Meyer Hatchery Chicken pics anyone??

[autumnhearth]

hyzenthlay love your coop, very attractive details, makes me want to add lattice to our coop and run.

So I need to vent a bit. We've been getting lots of rain here in NE Ohio over the last few weeks. I like the rain but the area behind our garage started flooding, not that we use it. Thursday evening after a nice dinner date with the husband I got a jumbled up text from our next door neighbor saying basically "I don't know what you are doing with that chicken feces but this is our last time being nice. If we wanted to live next to a farm we would live in the country". This text was sent exactly a month after we had mucked out the run and replaced the straw with sand and put up a roof. I was very communicative with her about that and got the manure bagged up that night and off the property the next morning. I had not smelled anything since and am out there for hours reading, except when its raining which like I said it has been a lot. I also talked to our other next door neighbor and they said they didn't smell anything.

Now I had gotten a whiff of something Wednesday evening and the sand in the run was a bit damp as the plastic roofing sags a bit and still lets some water in. So Thursday we bought more Sweet PDZ and we were at Lowes getting more sand when I got the text. It struck a major nerve because first when someone says this is their last time being nice, that is in fact not being nice it's a threat. I told replied that we were buying sand at that very moment. In the next text she (or perhaps her husband the text was jumbled but his name was at the end) said that I had told her I was trying something new (the sand) but I must not be managing it well and I should rethink my "urban farm" or have less chickens to manage.

So second nerve struck I am managing their droppings really well. I scoop the droppings board in the morning and scoop in the run twice a day. I am really pleased with the sand, despite some dampness on the heavy rain days. Third them suggesting I get rid of chickens, I am sure you all understand the attachment, they are pets and they are a source of stress relief for me. We have four hens and three POL pullets. We got chicks this spring partially because of the egg demand from her and also you know chicken math. Since the girls started laying in September she has bought more eggs from us than we have eaten ourselves. In fact the whole reason she has my number to text is because she wanted me to text when I had eggs available. She was excited we were getting chickens when we told them last spring and it has actually brought us closer together for better or worse.

Now oddly enough about a week ago she texted me that they were going to start getting eggs from their former egg lady (a co-worker of her eldest daughter- who is my age) because one of their daughters moved back in with them and with 5 kids and two grand kids they needed more eggs than we can supply and this lady supposedly gets four dozen a day from her 14 hens (she told me this a year ago and I had to laugh because that's impossible, she's said some other gems as well like thinking hens couldn't lay without a rooster and asking me if our chickens step in their own poop and didn't I know that wasn't good for them). She also wants to make sure all the scraps we give our chickens are organic, that the feed is organic and soy free (preferably corn free) even though she has admitted she can't afford organic produce or meat and the other egg lady only charges $2 (we charge $3) so probably doesn't use organic feed oy! Still it was a relief that she had another source of eggs because I've been making more quiches lately and I like giving eggs to my siblings and one of my friends who is less fortunate than us. But odd that she would complain now that she's not getting the benefits.

So we get home, knots in our stomachs, I sift through the run on my hands and knees and all I smell is sand, grain and wet bushes, no amonia smell. Still we spread the sand and Sweet PDZ. There is something in the air behind the garage but by that time it is dark and we are getting bitten up so we turn in, both of us having a hard time sleeping. The next morning I decide to investigate a bit further and find that the smell is coming from the back corver of our yard where water has been standing in a ditch and making the rest of the area behind the garage swampy. To me it smells mostly like damp decaying forest but we are in the suburbs and that back corner is right next to their swimming pool. Also the chickens do go back there so there may be a bit of wet poop mixed in with the mud and leaves. So I text her with my discovery and a solution. I ordered 3 cu yards of top soil that morning and would plant mint, lavender and rosemary as well as seed some grass and would fence off the chickens from going back there. She replied "Oh well I didn't know what it was I just knew it stank" then she started talking about how there was never any issue with the previous owners, it was grass back there that they kept mowed and there weren't wood piles blah, blah. But sure blame the chickens.

So the top soil arrives that afternoon and it smells way worse than the damp back there, but hey better than doing nothing and getting blamed for that. Except its the day before the 4th and everyone seems to have family over and I'm sure they can all smell it, so major guilt there. And the complaining neighbors are just watching us from their gazebo not saying a word. Hours of backbreaking work later we've got the driveway cleared and the dirt spread. We had to force ourselves to eat that day, neither of us was hungry. What annoyed me more than anything was that supposedly they had been smelling something back there for a month but couldn't have simply said "Hey we're still smelling something" during our many interactions over the fence trading eggs for jam.

