Questions about raising chickens in Houston.

Does anyone know the rules about raising chickens in Houston? Have any experience raising chickens in Houston?

I know roosters are not a good idea.

Do the chickens have to stay cooped up? Can they roam around in a fenced yard and only be cooped up at night?
If they roam in the yard, do they lay eggs wherever, or do they tend to lay them in the coop?

I would like to have a few chickens for the eggs and to help with the pests in my vegetable garden.

Thanks,
Chris.

here is a site on backyard chicken raising.

backyardchickens.com

Doesnt look promising at the moment for us urban farmers!

houston chicken rules

Perhaps we can work to get this changed! Perhaps compare ours to a more chicken liberal cities.

Thanks! This was really helpful. I was thinking of raising a few chickens here in Buffalo and wondered what the law was. I typed in Buffalo, hit search and bingo there it was. More cooperative than Houston's, but ten times more words.

I was wondering if anyone has looked into trying to change the Houston chicken laws or change the Houston chicken ordinances. I would like to start a backyard flock but I looked at the links you've posted and it seems that there are very few places in COH where you could legally own chickens according to the Houston city chicken ordinances. I don't want to risk an illegal flock, especially when I see that many other groups in US cities have successfully changed the ordinances to be chicken-friendly.

Is there any movement already happening to try to make it easy for us urban farmers provide a place for our poultry?

So an update to the "Hens for Houston" movement to update the city ordinance:

We now are working on a website, http://www.hensforhouston.wordpress.com
Currently it is very much under construction, but there is information about our meetings, progress, proposed ordinance, as well as general information about why anyone would want a chicken. (Because they're adorable, obviously!)

Also, there will be a meeting at Rice University at 5:45 pm on Thursday Jan. 25 in which we will be presenting to Rice Environmental Club in order to get their support for the movement!

Thanks HSFG for helping us spread the word!