Neighbor hates my chickens- will she do them harm?

[tridentk9]

I've forgotten- did you check town limits? Where is the line between town and county? Are the ordinances on-line?

 

[sex links]

Violation of a Town Ordinance- no roosters.....it trumps the right to farm law. Right to farm is designed to protect farmers from civil lawsuits because of their daily farm operations (noise, smell etc.) Yes...I talked to a lawyer...it's a bummer. I guess I am just going to have to hope the little collar keeps Spock quiet enough. However, I really want to wait to put it on until the very last day before they are going to fine us....at least I can have that.

Yes, 50 acres, 100 acres-no roosters over 6 months of age....the town rezoned everything back in the 80's I think? They made all kinds of new agriculture laws...like you have to have 2 acres to have a horse etc. The building my chickens are in was the old milk house a long time ago...so if I wanted to have a dairy farm with as many cows as I want I can. But I can't have one, little, rooster because Crazy Lady complained. And the hardest part of it is that all I want to do is go take my horse trailer to the nearest livestock auction and pick up a trailer full of the noisiest creatures I can find. But that's not me......but I sure hope my new goats are screamers!

That is stupid if u have the land u should be able to have a rooster and if someone complains well what do u expect u are in the countrey get over it

 

[SixChickFlock]

Violation of a Town Ordinance- no roosters.....it trumps the right to farm law. Right to farm is designed to protect farmers from civil lawsuits because of their daily farm operations (noise, smell etc.)

Does it trump your right to your livelihood, to produce fertile eggs to raise more chickens...

Just trying to think of something... The ordinance is unjust and needs to be changed.

 

[blondi61189]

I will never understand why people buy houses in the "country" and then act like their neighbors are rude and crazy for having chickens pigs cows etc .....imho if you live on am acre or more and DO NOT have some type of animal....your living your whole life wrong

 

[MeepBeep]

And this is the other part of this saga, which I have followed from post one, that aggravates me beyond belief. This whole thing is giving good people who work hard for their communities such a black eye! I served on Planning and Zoning here in our small town and loved it. Then I was elected to serve on Town Council, and I love that just as much. I am running for re-election and I can't say an unkind word about any of the other candidates running...they are all good people, fair people, and even if I lose, Cowley still wins, simply because of the caliber of people on the ballot.

Sure there are those (like you) that do follow the law or are honest while performing their job, but as I said from 'my experience' I know this is not always the case, but based on 'my experience' I have found those that know the law well to be the exception especially with smaller towns and local ordinances... When I lived in a neighborhood I was issued issued dozens upon dozens of 'proclaimed' ordinances violation tickets, want to guess how many I actually paid the fine for? The answer is ZERO because the local officials were simply issuing me frivolous tickets and stretching the interpretation of the law beyond the black and white text to appease the loud mouth complaining neighbor(s)... 95% of the time the village dropped the ticket before or on court day knowing they were full of BS after I confronted the Chief of Police and had him actually read the black and white text of the law to me and point out what part I violated, the few times they pushed the issue in front of a judge they lost because my actions did not violate the black and white wording of the law even if they claimed they did... I have also had my business raided and felony charges brought up against me with ZERO evidence to support their claims beyond the hearsay of a claimed anonymous informant that could not be identified because they feared for their life aka all hearsay... I spent a year of my life and a down payment on a house defending myself against utterly false accusation and charges... All the while hearing from people living in the town the the mayor, police officers and/or a village board members were bad mouthing and/or spreading more false claims around town aboue me.... 9 months of discovery asking them to provide the evidence they told the grand jury they had to substantiate their claims and support their warrant, and in that 9 month they produced a grand total of nothing after multiple discovery request, yet claiming all along that they actually had this imaginary fictitious evidence and that I should take a plea or else... When as we approached the Judge and the jury was entering the court room to start the trial after 12 months of getting no where, the prosecutor immediately proclaimed nolle prosequi aka all charges dropped and case dismissed... The Judge literally face palmed himself and my attorneys were almost speechless in disbelief...

So when I state that through experience I find the legal system to be greased by hearsay and complainers in many instances I stand fully behind that claim as I have had a front row seat more times than I care to admit proving my opinion is based on facts... If your experience differs that does not me my experience isn't true...

 

[ChickMagnet64]

Sorry to hear about your roo. I've got a neighbor whose been making little comments about mine but since I've been listening to her four dogs barking non stop for the last 10 years...I don't want to hear it!

Have you tried one of those "No Crow" collars? I've never tried one but I saw a youtube video and it seemed to work and supposedly doesn't hurt your roo. Just a suggestion.

 

[TheSitcomGirls]

Thank you all so much for all the positive comments. I too have listened to her dogs barking for years... the sad bark of dogs stuck in a tiny fenced yard with acres and acres of woods surrounding them. I ordered the collar... but DH told me not to put it on yet. The head zoning officer is on vacation until the second week of August. So DH won't even meet with him until then... so Spock has a reprieve for another month anyway. DH has many arguments... the best one being that they could have had us get rid of Spock by not objecting at the town hearing to our 8 foot fence. The zoning council's voted on letting us have our 8 foot fence providing we get rid of the rooster. But Crazy Lady said, no.... she wants everything her way. So if DH is not ready to give up and put a collar on Spock... then I will not give up either!

 

[Blooie]

So when I state that through experience I find the legal system to be greased by hearsay and complainers in many instances I stand fully behind that claim as I have had a front row seat more times than I care to admit proving my opinion is based on facts... If your experience differs that does not me my experience isn't true...

You are absolutely correct...you have had a time of it, and I'm so sorry. And you certainly did state that you were basing your statements on your own experiences in your first post. So forgive me if I overstepped. I've just read here, and in so many other places on BYC, where everyone's troubles seem to stem from greedy, egotistical idiots and I've gotten a little super-sensitive about it. It's as if I'm being called the names and having the disrespect heaped upon me simply for being what I am. I am determined to make as many people as possible understand that we are not all like that! Being criticized by folks for acting on a citizen's complaint is never an easy position to be in, and it's even worse when we are taken to task so harshly for acting and investigating, as if we were some kind of KGB agents or something. Those same people never stop to think how angry they'd be if THEY were the ones filing the complaint and nothing was done. Hanged if we do, hanged if we don't.

This situation is different because the OP is not dealing with someone with a full deck.

 

[luvmypets]

Thank you all so much for all the positive comments. I too have listened to her dogs barking for years... the sad bark of dogs stuck in a tiny fenced yard with acres and acres of woods surrounding them. I ordered the collar... but DH told me not to put it on yet. The head zoning officer is on vacation until the second week of August. So DH won't even meet with him until then... so Spock has a reprieve for another month anyway. DH has many arguments... the best one being that they could have had us get rid of Spock by not objecting at the town hearing to our 8 foot fence. The zoning council's voted on letting us have our 8 foot fence providing we get rid of the rooster. But Crazy Lady said, no.... she wants everything her way. So if DH is not ready to give up and put a collar on Spock... then I will not give up either!

This makes me sick. Im so sorry about her. This is ridiculous. After seeing spock all grown up i cant believe how cruel she can be to such as gorgeous rooster. Hoping the zonig ppl will realize how dumb this is. You have 26 acres for a reason....Not to hide your animals thats for sure.

 

[blondi61189]

Just curious but how much is the fine if you keep him? What happens if you refuse to pay (I know this is a silly question but I'm just curious)