How to raise poultry with neighbors?

[JacinLarkwell]

My neighbors let their cats roam around in other peoples property..
Also, I have tried so hard to keep my turkeys in but they just want to get out. They do come back home to roost though.

Of all my birds, only my mallards stay in my property. So it is not that I just "let" them wander, but they choose to wander and I can't really do anything about it. I need to keep them flighted so that they can get away from the foxes.

Those guinea keets were somewhat of an impulse buy
But if anything goes wrong I can just give them to my cousin (his neighbors do not care about noise).

If you cannot keep your birds from wandering off your property, you need to pen them securely. Otherwise you're just as bad as the people who let their dogs and cats wander

 

[K0k0shka]

My neighbors let their cats roam around in other peoples property..

And that's not okay either. People shouldn't have to put up with other people's roaming animals crapping in their yards. Your animals need to stay on your property one way or another. Just because they are birds doesn't excuse you from that. If you can't put up fencing or overhead netting, or something to contain them, then maybe your setup is not appropriate for the types of animals you want to own, and you need to rethink either the setup, or the animals.

 

[LRH97]

My neighbors let their cats roam around in other peoples property..
Also, I have tried so hard to keep my turkeys in but they just want to get out. They do come back home to roost though.

Of all my birds, only my mallards stay in my property. So it is not that I just "let" them wander, but they choose to wander and I can't really do anything about it. I need to keep them flighted so that they can get away from the foxes.

Those guinea keets were somewhat of an impulse buy
But if anything goes wrong I can just give them to my cousin (his neighbors do not care about noise).

Guineas are like burglar alarms. Burglar alarms that you've lost the code to disarm so it's stuck sounding constantly. If those birds see one little thing they don't like, if the wind blows in the wrong direction, if clouds cover the sun in a way they don't care for--they will yell about it. It certainly won't matter if they're by your house or a mile away. If your neighbor didn't like chickens, I'd suggest finding a good home for the guineas as soon as possible.

Ultimately, it is your responsibility to keep your animals secure. You owe it to both your animals to keep them safe, and to your neighbors out of respect for their property. A friend of mine just got done dealing with a nasty dispute dealing with issues such as these, and let me tell you, it can get ugly if people get vindictive enough. Best not to tread down that road if you can help it.

 

[JacinLarkwell]

Guineas are like burglar alarms. Burglar alarms that you've lost the code to disarm so it's stuck sounding constantly. If those birds see one little thing they don't like, if the wind blows in the wrong direction, if clouds cover the sun in a way they don't care for--they will yell about it. It certainly won't matter if they're by your house or a mile away. If your neighbor didn't like chickens, I'd suggest finding a good home for the guineas as soon as possible.

That comparison is so true. Our neighbor had a pair and even a mild away, we heard them clearly. To make it worse, we are in a valley, so they echoed. They would reply to their own echo for hours

 

[klb25]

I live in a close-knit suburban neighborhood and I have 4 teenage turkey poults, quail, 4 ducks, and two guinea keets.

I had to get rid of my chickens once because my neighbors did not like them clucking at 5AM.

My turkeys are extremely quiet and they are a bronze heritage breed (so if my neighbors do not like the future gobbling and yelping, I could just say that they are wild turkeys ). My ducks are super quiet and my neighbors do not seem to mind them. My ducks stay within my fence. I have about an acre of fencing, and the turkeys do not care about the fence.

I bought two guineas and I plan on raising them with quail for a little while. I have heard that flocks of guineas are noisy, but will 2 guineas really disturb my neighbors? I am trying to tame them and get them used to their surroundings so that they do not become too flighty/loud later on. I have heard that they are mostly quiet but will only make noises when excited/scared.

My turkeys try to range about a 1/2 mile away from my yard, but they come back near their food source to roost every evening. I am wondering how to integrate these guineas into my flock. I want them to get out of my yard every morning and go into the forest near my neighborhoods (I do not care how loud they scream there, as long as they do not scream in my yard). Do guineas make sounds at night/early morning? My turkeys roost in trees and I would like my guineas to do the same thing. From my experience, coop birds are much louder, especially when they want to wake up in the morning.

How will my neighbors react to this? So far, they think that my ducks are cute and they come near my yard let their toddler look at the birds. If my guineas get too loud then I will probably have to cull them, but right now they are keets and I am trying to "silence" them, but I understand that it may not work since they are known to be really chatty. I am fine if they chat all they want in the forest near the neighborhood, but I do not want them chatting right at my house. Will they naturally free range long distances or will they stay right by my home, screaming?

