It happened. I knew it would. The neighbours complained.

[Capvin]

I hate to say this, but if any town (rural or otherwise) was considering passing an ordinance regarding the legal keeping of chickens and they read some of the posts on this thread, I am certain that some officials would cite these responses as a valid reason for refusing to allow the keeping of chickens. So many of you really sound unreasonable. Maybe I just can not relate to the initial problem because I live out in a wooded area and only have one (or perhaps two) neighbors who could ever hear a rooster. I know, however, that if I ever had a complaint about anything from a neighbor (reasonable or even unreasonable) I would do everything I could to appease the situation. More then anything else I do not want to be out here with neighbors that are fueding with me. Too many bad things can happen in that situation, especially in the country. Dogs, guns, lawsuits just to name a couple. Also, I am certain that for those who mentioned that they would be happy to see their neighbors dead and gone, your neighbors feel the same about you and that is a horrible way to live. For the original poster, save yourself a lot of misery and just ignore all of those people who are basically advising you to tell your neighbor to drop dead and go about it a different way. A way that will appease and not cause you both a lot of grief.

 

[sourland]

Unless one plans on moving maintaining good relationships with your neighbors is generally a very good idea.

 

[speckledhen]

Here we go again. Why do the ones with chickens always have to be the ones who give up their personal rights? Why can't they ask my permission to have their barking dog (their roaming dog, to boot)? To run their ATVs all over on every holiday? To have their loud parties? To shoot off guns at 11 p.m. when they can't even see what they're shooting at? Why are "good" neighbor relations the burden of only the one owning the chickens? I say "good" in italics because that would not make for a good relationship if I must bow to their wishes simply because I own a rooster, though I'm not breaking any laws whatsoever. Just boggles the mind. I don't get it.

 

[sourland]

Rural born and raised/rural living - I have lived in this home for 46 years. I try to maintain my animals in such a fashion as to NOT irritate my neighbors. They reciprocate. Maybe I am just lucky or is courtesy repaid with courtesy?

 

[Capvin]

Sourland I feel the exact same way as you have expressed. I am sure that almost everyone here would love to have you for a neighbor and friend. You have not been lucky with your neighbors, your neighbors have been lucky to have you and the original poster would do well to follow your example. No one is saying that just because you are a chicken owner that you are required to give up your rights..that is just nonsense. Chicken owner or not, just be reasonable and use good common sense and courtesy.

 

[fifelakelooper]

"One mans blessing is another mans curse"....what WE chicken/rooster lovers think is music is to our ears...is NOT to everyone. I do think it is always best to try to get along, to set a good Christian example. However.. there will ALWAYS be people out there who are just miserable and want to have others be just as miserable. People who complain just for the love of complaining. Being a good neighbor does not always work. Period. Try to get along, try to make a compromise...but sometimes...nothing will work with SOME people. In those cases I would hope that legal rights would count for something.

 

[the-bird-man]

Quote:
so do you think there is a chance he would want more chickens? maybe you can help him start up a flock of his own so he would not complain because he would have chickens too

 

[Pele]

Quote:
Bless you for being a civil and polite human being. Isn't it nice to be on good terms with your neighbors? It's good to know they'll watch your house for you while you are away, help you out when something breaks, and may even save your life one day if they see your house on fire and call the fire dept.

To the OP: Your problem will take care of itself when you process your extras. Roosters feed off of each other and whip each other into crowing frenzies. The less roosters you have, the less the frenzy. Your neighbors won't complain if the crowing isn't through all the hours of the day and constant.

 

[ScottyHOMEy]

This all brings to mind the Right To Farm laws and ordinances that have been passed here and there as family farms turn into developments over the years.

I recall a LARGE sign I saw in Fairfield County, Ohio. It was put up by a farmer who owned all but the one corner-quarter of his section that was being developed into McMansions.

His sign was to this effect --

"All are welcome as neighbors, but please be aware that this development is abutted on two sides by my farm. My livestock produce odors you may not be accustomed to. They are kept at a distance of at least a half-mile from any lot here, but occasionally the breeze may carry the odors your way. I also apply fertilizers and pesticides to the crops in my fields which will abut your back yards. Bear in mind that it is in my own best interest -- economically and as a good neighbor -- to keep those chemicals on my crops, not on your lawns. But I cannot stop the occasional breeze. I also operate large machines to prepare my fields and harvest my crops. I, like any farmer, would prefer to do this in the daylight, but the weather may dictate that I have to operate through the night to make my living . . . "

We've had the same challenge here in Maine. We draw a lot of affluent tourists, and they find the jumble and rustic appearance of our old villages charming. These villages sprouted and grew up long before any notion of zoning, setbacks . . . Some of those tourists retire to here and, not knowing how to fill all the time they now find on their hands, get active in local politics, and all of a sudden, there are strict rules regarding anyone throwing up a shed, requiring site inspections, design approval . . . They moved here becuse they found it so much more charming than where they lived when they were only visiting, then set about making it just like where they came from. Go figger.

Back in the 80s there was a real estate boom that drove prices in the Boston area out of the reach of many. Suddenly, Portland, Maine became attractive as a bedroom community for Boston. Developers rushed in and converted many of the derelict warehouses and old ship chandleries on the waterfront into condo and rental apartments. Not surprisingly, a cycle emerged. Sale contracts and rental agreements peaked during those parts of the month when the local lobster fleet was anchored in the harbor during the daylight hours when the apartments were shown. Sales were closed. Rental leases were signed. The complaints started the first month folks moved in and increased as the buildings filled up. The occupants of the harbor side of the buildings never considered that a fisherman's schedule is dictated by the tides, and very little time passed before they discovered that the quaint and colorful boats bobbing on their moorings in the harbor don't just sit there. They actually work for a living, and might fire up at 2 in the morning, and that a muffler on a lobster boat, if present at all, is often purely decorative. We in the rest of the state (the rural and coastal communities north and east of Portland) tend to view our largest city as an extension of Boston, and would readily hand that part of the state back to Massachusetts, of which the entire state was originally a part, despite that little neck of land that allowed New Hampshire to reach the salt water. Many of us were greatly entertained reading the news reports of the arguments before the Portland city council, as the newcomers argued for an ordinance to restrict the hours of operation of the lobster fleet. Entertaining, again because of the foothold those who moved in "from away" had gained in local politics. It could have tipped either way. In the end, the lobster fishermen work when and how they always have, so the rest of us have not entirely given up hope for Portland.

Life by the sea. For those not earning their living on it, the work is noisiest in the harbors.

Life in the country. So many folks have lived with a physical break between their work and home. Work is at the office. Home is in a quiet cul-de-sac somewhere else. The notion that all or part of one's sustenance may come from the homestead is not a light that has shone upon their minds.

I'm blessed with good neighbors. If that weren't the case, I'd be aiming for whatever it takes to achieve that wierd dort of detente that Lisa and Oliver Wendell Douglass managed on Green Acres.

 

[9Catsz]

Quote:
LOLOLOL! I've got one neighbor that I'd like to be on that bus too.