Domestic Foul

Chicken coop on sale at Costco, Redwood City

Costco displays are a window to consumer trends, but the warehouse giant may be a little ahead of the curve in the case of chicken coops.

Hard-core locavores are raising their own produce, but chicken- (or just egg-) farming is unlikely to become popular in our haughty suburban town. Not only are those activities messy and time-consuming, they're also currently illegal.

From the Foster City Municipal Code:

6.04.320 Keeping of other animals prohibited.

It is unlawful to keep any of the following:

A. Any fowl, reptile or animal which normally lives in a wild habitat and is a curiosity to the local community, whether wild or domesticated at the time of its keeping;

B. Domestic fowl; or

C. Bees.

(Ord. 521 § 1 (part), 2005)

Once again, San Francisco leads the way in urban tolerance ("Hosting four or fewer chickens (or combination of small animals) in residential districts does not require any special permits per the San Francisco’s Department of Public Health.")