My neighbour has complained 😔

[Mrs. K]

Noise can be a real problem. I live on the prairie wilderness, and a "neighbor" about 3-4 miles away started playing the radio VERY LOUD to keep the coyotes and other predators away.

Needless to say, it was very irritating. If I want to listen to the radio, I will pick the station. My point is, what is not bothering you, does not mean it is not bothering someone else. I don't think that they reported it to attack you, but rather because the noise is bothersome to them.

I think that the rooster should go. I would hate to loose the whole flock due to a rooster, and if you have cockerels coming up... that is going to be a crowing contest.

I love to hear a rooster, my coop is a long ways away from my house, and down behind a hill. The noise does not attract my attention unless I am listening for it. I would not want a rooster outside of my home. I think a lot of neighbors would agree with me.

Just a different point of view.

Mrs K

 

[Chuckie chicken]

Surely your government doesn't run based on the tyranny of the most easily offended.

Canada is seriously heading in this direction at warp speed.

Sorry about the rooster, I hope you can resolve it without getting rid of him.

 

[bill3607]

I live in a small rural town of about 2300 people, and I am certainly not the only person to have chickens, but I am in my neighborhood of 16 homes.

I would never have a rooster. I just would not do that to my neighbors. I had a couple of goats one time and probably was not suppose to, but my neighbors never said a word though not one of them would ever have a goat lmao or a chicken for that matter in this neighborhood.

However, they are good people and I give one neighbor "and" his extended family eggs. I would just never disrespect them with a rooster crowing all day, or any part of the day.

And, that is not saying that is your situation. I mean I don't know all the dynamics of yours. My neighbors are all good people that show me respect and I try to reciprocate. However, they would never, ever cut my fence down either come to think of it. So....

 

[aart]

I had an email back and I think I know which neighbour it might be.

So not the guy who took your fence down...HTH did he get away with that?!

 

[Chicalina]

I got a free dB app for my phone. I can't speak to how technically accurate it is, but I will say that it is accurate enough to let you (the user) know if more investigation is needed.

That's good to know. I'll see if I can get one. thank you.

 

[Chicalina]

I would guess whoever is complaining is someone new to the neighborhood. If it's the neighbor who took down your fence I'd complain to the council about him damaging your property. Even if the fence had been rotten, it's not his fence. Complaining is a step toward having him pay to replace it. More importantly, it lets the neighbor know that you aren't a pushover and if he's going to try to use the law to harass you you're willing to push back.

The guy is a jerk and accommodating him will validate his behavior. You'll have to take a stand and draw the line somewhere. Might as well do it now before you've surrendered any ground. If you aren't the only neighbor with a rooster but you are the only one he's complaining about it's personal. If he's complaining about all the roosters then you have allies. Check with the other chicken owners and work on a collective response to the complaint.

Just because your neighbor is complaining and playing the victim doesn't make her right. Especially since modern homes are so well insulated you can't hear crowing when you're indoors. Even if her name is Karen she still has to prove her case. If she's the only one complaining and the rest of your neighbors will confirm it's not a problem for them I can't think that any council should go out of their way to accommodate just your neighbor. If they do, you can complain that his mower or his children or whatever is too loud.

If these neighbors started by complaining to the council, they aren't interested in being good neighbors or accommodating you. They just want to get their way. Fight to maintain what you have not because the neighbor is a jerk, but because you're fine with the way things are and you shouldn't have to change for people new to the neighborhood. JMO.

You make some very valid points. I have been very easygoing, and that's because I've seen how ugly it can get when neighbours are at war with each other. I've got to live next to these people for probably the rest of my life, so I'm loathe to start ramping things up into a tit for tat dispute which will only cause stress, bad feeling and misery. You are right though, I've been a pushover with one neighbour. The other I've never had any problem with, so I'm surprised if it's them.

 

[Chicalina]

You need to know your EXACT legal rights.

Surely your government doesn't run based on the tyranny of the most easily offended.

Sadly, local government often caves to the person who first complained.

 

[Chicalina]

So not the guy who took your fence down...HTH did he get away with that?!

I asked him and he said it was rotten and falling down. It wasn't as far as I could see. He also said he didn't realise it was my fence because it goes between our two houses. We both rent, so that's plausible. I gave him the benefit of the doubt in order to get along and not argue.

 

[Chicalina]

I live in a small rural town of about 2300 people, and I am certainly not the only person to have chickens, but I am in my neighborhood of 16 homes.

I would never have a rooster. I just would not do that to my neighbors. I had a couple of goats one time and probably was not suppose to, but my neighbors never said a word though not one of them would ever have a goat lmao or a chicken for that matter in this neighborhood.

However, they are good people and I give one neighbor "and" his extended family eggs. I would just never disrespect them with a rooster crowing all day, or any part of the day.

And, that is not saying that is your situation. I mean I don't know all the dynamics of yours. My neighbors are all good people that show me respect and I try to reciprocate. However, they would never, ever cut my fence down either come to think of it. So....

Thanks for your view. I don't disagree. Roosters are noisy and if one woke me up at 4am every day in summer then I'd be pretty annoyed too.

Thing is, both of my next door neighbours sleep in their front bedrooms, as do I, where you can hardly hear him. It's the back bedroom that gets all the noise and in the summer with windows open, even worse.

 

[Brooks_]

We both rent

In that case, he knew/should have known it wasn't HIS fence.