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

[Patricia Jane]

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x2. Couldn't of said it any better.

 

[heatherindeskies]

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Doing this sounds like a really good plan. you are being polite, trying to comply but gently, indirectly saying you will not cave and get rid of all the roosters. Maybe half being gone will really help anyway! Good luck!

 

[Noymira]

m.kitchengirl :

Aside from "country sounds" and "country freedoms" I moved out here for a rural community, too. Part of that is, to me, good relations with the neighbors.

While it is true that some people are unreasonable and no one should give up every rooster, it sounds like there are A LOT and the O.P. said they planned to cull. I would kindly say to the neighbor, "We have a few more than we anticipated but have been raising them to a good size for table. We plan to cull them on ___ day. I am sorry it has gotten a little loud over here". If more of a compromise needs to be made, that is something to address down the road.

I think that a "to heck with you, neighbor" attitude is setting yourself up for problems with the neighbor and did not seem to be what the OP was going for anyhow. If nothing you do is good enough, that is on them. If you go into these situations expecting the worst you'll probably get it.

I agree completely! Just tell the neighbor you'll be reducing the noise level shortly, explain that you've been raising them to eat and they are ready to process shortly after they start crowing. The noise level should drop greatly after processing.

We have 2 roosters for breeding and picked up 2 extra for the table, I had NO IDEA how much noise those 4 roosters would make all together! They were even in pens at opposite corners of our little field. I mentioned it to the neighbors in passing and told them it wouldn't last long (they did not complain, but certainly had noticed the increased noise). Luckily of our 3 closest neighbors 2 have chickens (one has a rooster we can hear) and the 3rd are my parents. The immediate next door neighbors have 3 sheep and 6 hens (one of our roosters came out of their batch of chicks), so they don't complain about any animal noises coming from our property and we return the favor.

I see no reason not to be kindly if it doesn't require much effort. We had a small structure catch fire in our yard and we did not know it until the neighbors came pounding on our door holding a fire extinguisher, I like to keep relations with people like that positive! They let us know when they leave town and we keep our eyes open for any strange activity at their place and we know we can count on them for the same.

Some people you can't please no matter what you do- if you're neighbor keeps complaining, and your number of roosters is reasonable and you are within the law for your area you may just have to agree to disagree. Even that can be done without being nasty on your part, but obviously you can't always expect the same in return.

Good luck to you!​

 

[guinea fowl galore]

First of all I want to say thank you all for your input BUT please dont turn this into a heated debate. I'd like this thread to stay open.
We're culling a few roosters today. Hopefully that's going to help a fair bit

I am not going to give this man anything. But simply because we have lived here for five years and this is the first time I have even seen him. So inviting him to dinner or giving him produce would be the biggest "sit here, I'll lick your feet then kiss your bum when I'm Finished." thing to do. I am considering him now after his complaint but he needs to know where he stands. I will do as much as I am willing for him, which is getting rid of roosters that I don't need, but after that there's really not much more I can do. Because as I've already said I'm a chickens breeder. And you can't breed chickens without roosters.
The problem with the area we live in is that when it was cut up they put a few acre sized properties amongst the 15-30 acre properties. That's all I'm going to say about that but I'm sure you all know what I mean

 

[benjoycei]

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AND SHED A TEAR WHEN YOU HAND THEM THE PROCESSED BIRD!!!

 

[ragnar1107]

Overly aggressive comes from all of the horror stories we here and experience about city people moving out to the country and bringing their derned city ways with them and expecting people who've lived their whole lives on a farm to suddenly conform to them. You can't blame us for being on the defensive. We're a dying breed, what is it like 2% of the people in this country actually make their living from agriculture. They go to these play farm touristy places and pick a few apples and decide they want to live the bucolic country lifestyle and the next thing you know their complaining about the smell or the noise. It's like people who move next to an airport and then complain they can hear airplanes. Fortunately I live far enough away from people that this isn't an issue, but I dread one of the neighbors selling out and one of those cornfields getting turned into one of those ugly nasty human habitrail subdivisions.

 

[OvertheHenHouse]

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Yep - I think I'd feel the same way about giving him anything other than dialogue at this point. Hopefully this will be the end of the complaints - but I have to admit that I really liked the idea someone posted of giving him a store-bought chicken masquerading as one of your roos as a 'thanks for your understanding' gift ... I thought it was hilarious, plus you could share the joke with your friends

Please post when you have a follow up dialogue with your neighbor - I really hope all goes well and everything settles down.

 

[wyododge]

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Ummm no those people live in NY, and most big cities. I know, I was one of them, and that is why I GOT OUT!!!

HOWEVER, I admit, I went a bit overboard in my post and for that I sincerely apologize to the OP, Readers and Admins.

We are a very dispersed but very close nit community. No locks on the doors, cars left running in the parking lot at the grocery store, if someones cows get out they generally don't even know it. And a good amount of the time I pull up in my drive way, one piece of equipment or another is not there. No reason to ask, get what you need, and get what you can taken care of, if you need help I am a phone call away. I actually have my neighbors manure spreader in my pasture right now and he knows nothing about it. Another neighbor has had my calf table for five years, I actually called HIM and asked if I could get it back. Last week there was rain coming so two of us put up our others neighbors hay. I can't even count the number of things they have done for me. We have come home to neighbors at our kitchen table.

But there are others who have been helped who then complain about things that just are the way they are in the country. The poor sherif is constantly harassed by those who move here and expect no power outages, constant telephone service, and how dare we wean calves and not make them shut up. We don't have roosters but my neighbor does, I would never dream of asking him to reduce his flock. As he would never ask me to wean my calves somewhere else. These same people are stuck in the driveway in the middle of winter crying and complaining when they can't get out, or there battery is dead, and they have no idea what to do. With that said, I would be the first to offer assistance if I received a call or saw them in distress, and almost every neighbor within a 10 mile radius would do the same.

I guess the biggest problem is we work things out, and for some reason people just can't get that part figured out. There is give and take. There is no need to call a lawyer, or the fuzz. We try to help others succeed and are happy when they do. If my neighbor could make a million dollars by having a thousand roosters, I would help build the coop. As a matter of fact in a month we are all re-roofing his house. In that effect the OP's neighbor did the right thing. He raised a concern, she will do what she can. And I am certain that she will do what she can to help others, including the complaining neighbor. But what I find very refreshing is that she is not willing to bend over and take it up the pie hole cause someones feathers are ruffled. She is gonna stand her ground, with appropriate concern, and kindly let him know, after she has handed him a pillow, to go pound fence posts with his backside. I just hope she takes pictures...

 

[Noymira]

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Love it!

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

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You mean, feeling down under, right? I'd give suggestions but not really sure what for since you didn't elaborate on what his c/o was, specifically...the noise I guess or can he see them making chicken love and that bothers him?

I don't think I ever lived anywhere that didn't have at least one neighbor I could have done without...that's why I moved, far far away, to the middle of nowhere, because I am so hard to get along with,maybe I made some people happier by doing that

like I care.
What could this person have said that made you so upset? You aren't doing anything differently than you'd already planned, you don't plan to cultivate an already non-existent relationship that would predictably go nowhere anyho, I'm reeally curious as to what was said that got down under your skin (notice I made another joke, ha ha)
Either way, good luck with the neighbor, maybe you won't see this person for another 5 years, now there's a pleasant thought.