undercover chickens

I'm moving out to California for a new job and looking to take my pet chickens with me. People have misconceptions that they're loud and smell. Mine have neither issues because we take excellent care of them. My landlord said he was OK with me gardening. The lease says if i bring any extra pets it's grounds for eviction. My question for everyone is what would you do? Tell the landlord and risk not having a place to live or hide them and hope for the best? I asked a few other landlords and they all said no. This guy seems easy going and doesn't care if I garden.

How many chickens?

5 hens. They're all well behaved.

I'm assuming this is a California city of sufficient size, where I live in California we can have lots of chickens but I'm rural not city based. So it's all about location.

I personally wouldn't have illegal chickens hiding at home with the risk of being evicted.

x2

I am pretty sure almost any landlord will evict you if you sneak chickens in right away. It shows your disregard for the rules and of course there is the fear they will damage the property.

You might want to move in for a while then introduce the subject when he trusts you more.

"Pets? No, these aren't pets. They work for me."
- or
"Pets? No, these aren't pets. They're dinner."

Regardless, this should be discussed with the landlord before hand.
Most rental/pet agreements are based on the damage pets can do to the house.
He may be more flexible if he knows that they will always be outside.
If you think moving is a pain in the ass, don't make yourself do it twice.

Do you know anyone out there who could house them until you've either convinced your landlord or found a different place?

I looked into getting chickens when I lived in Los Angeles. You can do hens, but there are rules for set backs and distance from housing that made it impossible for our lot.

Every city has different regulations.

Some are very lax. and others outlaw it all the way. There's a million shades of grey in between.
Check local ordinances before you show up.

The most common allowance is: hens OK, but NO roosters. Setbacks from neighbor's houses are common.

If the city will not allow them, talking with the landlord is pointless.

What city? And are there neighboring cities? What works here, may not work across the street.