I plan to gift my close neighbors with some fresh eggs to get them to like my birds..

Honestly, I don't guineas are a good idea in your situation. They are loud, REALLY loud.

My nearest neighbor is at least a half mile away and is currently incubating guineas for the first time. I'm dreading it because of the noise even at this distance, having been around them before. They're a migraine waiting to happen.

 

[Mo_fawaazzz]

And that's not okay either. People shouldn't have to put up with other people's roaming animals crapping in their yards. Your animals need to stay on your property one way or another. Just because they are birds doesn't excuse you from that. If you can't put up fencing or overhead netting, or something to contain them, then maybe your setup is not appropriate for the types of animals you want to own, and you need to rethink either the setup, or the animals.

I agree that it is annoying to have a random bird shit in your yard, but literally nobody cares about what goes on in the forest. There are wild turkeys there too, so my birds are not gonna mess up anything.

My neighbors do not mind the wild turkeys, how will they be able to mind the bronze heritage turkeys? The only difference between my turkeys and the wild turkeys are that the wild turkeys roost somewhere else and my turkeys roost near my home. My turkeys rarely ever visit the neighbors' yards and would rather spend their day in the forest picking on acorns and centipedes.

Regarding the guineas, if they get way too loud, I can give them to my cousin. But I may just keep them if they can roam in the forest instead of my yard like my turkeys during the daytime.

If it's legal in my county to let out cats (which is more detrimental, since they eat native bird species), I don't see anything wrong with letting out guineas into the forest..

 

[LRH97]

That comparison is so true. Our neighbor had a pair and even a mild away, we heard them clearly. To make it worse, we are in a valley, so they echoed. They would reply to their own echo for hours

I do really like them, but I've found myself giving parts of my flock to friends wanting to try them to cut down on noise. I had one hen that would sit on the eve of the barn and just "buckwheat" call from early evening to sundown. Every. Single. Night.

Then I end up letting them hatch babies, so I'm back to where I started.

I know they'd reply to their own echo for hours. I know some people that would do the same.

 

[Mo_fawaazzz]

I do really like them, but I've found myself giving parts of my flock to friends wanting to try them to cut down on noise. I had one hen that would sit on the eve of the barn and just "buckwheat" call from early evening to sundown. Every. Single. Night.

Then I end up letting them hatch babies, so I'm back to where I started.

How far do your guineas range from home? Or do they stick around like chickens?

 

[LRH97]

How far do your guineas range from home? Or do they stick around like chickens?

They have a wider range than what the chickens do and do tend to wander at times. Same with the turkeys. When I notice this, they get penned up for a few days, which will correct the problem. Although, this doesn't happen very often. Birds that are well-fed will tend to do decently to stay where they're supposed to. It's still important to have a way to keep them secure when they don't do what they're supposed to.

Here's the thing. Do you know if it's even legal to own poultry where you are? I completely understand where you're coming from. Stray cats are a nuisance. My neighbor's dog is a big nuisance to me. But when you're dealing with people and municipalities, your birds are going to be the ones that get the short end of the stick if you tick someone off. They will be considered the problem over a stray cat. All it takes is a turkey or guinea jumping on someone's roof or (Lord forbid) their car and you've got a problem. Maybe a big problem if your neighbor is hot headed. Maybe a real big problem if your neighbor is hot headed and your community doesn't permit poultry, which oftentimes is considered livestock.

 

[Mo_fawaazzz]

They have a wider range than what the chickens do and do tend to wander at times. Same with the turkeys. When I notice this, they get penned up for a few days, which will correct the problem. Although, this doesn't happen very often. Birds that are well-fed will tend to do decently to stay where they're supposed to. It's still important to have a way to keep them secure when they don't do what they're supposed to.

Here's the thing. Do you know if it's even legal to own poultry where you are? I completely understand where you're coming from. Stray cats are a nuisance. My neighbor's dog is a big nuisance to me. But when you're dealing with people and municipalities, your birds are going to be the ones that get the short end of the stick if you tick someone off. They will be considered the problem over a stray cat. All it takes is a turkey or guinea jumping on someone's roof or (Lord forbid) their car and you've got a problem. Maybe a big problem if your neighbor is hot headed. Maybe a real big problem if your neighbor is hot headed and your community doesn't permit poultry, which oftentimes is considered livestock.

My neighborhood permits poultry but there is a noise policy and a policy that the coop has to be a certain distance away from your home.

The morning egg song was enough for my neighbors to file a noise complaint.

I have a neighbor who has mallards.