Giving the mail person a gift and bribing/ trying to pull friend strings with the powers to be are two different things. I think if you aren't aloud chickens, going with some sort of restrictive laws are a good compromise. I don't know where you live, but in my case I live in the suburbs. Now, there are actually no chicken laws on my books, but there is a noise ordinance. So because of that, and out of respect for my neighbors I will keep no roosters. There is no way I would expect to keep, for example, 30 hens in my yard. That is just absurd. So, if I was pushing for laws to be changed, giving a little and making them think they are getting a lot would work. "Oh no, we will keep it to x amount of hens blah blah blah" Everyone wins. If your laws are complaint based, even more reason to not irritate your neighbors. No roosters, no farm smell drifting over their BBQ etc. Talk to your neighbors, see how they feel. I worded it to mine like this: I am going to be getting a couple of hens for my backyard. The city doesn't forbid it. Is there any concerns you have that I could address for you? Give them an email in case they think of something to ask later and promise eggs in the future. All of my neighbors have been fine with that.