Let me be honest...

[sourland]

If neighborly relations can't be improved, perhaps the tree house is a viable option. Good luck at resolving this. I think that Pyxis has made excellent suggestions.

 

[WalnutHill]

Pyxis said it perfectly. Chickens have been village and city dwellers ever since there have been villages and cities. But proper management is essential when the birds cannot free range. Drainage, ventilation, stocking levels and maintenance are all important to keep odor and flies at a minimum.

Your neighbor does need to respect your rights by respecting the ordinance restrictions. If roosters are not allowed, then the rooster has to go. That's sometimes tough, and I know this from experience, when you start growing out chicks some of them are bound to be roosters. I like to raise my roosters just big enough to eat before they go away, other than those that are kept for breeders, which wear collars to help suppress their volume. The tough thing is that they often begin to crow before they are big enough to eat.

It's unfortunate that your house is at the rear lot line and that his coop is also at his rear lot line. Proximity makes it tough. Maybe you could help him move his coop a little forward, away from the lot line.

I'd start with a friendly chat.

 

[BantyChooks]

Agree with Pyxis & others, but I think the treehouse sounds lovely either way

 

[meltel]

I'll be honest-I don't care for kids. I worked nights for a long time and screaming kids kept me up way more than anything else. So I moved out of the burbs and into the country with some land far enough away from neighbors. We all have chickens around here, or dog or some of us hunt or shoot guns. If he's a nice guy maybe he's just overwhelmed. Offer to give him a hand cleaning his coops and maybe mention the noisy rooster and offer a no crow collar as a nice gesture or solution. I know it is not your responsibility to do either but you catch more flies with honey than vinegar and sometimes being kind is more important than being right

Hopefully as others have mentioned, you can come to a peaceful solution. and you might get some really good farm freh eggs as a bonus!

 

[rosemarythyme]

I agree with Pyxis' advice and wish you the best of luck in having a chat with your chicken owning neighbor. I'd even suggest to the neighbor to come to BYC to learn more about managing their chickens, that might help with some of the issues they're having with escaping birds and sanitation.

I'm fortunate that I'm in an area with very little restrictions, plus neighbors who'd actually would like to see more animals (apparently this lot used to be part of a goat farm, but there's very little livestock around now) but in interest of keeping things peaceful I've opted to not have roosters either and try to mind both the noise and smell.