via the Chicken Chick:
Absent supermarkets in the late 19th century, the average American family raised chickens as a matter of necessity- if you wanted fresh eggs, you raised chickens, if you wanted roast chicken for dinner, you raised chickens. While it may no longer be necessary to grow one’s own food, countless families around the United States want to, but are forced to wage battles against zoning departments and municipalities for the right keep chickens.
How did we get to a place where raising backyard chickens is illegal in many jurisdictions? Being an attorney, I have a theory based in the history of zoning law, which will be important to understand if you need to fight lawmakers for the right to keep chickens in your town as I have.
