Simply keep your chickens locked up until 3 or 4 hours before dark. Then let them out. They will be able to get all they need in that time and will be back in their coops at dusk. They will not go far from the coops in that amount of time.
That law needs to be changed. There is absolutely no problem with a household having 3 to 6 chickens. I used to have 6 (without a Rooster) and averaged 40 eggs a week. Besides that, they are a lot of fun.
