I moved into my house a year ago, and this neighbor (we'll call her "Jane") moved in just months after, next door. I live on an acre and a half, and all of my chickens are secured in their run with wire of the top. I do this to protect them from predators, and from just wandering.
Jane got her chickens in April. She has no top over her run, and only maybe 4 foot high livestock fence. She also got about 6 times the amount of chickens allowed for their property (I don't care, but I don't think anyone is fooled when 25 chickens walk down the street, that a quantity like that is forbidden). For awhile everything was fine, but starting last summer, her chickens took up the habit of every single day, they come to my front yard, or go across the street, into the yards of the neighbors who don't have chickens.
Jane's coop is obscured behind her house, while mine is visible from the road (my yard doesn't have many trees), so my concern is always that the chicken-less neighbors will think these are my chickens doing this, and call the county on me.
She then got a rooster. The rooster comes down to my front yard, and the neighbors front yards, and crows in my yard and theirs. I work from home, and give a lot of presentations to clients for my job. Having her rooster crowing in front of my window 10 feet away doesn't work. Additionally, I have my own rooster, contained in my chicken run at the back of my property--I worry that when neighbors hear/see Jane's chickens cruising by and her rooster crowing and annoying them on their windowsill, they will think it's mine, and call the county on us both. You aren't really allowed to have roosters, it's a "don't ask, don't tell" kind of thing. I also take all my neighbors adjacent me dozens of eggs every year, for tolerating my rooster. Jane does nothing for them. And I'm worried the day the call comes, the county will come and make us BOTH get rid of all our extra chickens and rooster.
Last month, her chickens ran out in front of a neighbor's car, causing her to swerve and strike the mailboxes, and the neighbor had to buy a new mailbox over it. The chickens current hobby is spending about 1/3 of their day each day in the mulch that landscapes the exterior of my house--they have completely destroyed it, and ripped down to the liner, and now I need to go buy more mulch and fix this. Additionally, her chickens have become a good food source for predators--there are now extra foxes, hawks and raccoons that hang out around the premises because of her valiant predator feeding efforts. When chickens disappear, she just buys more.
Jane texts me chicken questions, and we previously had good rapport, but I'm so angry over this I don't speak to her anymore. Additionally, they just bought land and are building a farm, so a year from now, they can move away and this won't be an issue. I'll still be here, and if my chickens have been taken away by the county, I'll still have problems.
Any suggestions? I'm very confident just telling her to keep her chickens contained will not be well received at all.
Jane got her chickens in April. She has no top over her run, and only maybe 4 foot high livestock fence. She also got about 6 times the amount of chickens allowed for their property (I don't care, but I don't think anyone is fooled when 25 chickens walk down the street, that a quantity like that is forbidden). For awhile everything was fine, but starting last summer, her chickens took up the habit of every single day, they come to my front yard, or go across the street, into the yards of the neighbors who don't have chickens.
Jane's coop is obscured behind her house, while mine is visible from the road (my yard doesn't have many trees), so my concern is always that the chicken-less neighbors will think these are my chickens doing this, and call the county on me.
She then got a rooster. The rooster comes down to my front yard, and the neighbors front yards, and crows in my yard and theirs. I work from home, and give a lot of presentations to clients for my job. Having her rooster crowing in front of my window 10 feet away doesn't work. Additionally, I have my own rooster, contained in my chicken run at the back of my property--I worry that when neighbors hear/see Jane's chickens cruising by and her rooster crowing and annoying them on their windowsill, they will think it's mine, and call the county on us both. You aren't really allowed to have roosters, it's a "don't ask, don't tell" kind of thing. I also take all my neighbors adjacent me dozens of eggs every year, for tolerating my rooster. Jane does nothing for them. And I'm worried the day the call comes, the county will come and make us BOTH get rid of all our extra chickens and rooster.
Last month, her chickens ran out in front of a neighbor's car, causing her to swerve and strike the mailboxes, and the neighbor had to buy a new mailbox over it. The chickens current hobby is spending about 1/3 of their day each day in the mulch that landscapes the exterior of my house--they have completely destroyed it, and ripped down to the liner, and now I need to go buy more mulch and fix this. Additionally, her chickens have become a good food source for predators--there are now extra foxes, hawks and raccoons that hang out around the premises because of her valiant predator feeding efforts. When chickens disappear, she just buys more.
Jane texts me chicken questions, and we previously had good rapport, but I'm so angry over this I don't speak to her anymore. Additionally, they just bought land and are building a farm, so a year from now, they can move away and this won't be an issue. I'll still be here, and if my chickens have been taken away by the county, I'll still have problems.
Any suggestions? I'm very confident just telling her to keep her chickens contained will not be well received at all.
