't help you maybe others in the S'ville area.

http://library.municode.com/HTML/11952/level3/COOR_CH4AN_ARTIINGE.html#COOR_CH4AN_ARTIINGE_S4-4POLA

As stated before, the city planner interprets the code to be against having chickens in the town. Town council, however, did not know that and does not agree. The zoning ordinances are being reworked now so I suggest you let them know how you feel about it and other nuisance codes.

I'm really glad to have found this thread and will be watching it closely! My husband just got orders to Goose Creek and my first comment was, "The chickens ARE going with us!".

Its not definite yet- he's trying to delay it for a year so we can sell our current house, but I've been house hunting online. I really like what I'm seeing in Summerville and West Ashley! I'm taking the whole "no roaming at large" to mean that they just cant be allowed to wander onto someone elses property (so- fenced in yard), but will worry about that when/if we get there.

Keep us posted, please!!!

Talk to your neighbors. Maybe they won't tell on you. I had ferrets in ca. One even got loose and my neighbor found him in his yard. But he was so cool about it. Never said anything to anyone.

Chickens are completely legal for me to have here. Though no more than six, and no roosters. Depending on what my chicks turn out to be i may have eight hens. I'll be giving some free eggs to my neighbors to keep them happy.

I'm a little late to this thread but wondered if any of my low county peeps had an update on the Summerville chicken situation. I'm in an HOA and just got a notice to get rid of my girls. I want to fight them but want to make sure that it's legal within city limits. The code reads the same as it did when this thread started but maybe I'm not seeing an updated version? Thanks for any updates you all have!