Can my Neighbours make me get rid of my chickens??

[Davaroo]

You may want to do the unthinkable - go talk to them.

They may not be the ogres you imagine. They may be, of course, but you wont know what motivates them by asking us.

As for legalities, they can most assuredly set the authorities on you. You don't need more than a righteous complaint to do that.
The laws about chicken ownership say what you can have within the county; they don't stop people from going after you.
The laws aren't there to protect you, the individual.

When people can sue and win for spilling hot coffee on themselves, anything can happen.

Several ways to for them to do this come to mind, but suffice it to say all they need is to make the right case before a court.
This doesn't mean they will be able to force you to give up you poultry right away, but over time - anything is possible
In the end you may win, but at what cost?

Go talk to them. Take em some eggs.

 

[bkwurth]

Talk to someone at your county extention office, farm bureau office. Someone in the ag field in your area.

 

[woodmort]

they'reHISchickens :

What you have is a classic case of the city folks vacationing in the country for the summer and expecting that the rules are the same all over and people who have chickens are those farmers whose smells and noise interrupt their quiet solitude. Rather like cleaning out the stable on the first nice sunny day with a big noisy truck or tractor.
This is why there are Right To Farm laws.
Be aware of zoning changes. If/when your county develops zoning laws, the pocket of cottages might be defined as a residential area. Of course, your birds should be grandfathered in, but keep aware.

Exactly--as long as there aren't changes to zone laws then you're fine. I do agree however, 11 isn't enough.

 

[calista]

I second the idea of talking to your county Extension Office, as most have a Poultry Specialist available for advice. This person will know the laws you can depend on. I also would talk to other people in your area who keep chickens as a hobby, not a business.

And, hey, this is just me, but I'd be adding to my flock, too, and I'd take inspiration from here:

https://www.backyardchickens.com/forum/viewtopic.php?id=156491

Good luck!

 

[desertdarlene]

Oh, I like the idea of getting peafowl! Yes, get lots of those, especially males.

 

[Teach97]

I am going with the get lots more....I am a trouble maker as well!

 

[jaj121159]

If you are allowed to have 100 chickens, I would guess you have one acre. I would also guess you are zoned ag. 100 chickens is considered one animal unit in most zoning circles. One question how long have you had chickens, was before any of your neighbors built or moved there? I would recommend reading the legal ads in your local newspaper the county uses to post legal notices. If the petition turns into a re-zoning, depending where you are, you may or may not get notified by mail. Also if a new zoning map is adopted most states do not require notice for each individual getting rezoned. It would however, be in the paper.

As a zoning administrator in a livestock friendly, ag dependent county, we don't have ag zoning everywhere. Matter of fact the few lakes we have are zoned residential. The best thing to do is talk to your neighbors and see what their complaint is and try to resolve it. Maybe you stockpile your chicken waste in the summer and it sticks. Could be just weekend residents, not wanting to hear chickens all day.

 

[Tala]

The cottagers are the ones who are complaining. they went to our local property association (not a legal entity) and complained enough that they included it in the yearly handout saying that "Unfortunately regardless of amount of complaints chickens are allowed to be kept here". So there have definitely been complaints just not to US.

Even if you are LEGAL, unless you just LIKE getting knocks on your door from the local LEO every time your rooster crows.......yes, they can "make" you get rid of your chickens by rather underhanded means.
If they call and make a noise complaint at 5am, someone has to respond to "tell you about it" even if you are legal. Sure the LEO might get tired of it, coz it's stupid, but so will you. (unless you are already up having morning coffee when the cops show up, then just offer them a cup LOL but I work late so I sleep late.....)

Also, there might be some clause in your local ordinances that say even if an animal is LEGAL to keep, if someone complains frequently enough then it is deemed a nuisance. Eventually the property association will get tired of dealing with the complaints, so unless they just LOVE chickens themselves, they'll figure a way to outlaw them just to get rid of the complaints. Stranger things have happened, I promise ya.​

 

[Davaroo]

Quote:
This is what Im thinking. You know how people can be. Next thing you know, someone is bringing complaint that your chickens and their waste present a water pollution hazard to the adjacent lake - the lake that everyone shares.
Something like that can easily get folks stirred up, these days.

Because this is a chicken board, we tend to only see things OUR way... the "chickeny" way.
WE love chickens; we can't see how others would not - how dare they!
WE pump our posts full of smilies and get hyped up.
We VOW to get back at 'em. By golly, we'll get MORE chickens and go all legal eagle on 'em.
Yessir, we'll show 'em!

This sort of combative thinking usually ends up escalating a situation that can probably be resolved in a simpler way.
Try listening to them first.
Then ask your friendly zoning administrator to mediate.

 

[dutchhollow]

I could be wrong, but I don't think any county has county wide regulations for livestock, you have to look at what your particular property is zoned. Are you zoned ag? Then the livestock rules apply to you, if you are zoned anything else, I would start checking closer and finding out what the rules are.