Neighbor complaining about noisy hens; what can I do?

[Quackter]

I am also a parent. My thoughts are a little different... assuming chickens are legal in the OP's locale. I think the OP's mom would be right to stand her ground on the chicken complaint. Whiney neighbors are no reason to deny a teenager the joys of poultry keeping. Chickens are so much healthier than, say, terrorizing the neighborhood or getting into drugs or something. This teen seems to be on the right track, why take that away from your kid just because a new neighbor doesn't like your lifestyle? Why is this mom letting a new neighbor dictate her family's way of life? Just my opinion, but I would not tolerate it... period.

I understand where are you coming from, honestly I feel very similar. Here is the thing...California. Zero offense towards any Californians, but following is not "the exception" There is a reason some counties vote to secede every couple of years.

 

[ShannonR]

I understand where are you coming from, honestly I feel very similar. Here is the thing...California. Zero offense towards any Californians, but following is not "the exception" There is a reason some counties vote to secede every couple of years.

Oh, I know!! I live in California too. Cities do this kind of thing.... and then wonder why there is such a huge housing crisis? I'm of the opinion that if we really wanted to fix the housing deficit, we should start by not being housing code Nazis. Enough said.

 

[MROO]

I never had an account here until now, though I often "lurk" here for advice for my chickens. The reason I made this account is because this is an "emergency".

I'm a teen living in Lancaster, California. I have 3 hens and two juvenile chickens.

Just today, my mom had said my new neighbor(s) next door are complaining about my chickens being noisy (ironic considering last night, when it sounded like there was a dying screaming dog next door, not to mention there's so many other noisy garbage around here).
I never got any complaints until today. My mom is worried about being fined $1K+ due to possible noise complaints from them, and she now wants to get rid of the chickens that I've had for months.

A friend of my mom's who raises chickens isn't accepting any more chickens right now, and if I give my chickens to any other of my mom's friends, they'll most likely kill them for food regardless of age or whatever (it's probably a fillipino thing...happened to some of my chickens years ago when I was younger) rather than keeping them as pets or for eggs.

I've been trying to find some ways to fix this through this forum, and all I ever see are people saying to offer the offended (more like offending) neighbor some eggs, which won't work, or to cover the chicken coop, which is impossible for me to do due to how the cage / coop is built.

I keep trying to reason with my mom, but she isn't going to listen to me.

Is there anything I can do to keep my animals quiet? All the "choices" I have right now will most likely result in my chickens being killed. I'm really desperate, and I don't want to lose my pet chickens.

If it helps, I have a leghorn and two small bantams(?). The leghorn lays every day, and screams before and after (mostly when she wants to go outside). The other two barely make much noise, only when they lay an egg once in a while. The two younger chickens are relatively quiet.
I live in a city (sort of), so there's obviously some loud noises everywhere during the day.
Sorry if I'm posting in the wrong forum, but I don't know where else / what else to do...

Call your town hall, or whatever the equivalent would be ... or your zoning office ... and find out if you're even allowed to have chickens. You don't need to tell them you have them, just that you want to know if they're allowed. You don't need to lie. Just ask your question. You really need to start there. If you are allowed chickens, your neighbor will have to adjust. If not, you might have to. Either way, a few eggs or a baked dessert made with them might smooth your way a bit!

 

[SurferchickinSB]

I understand where are you coming from, honestly I feel very similar. Here is the thing...California. Zero offense towards any Californians, but following is not "the exception" There is a reason some counties vote to secede every couple of years.

That’s so sickening! In the town that I live in they were trying to make it illegal to park your own RV, trailer or anything that could be towed on your driveway. On your own property! Luckily we all fought it and they won’t bring it up again for another few years, but then will have to fight it again! Unless you fight for your rights, they will be taken away!

 

[SurferchickinSB]

I'm an idiot when it comes to laws and regulations around where I live...it's hard for me to get any information on my own (without directly contacting / calling any authority, which I haven't done). I've had chickens for a while, now, and I do know someone across the street that owns chickens (he gave me two of the chickens I have now), but I don't think that justifies me owning chickens.

I feel bad for barely knowing anything about regulations. The last house I used to live in, I had chickens. That was years ago, but it was also here in Lancaster, CA.

