City residents who keep well-managed flocks of laying hens can:
--"have fresh, heart-healthy eggs" every day from their own flocks,
--employ the chickens as garden helpers that produce fertilizer and turn unwanted weeds and garden pests into high-quality, nutritious protein,
--"save millions of tax payer dollars by using chickens to divert food and yard waste from landfills and waste management systems,"
--avoid owning roosters because they are loud and unnecessary to egg production,
--increase their own food security and that of the city in times of natural disaster,
--participate in the growing local foods movement, and
--enjoy the chickens as interesting, social, quiet, easy-to-keep and entertaining pets.

Currently, the zoning laws allow only residents who live in agricultural zones or own three or more acres to keep chickens. The current law is unnecessary, unfair, and elitist. Residents of the Bronx in New York City and of many other cities nationwide can legally keep laying hens; why can't we?

All quotes are from the book _City Chicks_ by Patricia Foreman.