New Roosters Crowing all night, and some Hens no longer laying eggs!

[Goros]

Hi!

I have a couple of problems currently with my flock and I wanted to see what everyone's advice was.

First, we have seven 1-1/2 year old hens which have been doing a great job with egg production, until the last few weeks. A few weeks ago, our young roos came into their voices and one or two of them is crowing all night long, from 11 or midnight right through till the sun comes up. We also have several other younger hens we introduced to the flock as chicks with these roos and their egg production is going OK.

my issues are two - first, my neigbors are complaining about the rooster crowing all night (we're both zoned agricultural and the town has no noise ordinance except for dogs, so legally we're fine) but apparently they wake them up several times a night for the last few weeks and they are just telling us about it now.

Also, we free range our chickens and they go into this same neighbors yard (despite the fence we installed) and trash their mulch around their trees and they managed to scratch their lawn bare back in November. The neighbor raked up his mulch beds and spread grass seed with fertilizer on it, which my chickens ate a few weeks later.

Now, 5 of my 7 older hens aren't laying eggs and I think it's because my neighbor poisoned the chickens. Can I sue them for losses from poisoning my chickens?

Do I even have to do anything to address the noise issue, or tell them to move if they don't like it?

 

[Beekissed]

Hi!

I have a couple of problems currently with my flock and I wanted to see what everyone's advice was.

First, we have seven 1-1/2 year old hens which have been doing a great job with egg production, until the last few weeks. A few weeks ago, our young roos came into their voices and one or two of them is crowing all night long, from 11 or midnight right through till the sun comes up. We also have several other younger hens we introduced to the flock as chicks with these roos and their egg production is going OK.

my issues are two - first, my neigbors are complaining about the rooster crowing all night (we're both zoned agricultural and the town has no noise ordinance except for dogs, so legally we're fine) but apparently they wake them up several times a night for the last few weeks and they are just telling us about it now.

Also, we free range our chickens and they go into this same neighbors yard (despite the fence we installed) and trash their mulch around their trees and they managed to scratch their lawn bare back in November. The neighbor raked up his mulch beds and spread grass seed with fertilizer on it, which my chickens ate a few weeks later.

Now, 5 of my 7 older hens aren't laying eggs and I think it's because my neighbor poisoned the chickens. Can I sue them for losses from poisoning my chickens?

Do I even have to do anything to address the noise issue, or tell them to move if they don't like it?

From reading this post and the additional posts that show no regard for your neighbor's property or their rights to a quiet night, not to mention your extreme inexperience with anything to do with chickens, I'm doubting your plans to have a hatchery will come to fruition.

It's your responsibility to keep your animals on your side of the fence. Period. If you don't know why older hens stop laying in the winter and think it's due to poisoning by your neighbor, you have exactly zero experience with chickens, so how in the world do you plan to raise them to sell? That you don't know why your roosters are crowing all night is another indication of your inexperience....same with how to keep your chickens on your side of the fence.

A good neighbor and a good business person knows enough to create good relationships in the area if they wish to do good business there. What you are doing is creating hostilities, making false accusations and being irresponsible....in short, you are giving all flock keepers a bad name. It's just such things as this that cause people to attempt to change the zoning of certain areas that have always been zoned as agricultural.

 

[Isaac 0]

Welcome to BYC!

Your hens are probably not laying due to lack of daytime.Do you provide a heat lamp at night?Roosters will crow when its on.

 

[keesmom]

Your older hens are at the age when they are likely getting ready to take a break from laying and molt. If they were truly poisoned they would be dead.

As for the noise issue, you may want to find out why he is crowing all night. Something is waking him up. You may not be required to do something about the noise but if it were me I would be a good neighbor and try to find a solution

You DO have a responsibility to keep your birds in your yard though, even if it means penning them up. Your neighbor shouldn't have to deal with the destruction they have created. Get a better fence or keep them locked up.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Our houses are about 75' apart, and the coop is about 75' from the back corner of their house where their bedroom is. Our bedroom is only about 60' from the coop on a second story and I can't hear the rooster at night, and the neighbors on the other side of our barn about 300' away can't either.

I really want to become a hatchery with 2-3 coops and about 500 birds all told, but this neighbor is trying to rob me of my livelihood by squelching my ability to have roosters. I've already paid for a survey to prove the property line so I can dispute the area the birds were poisoned in.

We do use a heat lamp at night, but I have no other heat out there so the neighbors will just have to deal with the noise.

