Did I provoke my neighbor into this?

[andrea98]

just my 2 cents .. we live on a state route & behind us ther is a subdivision.. well lets just say if u dont live back there well ur trash ..
so its just a matter of time before im in the same situation because the house up the hill has asked to have chickens & was told no cause they are in town .. however we are not.. my coop isnt out yet cause my babies are still in the brooder.
there is no house be hind us but the lot is for sale & when the wind blows all your going to be able 2 smell will be my chickens .. the poop pile is out at the edge of the property all the cage shavings & veggie ends & food scraps go there..compost pile i guess..
but im thinking that if they get cranky about it than i could put a fence up & on their side that faces their yard go to walmart or lowes or where ever i can find miss colored paint & pick up about 6 cans of the ugliest paint i can find & give them somthing to look at
i dont care to be bullied either but it is my right to have chickens here & that is why i bought my house so i could have the freedom of pet owning
good luck , i hope he was just having a bad day & gets over it

 

[Chicksdigit]

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Haha I agree with just about everything you said in this thread Lone Cedar Farm....... maybe not the tire thing too much work.....

but a lot of these other posters aren't even reading the thread. Imagine, someone saying that standing up for yourself gives us chicken lovers a bad name.

Jennie, You are absolutely right you lived there first and you checked the laws before you moved there just because this jerk didn't do the due diligence that most people do when they move into an area doesn't give him a right to impose his rules on you.
I checked out the laws and rules in the County where I bought my land 3 years ago and when my neighbor told me I couldn't have Roosters I told him I could have as many as I was prepared to feed. But he was lucky I was only going to have one.

 

[Judy]

In response to the original question -- JMO of course --

Yes, you probably could have been a little more tactful, which I think you already knew, and is why you asked this question in the first place. But sounds to me like he was looking for a squabble, so tact would have been wasted, anyway. I'd say what provoked him was the life he led before you ever met him.

I do hope he is just another verbal bully and nothing really unpleasant will come of this. Good luck!

And if it comes to it, I still think a pigpen on his property line is not a bad response....

 

[Caleb x49]

id plant a bag of weed or plant a marijuana plant in his yard while hes sleeping and call the cops.

 

[redhen]

I'd print that rat posion threat out and give it to the police. ASAP! AND i'd let my chickens out by his fence every day..ALL day long now. You need to have his threat documented! i'm serious! What a jerk he is!

 

[redhen]

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heehe..i think i like you!

 

[countrypreacher]

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We got a good laugh out of that.

Didn't you just love the part in the e-mail where he uses the term "Christian" to point out that we were not doing what he wanted!

Yea that kind of ticked me off a little bit....

 

[greenfamilyfarms]

I'm sorry, but I would have to move or file a claim for a threat to damage your property (chickens). I can't deal with toxic people like that, especially knowing that they are watching my every move.

 

[Jennie5193]

May or may not be the conclusion of this, but while he was busy sending the e-mails, his wife was off at work earning the money that pays their mortgage. She can't control him, or even influence him to stop but I did speak to her.

While our children were playing, she apologized for the terrible words her husband used and was embarrassed beyond words about what he'd said (of which he'd not told her). We agreed that this was going to be between the guys, but if it got uglier - we'd handle it from there. His wife's opinion is that we paid for our property and we should be able to use it as we wish... not as he wishes. I'm praying that this'll just blow over and he'll be on another neighbor's case before too long.

I think it'll be okay. I'm just going to document and keep my guard up.

BTW, there is no rat problem, and the fleas are there just because it is a yard - I have never *seen* one, but I know my dog picks up the occasional few while she is taking care of business. I've seen rats in the area, but that was before we had chickens and there was nothing for them to be drawn to - and we killed what we saw. I've not seen any since then. There is no "humane" problem with my chickens or my children.

There is a misunderstanding. My coop and enclosed run *IS* on the opposite side of the property from him. They're not in any danger where they are. It was just yesterday I was letting them out to free-range for 30 minutes and he didn't like seeing my trashy chickens.

Thank you so much for the offer about the letter from a lawyer. I appreciate all of the help and suggestions everyone has given. I think that this will blow over. I will let my 13 chickens out whenever I please - but for safety and out of respect for Mr. Bunker I won't let them near that fence.

I agree about the post about the freindship needing to come to a halt. I spoke with my friend and we agreed that my children will not go onto their property, but the little girl and mom are more than welcome to come onto mine to play. I agree, the vomit that he must be spouting at his family about mine is probably terrible. My children will not be around anyone who uses language like that. The wife is not like the guy at all - opposites attract, right. However, you're right "blood is thicker" I know where I stand and I will keep that in mind as things move forward.

 

[Sillystunt]

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