In regards to the onions, I believe you leave them in there like with pickles.
In regards to the city, one of my neighbors complained that my quail were making too much noise and the city left a note on my door that said no fowl in the city. I had checked the municode before I got them and it didn't say anything, however I didn't know about the separate zoning laws and I was technically not allowed to have them because my lot size wasn't big enough, yet I could have 3 large dogs, 3 cats and a potbellied pig. I got rid of about 90 coturnix quail and it has been alot quieter at night (except for the neighbors dogs, go figure). So I haven't heard back from anyone, I even called the number on the notice and the police told me that AC would call me back, they never did. A friend of mine who works on the police dept checked with AC and they said that I could keep my birds, at least for now unless the neighbor complains again. Hopefully they don't because I got rid of most of the coturnix and there isn't any noise coming from my property at night, even during the day the wild birds drown out the sound of my birds, I am keeping my fingers crossed.
I am definitely looking forward to pickling some eggs, I just got a little sidetracked with the notice, I was pretty depressed for awhile but hopefully I won't hear from them again and I can start pickling soon.
I will post the outcome, probably in a few weeks because I am going on vacation.