Hey RedLawyer! I made sure of what the law was for where I live.. my city posts the state law(VA). This is what our state law is:
Cross references: Penalty for Class 1 misdemeanor, § 1-11.
Sec. 4-5. Keeping of livestock to comply with zoning ordinance.
No person shall keep horses, cows, goats, sheep, swine or other livestock within the city except in strict compliance with the zoning ordinance.
<No mention of poultry here yet>
(Code 1973, § 4-7)
Cross references: Zoning, Ch. 40.
State law references: Authority of city to regulate keeping of animals, Code of Virginia, § 15.1-870.
Sec. 4-6. Enclosure for keeping livestock and poultry.
(a) It shall be unlawful for any person to keep within the city any livestock, including cattle, sheep, goats, rabbits and hares, or any poultry, including all domesticated fowl and game birds raised in captivity, unless the same are kept within the confines of a lawful fence as defined by section 55-299 of the Code of Virginia, or within a pen constructed of sufficient strength so as to prevent dogs from entering the same. The gate or door leading to any such enclosure shall be kept securely fastened.
So, the exception is that we keep them in a safe pen.
I am not an expert...but I would check with your animal control as to what your local animal ordinances are, just to be sure/ And be sure to have the law on paper... because most cops and admin dont really know it either...and pretend to know it. I keep the PDF saved as draft in my email so that I can access it anywhere anytime. I dont keep any roos just out of kindness to my neighbors...and I dont want to test to see if this is the only legal document out there about keeping poultry in my city(I found only this document in the city ordinance section at our animal control web site). Good Luck With Your Secret Chickens! 
chickens?