Now apparently this wasn't true. I updated her yesterday that I planted herbs and fragrant butterfly bushes and seeded grass (we had to pick up our son and his cousin from Indiana on Sunday- it was going to be Sat-Sun but had to be pushed back a day). And I also very politely told her the above about feeling ill about things escalated and how we would have taken care of it right away if she let us know sooner. To my surprise she replied "Nothing escalated, lol, we still like you. If we smell something we tell you, we don't wait, we just spend a lot of time in our yard". Okay, so she smelled it at the same time I did, I guess that should make me feel better. Still I think she handled it horribly. Then she asked if I had eggs because she can't get a hold of her other egg lady. Yeah. So we had a friendly exchange over the fence. The back corner of the yard around her pool is flooded too, she's worried about her garden because of too much rain. She agreed the topsoil smelled worse but was a necessity, they had to order some two years ago. Chatting about all sorts of things garden and yard related like nothing had happened. Sigh.

Meanwhile I've been making myself ill with worry, thinking I might loose my chickens. I couldn't even enjoy watching Jurassic World because the raptors reminded me of Amelia our Golden Buff and that made me feel sick to my stomach. I'm still worried that any whiff of anything perceived as farm like is going to cause conflict. So we are going to work hard to get our house ready to list in the spring and hopefully move to a couple acres nearby, rather than wait a few years until our son is done at his current school as we had planned. We just don't want to deal with them anymore.

Sorry for the long rant.

 

[Briggadane]

Autumn, sounds like her hubby hi-jacked her phone and vented on you. You might want to ask if she even knows about those 2 texts. Hubby's are strange beings. After 20+ years, I still dont understand mine. HE goes off on the smallest things, and doesnt blink on some things I think are major. Go figure. I am lucky with my neighbors. None of them could care at all what I'm doing. And my chickens area, though it does smell, is nothing like what it was when I had my dogs out in the summer.

Just an idea to those dealing with all this rain, the bio-degrader I use in our RV works wonderful on areas that are damp and stinky. I make sure to get one that works by enzyme and not chemical means. I have used Doggy Dooley powder too, but its a lot more expensive. The stuff works by breaking down ALL organic matter that is in a decaying state. It does not kill or hurt living plants or animals, I use it whee cat litter is dumped outside(for fertilizer, of course) as well. Dont take this as advice, its just what "I" found works.

 

[Finnie]

@autumnhearth It sounds like you are handling your difficult neighbor in the best manner possible. Maybe if she's decided to act to your face like all is well, she will just stick with that. Some people you can just never figure out. Do you think they are the type to report the foul odors to the zoning board? Even if they did, it sounds like you truly have a good system in place, and would easily pass an inspection if it came to that. The inspectors don't usually want to spend their time on petty things like this, so if they figured out that the odor wasn't the chickens and that the neighbor was just causing trouble, they would probably tell her to stop.

In fact, she may be all bark and no bite, and not want to go to the trouble it would cause to involve the city. It's a lot easier to just bully you with the threat of reporting. You might be able to head them off at the pass by contacting the zoning board yourself to find out what their procedure is and mention that you just want to make sure that you are conforming properly to all the rules. Then if the neighbor threatens you again, you can just smile and respond along the lines of "Don't worry, I have checked with the city and my chickens have no violations. The odor must be coming from something else, so maybe the city would be willing to investigate that if you want to call them and ask."

That would totally take the teeth out of any threats they could make after that.

 

[autumnhearth]

Brig while I do think her husband sent a text or two she sounded completely aware of our entire text conversation over the fence. What brand RV enzyme do you use? Was also considering Barn Dri/Dry, a local nursery carries it, not sure if its the same as Stall Dry which is agricultural limestone, reading a lot about that on here.

Finnie that's what my parents suggested as well. Very smart idea. I want to wait until the top soil smell neutralizes. It rained again Tuesday and this morning, can't even walk back there without my sloggers sinking in three inches. I also would like my husband to fix the roof run before then, needs more of an angle and plywood under the plastic.

I did mention to her if the issue continues we would have the city come out for advice and she said "They won't do anything for you, you'll have to pay for it out of your own pocket" (yes thats why I said advice). She said the neighbors on their other side had to have a pipe put in their backyard and I noticed they built higher fences... neighbor and is have low fences, I'm regretting not getting ours higher. Husband doesn't want to put more money into this.

As for if they would complain to the city, yeah pretty sure they would. My husband still holds a grudge toward them for a warning we received the first month we moved here for the weeds being more than six inches. We had a newborn and he was working long hours. That was six years ago.

Sigh. The three pullets are 4 months old today, will be 18 weeks on Sun/Mon. Hoping for an egg from Miss Snow, the White Rock by the end of the month. Her face is very pink, she's got quite the wattles and when our son came home after being away for two weeks he said "There's a big white chicken in the door of the coop!" She's almost as big as Amelia our Golden Buff. Will have to get pictures this weekend. I feel like I haven't been able to enjoy them as much but I've been hand feeding them wilted greens and everyone got a cuddle last night.

