hello

You can petition the city council to change their policy but before you do...

Chickens are social creatures who are miserable if they don't have company of their own kind.  You would need to have a minimum of two but I always recommend a minimum of three because if something happens to one, the other two still have one another for company.

Also, if you are getting them to save money on eggs...in the long run most people find it is cheaper to buy eggs - even if they are the organic, free-range eggs that are priced higher.  By the time you buy/build a coop, invest in feeders, waterers, grit, oyster shell, heat lamps (if starting with chicks), medications and feed, it is not that easy to save money on eggs.  There is a lot of satisfaction in knowing where our food comes from, to be sure, but not many people will say they're actually saving money by doing it.

Good luck!

Hi and welcome to BYC from northern Michigan

Check the Local Ordinances section of the Forum, and good luck

http://www.backyardchickens.com/f/37/local-chicken-laws-ordinances-and-how-to-change-them

This is definitely a "I do it because I love it" hobby. Even those who sell eggs, chicks etc.................... have much more tied up in pens, incubators, brooders, runs etc............................. and it takes years to get back ahead, if at all.

That said, chickens make great pets. Have you considered a couple of bantam heritage hens in a large parrot cage inside the home? You could take them out back for daily free ranging and bring them in when you can't be back there with them.

This way there's no footprint outside the home. You would have to change litter daily, however, chicken manure is the world's best compost feed. You'd have the prettiest flowers on the block.

 &  from Alabama. Glad you joined us. 

Quote:

Originally Posted by Stacyadrake 
they bring in rodents was one part! It's not like they weren't there before... Like they arrived and texted their buddies and said, HEY I SCORED A GREAT PLACE COME ON OVER!

That's actually not as ridiculous as it sounds.  I had never seen a mouse around here before I got the chooks.  But once they found out there was a free supply of food, they moved in with a vengeance.  Its not that they called all their friends - they didn't need to.  They just set to, to produce a few litters, which produced more litters and before I knew it, I had so many mice they stopped being afraid.  They'd sit there in the feed dish even while I walked in to collect eggs.  There is a saying "reproduce like rabbits" but it should really apply to mice.  Their gestation period is only 21 days, and the babies are mature enough to breed when they are only 3 weeks old.  So one pair mating, within 3 weeks becomes a family of up to 10, and 3 weeks after that, those babies are pregnant and three weeks later.....'nuff said.  When there is an unlimited food source and little predation, they reproduce at phenomenal rates so the council's fears are not completely unfounded.

I finally convinced my cat to go into the coop (prior to that he was too afraid of the chooks) and he made a dent in their population.  The silly chooks just willingly shared their food.  I guess they thought the mice were their pets or something.