I feel so upset now, regarding neighbors.

[Sugar Sand Farm]

With all this hoopla over contamitated foods reassure her that your eggs will be chemical free Our neighbor was allergic to eggs until he tried ours. It wasn't the egg he was allergic to it was the chemicals in them. My granddaughter too can only eat our eggs She gets all stuffed up and has flu lik symptoms when she eats a store bought egg. No matter what you raise there are always going to be people against it. If you keep everything as clean as possible I don't see what she can have to worry about.Micki

 

[edbama2]

Tell their youngest one that they can take a chic home and give one away! OOps sorry, dont say that out loud again. I agree solid talk. Your chickens are better taken care of then where they get their eggs from. OK I can't find the devil smiley!

 

[SpottedCrow]

How sad, that this mother is so paranoid...
I get the same crud from my neighbours, especially since mine are house chickens...that makes it worse...When Slifer died, I got told by one of the kids that his mother was horrified that she died, IN the HOUSE?!! Like that was such a bad and terrible thing. But it's okay for their dog to have died in the house. What's the difference???
I'd sit her down and talk to her about what her concerns are...I brought my girls into the petshop where I work and a lady called up and complained to the manager...She thought that she was gonna get Psittacosis from them...The birds stayed in the carriage that was covered in newspapers, so that they didn't even touch the floor and I had all sorts of folks come over to pat them...
Education is everything.
Ignorance causes fear.

 

[Firefly]

I really think a face to face is the way to go. You could start by saying something like, "the kids were over the other day and they seemed to concerned about a few things" and then maybe ask if she too has some questions. You might even offer to have the kids (and parents) over for a mini chickens 101 lesson. May seem like too much of an effort, but if you value your friendship, it might be worth a shot.

Good luck to you!

 

[SunChick]

Bottom Line. Educate Educate Educate. Then your bases are covered!

 

[chickenmama]

I'm sorry that your gettting these vibes from your neighbors. Sometimes it's hard to keep neighbor relationships going smoothly under the best of circumstances... when we add the unknown or something that is uncomfortable it can be even more difficult. Especially when our precious kids are part of the dynamic.

I agree with everyone who said that finding a good, quiet time for a talk may really help. Sometimes when a parent is extremely careful about their kids theres not much that you can do or say to change how they feel. I've found in situations like this that the thing that helps the most is for the mom to know that you value her friendship and you are concerned about her feelings....

My neighbors have been great so far. I have an average of ten kids in my yard on any given day. I am very careful about kids playing with the chicks because I don't want the chicks to be hurt. so it's one child at a time with me closely supervising. It's been wonderful to watch the kids all fall in love with them. I did come up with the idea today of keeping some hand sanitizer outside for the kids to use after touching the chickens. Just to be sure that I'm doing everything that I can.

anyway, I hope that the situation feels better to you soon. Let us know how it's going! There's lots of support here!

 

[silkiechicken]

Quote:
I think that is an EXCELLENT idea. It would be great to be able to explain to the mom that store eggs carry bacteria and that small flocks are by far much healthier and it is the big companies that carry disease due to unsanitary conditions. Maybe do some looking about the bird flu and bring up how dead birds don't carry disease, but rather one source of spreading is humans moving unhealthy animals.

 

[mom'sfolly]

Like Chickenmama, I have good neighbors. One day we were literally sitting around the run with the moms in chairs facing the chickens and maybe 6-8 kids in the yard. You'd think we were sitting around a campfire. Education might help, but you may just have to put up with the germ-freak neighbor. In my experience, these kind of people know what they know and facts don't matter. Good Luck!

Karen

 

[catlvr976]

Thanks everyone for responding!

I think that the idea of approaching her about her kids "concerns' is a good idea. I'll have to try that and see how it goes.

I'm just glad that the other neighbors who are fixing up the house on the other side of us seem totally cool about the idea. The sister of the lady who is moving in next to us homeschools, and she thinks that what we're doing is a great idea. That makes me feel a lot better.

Oh, and I've already offered futured eggs to both our neighbors. I just can't help but think that if I give eggs to my concerned neighbor, that she'll just throw them away for fear of catching something!

Like I said, I understand her concern especially with regard to her kids, I just want to help her not be so worried about this whole thing.

 

[homechick]

Well I think disregarding all information that says chickens are not the cleanest can be ignorant. However, when you get a pet, you're taking a risk. I still have to debate with family and friends about the chickens. My sister said that eating the eggs would be nasty. Arg. Oh, and if your neighbor has watched the latest House (medical show) like my mom did, she'll get even another scare from the diseases around the chicken coop! I told my mom "It's fiction!"
My neighbors are the WORST. They are so rude and inconsiderate. I've had them turn off my water and then bark at me about things I didn't do! I'm sure when they find out I have two roosters, they will not be happy. Maybe they will finally move! Ha ha. I love living outside city limits.
Talk face to face, educate!