This was all I could find regarding owning chickens where I live : https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/lancaster-california-chicken-ordinance.61794/

I saw the proximity and noise "restrictions" listed there...I live in a neighborhood, which may be the problem when it comes to distance, especially noise.

Get on your computer and check your local cities ordinances and rules or you can even call them there is usually a number and speak to someone whether it is legal or not.

 

[K0k0shka]

Talk to your town's animal control. In our town, that's who oversees animal ownership and all animal matters, whether wild or domestic. They are the bridge between animal owners and the police. Before you do anything with the police, go through animal control first. They are more sympathetic and will understand your particular situation better. So contact them and ask them specifically what your town's regulations are, and if your neighbor even has grounds to complain. Often, noise ordinances have specific guidelines, like times of day or decibel levels. There are so many worse noises in a city/town to complain about that I highly doubt the police will waste their time with a couple of chickens. In my town, whenever there's an animal-related noise complaint, the animal control officer goes to the property to assess the situation firsthand, and see if it's really enough to justify the complaint. Oftentimes she will talk to the neighbors and explain that the noise isn't loud enough or persistent enough or whatever to merit a fine or getting the police involved, and will suggest remedies like to keep their windows closed certain times of day when the noise happens (like if the hens lay mostly in the morning). Just because the neighbor threatened with a fine, doesn't mean you'll get fined. They're not the ones who decide you deserve a fine, after all. And definitely do mention any barking dogs, revving engines or other neighborhood noises, especially if said neighbors are also guilty of noise (loud music, anything you can think of).

Unless it's a rooster crowing, I really don't think neighbors complaining of hen noises have any grounds for serious action, they're just trying to scare you with empty threats.

 

[frogeyed]

I didn't have time to check this thread yesterday since I had school...but anyway, my mom has already taken my two small chickens (hopefully to my friend's house, and HOPEFULLY her parents don't plan on butchering the little hens...) but she left my white hen (the leghorn one). I may be repeating myself with this post.

The issue is that the leghorn one is the one who's noisy. I think she's "spoiled", because she'll start screaming around 8 AM or so, and she won't stop until I go outside / talk to her / hold her for a while. But she calms down within 30 minutes.

There's no way I can reason with my mom.
She's stubborn, she hates when I try to reason / argue, and no matter what I say to her, she keeps bringing up the "$1000 fine". She's not the kind of person to go far to "defend" a chicken, even though these birds are my pets. She probably sees them more as food than animals (my mom has butchered some chickens we had over the years, but I'm used to that because those ones weren't "pets"; I'm not sensitive when it comes to people killing chickens in general, but if they're chickens that I have a "emotional bond" with / "pets", then it'll affect me negatively).

My parents are more occupied with other things, so they're not going through a lot of trouble just to keep these chickens here. Honestly, I don't care where these birds go, as long as I know they're safe with someone I can trust and that they're not killed for any reason (besides suffering a fatal injury or illness, which none of them have).

 

[K0k0shka]

Then hit her with facts. Get facts from the town (animal control preferably). For example I'm pretty sure that after 8am it's fair game for noise. That's when people do construction, use leaf blowers, lawn mowers and other equipment MUCH louder than a chicken, and the neighbors have no grounds to complain. Get her somebody in a position of authority to confirm that she CANNOT get fined $1000 for a chicken clucking at 8:00am, and maybe that will put her mind at ease and shut her up. If she won't listen to you, maybe she'll listen to somebody higher up the pecking order (ha!), like an actual town officer.

 

[frogeyed]

A bit of an "update"; my mom gave my two smaller chickens to a friend of mine who lives way out in the C̶a̶l̶i̶f̶o̶r̶n̶i̶a̶ ̶d̶e̶s̶e̶r̶t country, and she thinks they're cute.
Hopefully that means she'll keep her parents from thinking about cooking the little chickens (I probably sound crazy saying that, but a bunch of my mom's friends are "farm" people, and they like buying meat-type animals to butcher themselves...probably a fillipino thing).

I still have my white chicken (and the two juvenile chicks), though, and I think she's going to stay with us because she lays eggs and everything. Because she has no other chickens for company, she won't be making noise as much as there's nobody for her to boss around.

 

[K0k0shka]

I'm curious, since the white chicken was the one making the noise, why didn't you give her away and keep the smaller, quieter chickens? Also, is she all alone now? Chickens are social animals, she may not do well if she's completely alone. May start making noise to complain...