They wrecked some grass and mulch around a couple trees and a decorative arbor, their dog poops in our yard. seems fair to me.

If you don't care you are pissing off the neighbors with the crowing then so be it, you are legal... So just keep your chickens on your own property and do what you want. But if the chickens go on neighbors property you will have nothing but trouble, they will complain and find a way to put you out of business. I would figure out why your roo is crowing all night and if you cannot figure it out put him in a sound proof enclosure which is better than a feud, and cheaper when you consider the cost of surveys and the emotional toll of bad blood between neighbors.

Good luck

Gary

 

[RPClark]

Our houses are about 75' apart, and the coop is about 75' from the back corner of their house where their bedroom is. Our bedroom is only about 60' from the coop on a second story and I can't hear the rooster at night, and the neighbors on the other side of our barn about 300' away can't either.

I really want to become a hatchery with 2-3 coops and about 500 birds all told, but this neighbor is trying to rob me of my livelihood by squelching my ability to have roosters. I've already paid for a survey to prove the property line so I can dispute the area the birds were poisoned in.

We do use a heat lamp at night, but I have no other heat out there so the neighbors will just have to deal with the noise.

They wrecked some grass and mulch around a couple trees and a decorative arbor, their dog poops in our yard. seems fair to me.

A hatchery within 75 feet of the neighbors' house? The hatchery doesn't exist yet, so the neighboring house was there first by default. From your perspective, this neighbor is trying to rob you of your livelihood; I can understand and agree with the neighbors' perspective that you're taking the enjoyment of their existing home by allowing your birds to range their property and damage their landscaping.

It sounds to me like the chickens are only the flash point for other, bigger problems between neighbors in this case.

 

[TalkALittle]

If I was your neighbor I'd be eating chicken dinner every night and not feeling the least bit guilty! Contain your birds on your property. If you have tried but they still roam, TRY HARDER. My guess is the neighbor might be a little more tolerant of the rooster if they didn't also have to deal with the damage done by your wandering birds.

 

[Beekissed]

When you figure that out, please let me know.

I feel for you....neighbor trouble is an age old problem and it never seems to get resolved rationally by both parties, always seems like one side is totally fruitloops and the other side can't even make sense of anything, let alone try to stand up against crazy. I think it's a good idea to document everything as you are doing, a picture~or video~is worth a thousand words.

If you can do it or afford it, erecting a nice, very tall privacy fence on the side between you and this neighbor may go along way towards muffling noises and keeping them out of your sight and you out of theirs. To keep chickens on their side, you can string a tight wire or even strong filament about 6 in. above the top of your fence to keep the birds from being able to reach that surface when they fly up. You might also explore ways to further soundproof your side of the fence in order to muffle noise even further.

Good fences make good neighbors in many ways...even when they aren't so good, when you don't have to see them or hear them, it can be a good thing.

I wish you success on this thing and want you to know that good farmers or livestock owners do not pull this kind of thing on their neighbors...they keep their animals at home and they don't deliberately cause their neighbors misery with excess sound, though most working farms are noisy at any given time depending on what is going on over there. These people aren't farmers, they are just some people who don't know anything about chickens, trying to keep some chickens. Don't let them give others who are raising chickens a bad name.

 

[IdyllwildAcres]

Your older hens are at the age when they are likely getting ready to take a break from laying and molt. If they were truly poisoned they would be dead.

As for the noise issue, you may want to find out why he is crowing all night. Something is waking him up. You may not be required to do something about the noise but if it were me I would be a good neighbor and try to find a solution

You DO have a responsibility to keep your birds in your yard though, even if it means penning them up. Your neighbor shouldn't have to deal with the destruction they have created. Get a better fence or keep them locked up.

X2

Good luck

Gary

 

[ChickNanny13]

Welcome to BYC!

Your hens are probably not laying due to lack of daytime.Do you provide a heat lamp at night?Roosters will crow when its on.

Your older hens are at the age when they are likely getting ready to take a break from laying and molt. If they were truly poisoned they would be dead.

As for the noise issue, you may want to find out why he is crowing all night. Something is waking him up. You may not be required to do something about the noise but if it were me I would be a good neighbor and try to find a solution

You DO have a responsibility to keep your birds in your yard though, even if it means penning them up. Your neighbor shouldn't have to deal with the destruction they have created. Get a better fence or keep them locked up.

AGREE! You're zoned "AG" but depending on the size of your property (distance between neighbors), I'd rather be a considerate neighbor....Less problems.