I understand the worry about what to do, and the frustration from the neighbor's point of view too if it is really just about a new and unwanted noise issue. I live in a very rural area - one awesome neighbor on 5 acres, one on 30 wooded acres with a house I can barely see through the trees, and the other on a 17 acre plot that is just extra land since they have a house 5 minutes drive away on other plot.
The awesome neighbor taught me to use a chainsaw, helped clear my property and brought his tractor over to help with some major projects, and got me into keeping chickens. His flock includes roosters and they can make all the noise they want and he can run his saws morning till night without me complaining a bit because I know and understand him - zero complaints ever about him. If I ever did something that irritated him and he mentioned it I would apologize sincerely and change it, no hurt feelings. We'd probably chat about it and all would be fine.
The 30 acres neighbors are never seen, rarely heard, and by all accounts will be happy if they never say a word to us so live and let live and all's good. If they ever complained about something I did I'd be shocked to hear from them, likely be sincere in working to address the issue, and hopefully use the opportunity to show that I'm a good person who might be worth knowing a little more.
The one next door with the 17 acres comes across as a nice guy, so I'm not sure how to take certain things. I have a 1 acre property and he knows I work from a home office, we've talked several times and shown each other our latest projects and such. He knows I have a flock of hens, has come over to see my DIY enclosure and coop. But a few times recently he had a friend come over and they set up a shooting range within 100 feet of my office window and spent a couple hours each time blasting away. It's the country, so everyone has guns - me included. Lots of folks have large parcels so they can legally shoot on their land and often do. But this is happening right outside my window, closer than the law allows (500 foot minimum here), is terrifying my flock who hide in the hen house till it ends, and it makes me nuts because I'm often on business calls and it sounds like I'm calling from a firing range. I don't understand why it can't be done back farther into his 17 acres of wooded property, or even just a legal distance from my home and office, and have even considered it may well be intentional because of some slight I wasn't aware I'd offered. If it continues I will have to say something, and hope it doesn't turn ugly since neither of us is going anywhere and he could make my life miserable if he feels slighted.
I'm generally a live and let live guy, and have tried talking to neighbors about things like this in the past only to have it blow up in my face and escalate into ridiculous situations where I had to constantly watch for trouble and be stressed out. I can understand wanting to do something but not knowing if it's safe to, and the question of understanding what the issue really is but being afraid to ask. In your case if you know her well enough to be comfortable asking openly and maybe having her come over to see the hens in action so she'll understand that may work great. If you don't know her so well, or are uncomfortable with the situation, you may be in a mess like me and just have to be cautious in your approach but talking to her still seems the best bet. She was okay calling you to let you know it was an issue but from what she said it seems she may be more than just bothered, so maybe take that as an invitation to talk freely and just see what happens. It might save you a lot of stress thinking things over in your head, and if you involve her in the solution and ask for her input you may end up having a better relationship as neighbors in the end. And hopefully someday soon you'll get that country cabin and not have to worry about walking up to a neighbor to ask him to please shoot his guns somewhere besides right next to your office window because what he's doing is just so rude....
Do you find they stir up much dust? I like the idea of an indoor coop (not that there's a spare inch in my garage!) but I'd be afraid to have an indoor run. I'd also be afraid of being that close to the noise - I had an injured rooster inside one night, and wasn't sure if he'd make it. Until I woke up to him crowing in the next room. I hadn't really appreciated how loud he was from the coop across the yard, but up close, boy did that wake us all up in a hurry!
