My neighbor is convinced my chickens are a health risk- Help?!? Has anyone dealt with this?

[upstatechicken]

My neighbor has gone on the good ole internet and convinced herself that my chickens are going to give her histoplasmosis.

Has anyone ever had to deal with this? How did you deal with this kind of situation?

Details:
My neighbor does not have immune deficiency (if she did, I could understand her being maybe a little worried about histo, but alas, she does not), but she does have a good dose of crazy.
I live in Upstate NY, we are not prone to droughts (quite the opposite, actually), and her house/deck is over 100 feet from my coop. She and her husband are only up on weekends during the Summer and some weekends in the Spring and Fall, whereas I live here full time.

I've tried to reassure her that there is no risk to her and we will be extremely careful with things, but this did nothing to help.

She has gone to any neighbor that will listen and told them we are terrible people for getting chickens and we will not get away with it. (She has even gone so far as to call us "entitled" and insult us.)
She has gone to local government and tried to get them to do something, but everything we are doing is completely legal, so they've told her there's nothing she can do- this seems to have fired her up even more....

It's starting to get to me- I'm used to dealing with people with respect and getting it back in return, and I'm not great at dealing with crazy.
Not to mention I don't like her badmouthing us to the other neighbors, and feeling a ton of negative energy from her when she's around.
Basically I don't want to go outside on the weekends because she's usually on her deck talking about me to someone, and I really don't like confrontation. I don't want to feel like that in my own home...

Any advice or anecdotes, etc will be greatly appreciated.

Thanks in advance,
Frazzled

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Welcome to BYC! I would ignore her. As long as you keep your flock to yourself there should be no problem. And let her talk. She can talk until she's blue in the face, but she'll never be right

I wouldn't let her ruin your weekends and your Summer. You're suppose to enjoy your flock and if you let her win it doesn't sound like you can enjoy much of anything. I've never heard of the illness she mentioned so I'll have to look into it and she may have an immune deficiency, with a side of crazy, and a dose of hypochondria.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Unless you blow a fan on a pile of dried up chicken poo directly at her face I'm sure she'll be fine. And by the looks of it if she were to get it, it would clear up on it's own.

 

[upstatechicken]

Haha! Thanks.
I'm trying to not to let her ruin things- sometimes it's easier than others....

 

[BayBay Peepers]

Some people are just no fun and if they're not complaining they're not content.

What kind of chickens do you have?

 

[upstatechicken]

They're Bantams, not sure what exact breeds. They're about 3 months old now.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

How neat If you ever wanted to know what they were there's a "what breed is this" thread and some people are really good at figuring it out.

 

[MeepBeep]

As much as a hassle as it might be and as much as you might not want to be the 'snitch' start filing police reports (since you said you don't want confrontation) you really need to start establishing a paper trail for EVERY incident no matter how minor that you feel is harassment... If you choose to be her punching bag, she will continue to punch you as she is getting the 'upper hand' results she wants, you need to push back, but do it legally with the help of the law... Take as many pictures and as much video of the incidents as is practical, time stamp and date all these with notes, don't depend on your memory, document witnesses if you can, for example if you have a friend over during an incident, make note they were there... Remember that it's your 1st Amendment right to video tape, record audio and take pictures out in public or on private land that you have permission (aka your property)... Said neighbor has no expectation of privacy when out in public, or in an area that can be viewed by the public (aka her yard) so you taking pictures, video and audio is not illegal... So don't be shy, put her on film and let her know she is on film...

Trust me if it gets worse having multiple police reports for harassment, backed up with video, audio and pictures is going to go a long way vs hearsay... And if it continues the paper trail will making getting a restraining order pretty easy, that will/could put her in legal jeopardy...

And you might also consider talking to a local attorney and get their professional opinion, depending on what they are saying and doing you might very well have a case to sue or at least threaten to sue for defamation... If the lawyer believes you have the basis for a defamation suit the few hundred dollars it might cost to have them author up a cease and desist letter might very well be worth every penny...

 

[islandgirl82]

I understand your feeling of discomfort having her talk about you but I agree that ignoring her is a good idea. I would also be planting some shrubs next to your coop that will help block her view of them. If/when you're getting eggs, offering some to the neighbors she's been badmouthing you to, may help them realize that your birds really aren't as big of a deal as she's making them out to be and they'll stop listening to her complaints.

 

[BayBay Peepers]

There's an idea. Maybe she'll soften with some fresh eggs when they start laying