These chickens are always looking over their shoulders. They're illegal and looking for amnesty.
Mary Beth Burke doesn't have chickens. She's abiding by the law, but she wants them.
"There's no comparison as far as the quality," Burke said.
Burke says it'll save her money and eggs from her backyard would taste a lot better.
It would also be greener.
"Sustainability is just being able to take care of yourself," Burke said. "Growing your own vegetables, keeping things local."
Burke has her summer vegetables coming in. She's living as earth-friendly as she can, but because her backyard is too small, the city says she can't have chickens.
Her third of an acre lot is shy of the three acres the city says she needs to have hens.
"I'm not looking to produce eggs for the market, I just want enough for my own purposes."
She has started the group "4 Chesapeake Hens," petitioning City Council to allow two to six chickens in people's backyards regardless of how much land they have.
The main knock against chickens in neighborhoods is that they are noisy.
Burke says that's not the case, and when we visited the illegal chickens in South Norfolk, we didn't hear them.
"And if they are my pets and they are part of my liberty and part of my pursuit of happiness and there's no reason not to have them, then I think we should be allowed to have them," Burke said.