 

[hyzenthlay]

Autumnhearth, I agree with Finnie (and your parents) that if you are within all of the city ordinances on the chickens, then you really don't have much to worry about. The thing that would freak me out is if I were not in compliance and was relying upon the good graces of my neighbors to keep my chickens. If you can confirm that you are in compliance, then you have the right to use your property how you want, and your neighbors have the right to like it or lump it. Now, that's not the most neighborly attitude, of course, and in most cases I would do everything I could to be nice and not to impose on other people (which obviously you have been!!)--but if they want to pick a fight, then it would be good to help them understand in firm, clear, polite terms that you are following all the rules and that you have a right to the lawful enjoyment of your own property. I think what you did was good, too--confirm that they will come to you promptly if they have a problem, and let them know that you will do what you can to address the issue--not because of threats, which are hollow anyway if you are in compliance, but because you are considerate and neighborly. It sounds like the neighbor has decided to try to patch it up, as well, to some extent, so hopefully the worst is over.

 

[Finnie]

Sigh, I guess you have one of those neighbors!

That tells you something when the people on the other side are annoyed at her as well.

Hooray for pink combs and wattles! Mine are getting that way too. Well, the group that is the same age as your group. I think we've probably only got a few more weeks to go, and then the fun of finding new eggs begins.

I can't wait to get more than three eggs a day again.

Rocks are pretty big chickens, so I'm not surprised that Snow is catching up to your hens. Brahmas are pretty big, too, aren't they? So Pema should be getting up there too, right? My two blue splash Marans are getting close to the size of my older hens. It's a lot of fun watching them grow and change. I spend way too much time staring out the window!

Today I decided to put Gloria (now named Beaker) up on Craigslist. He was chasing my other cockerel around the yard, and if either rooster is going to stay, it's going to be the legbar, not the crazy Spitzhauben. So I went out with my camera and got a bunch of new photos.

Here's Beaker. When we were trying to come up with a male name, I thought of the Muppet with the crazy hair, that assists Professer Bunsen Honeydew. It would be even better if his crest was orange, lol. Actually, when Beaker runs around the yard and shakes his long neck feathers, he looks more like he belongs in the rock band Kiss. He is really wild looking!




Here's the Easter Eggers from the youngest group.


random chickens and turkey


Youngest group again. That Sweetgrass turkey is really outgrowing them.




This is Wendolene, my Welsummer pullet. I've decided to put her on Craigslist as well. She has problems laying, and we rarely get a useful egg from her anymore. Mostly they are shell-less or crumpled or broken, and then she eats those. Sadly I think her best purpose now would be soup making.

But someone else's soup, not mine. Maybe they would want her for a non-egg laying pet.


Here is Muffin, the Narragansett turkey in front of Westley, the Cream Legbar rooster.

 

[Finnie]

Autumnhearth, I agree with Finnie (and your parents) that if you are within all of the city ordinances on the chickens, then you really don't have much to worry about. The thing that would freak me out is if I were not in compliance and was relying upon the good graces of my neighbors to keep my chickens. If you can confirm that you are in compliance, then you have the right to use your property how you want, and your neighbors have the right to like it or lump it. Now, that's not the most neighborly attitude, of course, and in most cases I would do everything I could to be nice and not to impose on other people (which obviously you have been!!)--but if they want to pick a fight, then it would be good to help them understand in firm, clear, polite terms that you are following all the rules and that you have a right to the lawful enjoyment of your own property. I think what you did was good, too--confirm that they will come to you promptly if they have a problem, and let them know that you will do what you can to address the issue--not because of threats, which are hollow anyway if you are in compliance, but because you are considerate and neighborly. It sounds like the neighbor has decided to try to patch it up, as well, to some extent, so hopefully the worst is over.

Just saw this after I posted. Well said!

 

[autumnhearth]

Thanks guys. In the last hour it has flooded in more parts of our yard including right in front of our coop and *under* it (about 2/3) it's a raised coop (2 feet) so it won't effect the floor but I need to shovel all the wet sand, dirt and feed before it starts fermenting. The local nursery has one bag of Barn Dri left that was damaged but they are taping it up and discounting it for me. Thankfully tomorrow is garbage day.

Yes Pema is a big girl too, very wide and fluffy but not as tall as Snow yet, Brahamas are slower to mature and it looks like she's got a ways to go.

Best of luck selling Beaker and Wendolene, very unfortunate about her laying problem :/

 

[Briggadane]

"What brand RV enzyme do you use?"
No set brand. I just read the labels of whats on the shelf when I get it. A little goes a long way, so I prolly only get 2 or 3 bottles a year. Most big stores sell camping supplies, as do TSC and RK.
I'm always running to Rural King in Elyria, I can check there next time I go for poultry food or stuff. I know I'll be using my enzymes as soon as this water goes down. I'll also need bedding soon, but prefer to get that at Spencer Feed.

 

[autumnhearth]

Gotcha! We'll have to check out RK and Spencer Feed sometime, we usually go to TSC and Grace Brothers in North Royalton. Have you heard of Cedar Crest Farms? We got local feed from them last fall. I was so happy to find local, organic, soy-free feed at reasonable price without the extra shipping. Now they are just non-GMO with soy so we went back to Countryside/New Country Organics. Shipping sucks but they are still cheaper than Hiland Naturals in Kilbuck before shipping. I know by your signature you're not quite as picky about organic so I thought I'd mention them, nice people.