Neighbor filed a warrant against me after she saw me with a camera yesterday!

[ChaoSS]

"any thoughts on how to proceed from here on out?"


Yes. Video documentation on everything. If they throw anything over the property line, if they do anything or attempt to do anything to the coop, if they use noise to harass you, it needs to be documented and not just on paper.

 

[kallan]

Oh happy day..........I was visited by yet another officer today to explain that my neighbors essentially don't have a case in court and that the magistrate should not have even allowed the warrant to be filed in the first place. I had to go to the dentist yesterday and this same officer happened to come by while I was out and peeked in my coop and around the property, etc.! He told me today that he had never seen one so clean....that the Snyders' should see his! He read up on the noise ordinance and being agricultural, it does not apply. Now I wonder if the court case will be dismissed beforehand. I am sure the neighbors are very mad that they can't force my chickens out. The officer mentioned that they had been complaining about other neighbors around me, like, how they park their vehicles and another chicken guy in back of me. I said that they were just miserable and he said "thank you, exactly". Now that I know there are chickens so close, I'll invite that neighbor over to see mine. I am so relieved that I am going outside and finish planting my garden and put in the last few pots of flowers around my coop.

Here's a photo of my coop where my hens will be housed and another one of my roo. I am in the process of moving my SFH roo further down the hill where his enclosure will be larger. Was planning on doing this anyway before the neighbor. I am sure he won't be happy until my gorgeous roo is gone.

 

[amenfarm]

Oh happy day..........I was visited by yet another officer today to explain that my neighbors essentially don't have a case in court and that the magistrate should not have even allowed the warrant to be filed in the first place. I had to go to the dentist yesterday and this same officer happened to come by while I was out and peeked in my coop and around the property, etc.! He told me today that he had never seen one so clean....that the Snyders' should see his! He read up on the noise ordinance and being agricultural, it does not apply. Now I wonder if the court case will be dismissed beforehand. I am sure the neighbors are very mad that they can't force my chickens out. The officer mentioned that they had been complaining about other neighbors around me, like, how they park their vehicles and another chicken guy in back of me. I said that they were just miserable and he said "thank you, exactly". Now that I know there are chickens so close, I'll invite that neighbor over to see mine. I am so relieved that I am going outside and finish planting my garden and put in the last few pots of flowers around my coop.

Here's a photo of my coop where my hens will be housed and another one of my roo. I am in the process of moving my SFH roo further down the hill where his enclosure will be larger. Was planning on doing this anyway before the neighbor. I am sure he won't be happy until my gorgeous roo is gone.

Be-careful of Biosecurity when inviting another chicken keeper over, you might also be inviting over what ever germs they have. a simple boot wash and disinfective spray, and non-gone-to-their coop chicken clothes should do the trick. I must say that's a pretty coop you got there.

 

[Tuhmu]

That is a very very nice looking yard and coop!

 

[kallan]

Be-careful of Biosecurity when inviting another chicken keeper over, you might also be inviting over what ever germs they have. a simple boot wash and disinfective spray, and non-gone-to-their coop chicken clothes should do the trick. I must say that's a pretty coop you got there.

I have some of those medical slippers, but they are worthless. I may rethink inviting him over soon. Non-gone, I'll look this one up. How do you sell your extra chicks/roosters? I have some that are about 5 weeks old now....seem to be a high percentage of roos! Our tractor supply here isn't that great of a place to bring livestock.

I'm glad you like the coop. I have a hodge podge of things and decided to get this and divide it into two coops and I down the middle for my work area. I still have a lot of work to do with the landscaping, but it's getting there.

I like your name....my last email was heavenonearth....

 

[seventreesfarm]

How do you sell your extra chicks/roosters? I have some that are about 5 weeks old now....seem to be a high percentage of roos! Our tractor supply here isn't that great of a place to bring livestock.

Do you have an auction yard in your area?
Ours does non-cattle sales once a week, and we box up our cull chickens (the ones not going in the freezer) and drop them off. Two days later we get a check in the mail. Lots easier than craigslist for roos and such, but they take 10% for their fee.

 

[yellowsnapdrago]

So glad to hear that things are working out for you. One would think that neighbors would be happy to have such a beautiful setup next door. I know I certainly would.

 

[Mallory8502]

It sounds like you and your neighbors don’t respect each other, and there is terrible communication on both sides. This will probably continue to escalate unless somebody decides to be the bigger person and work it out. From your description of them I would say you are going to need to take the first step.

Have you tried asking them to sit down and talk to you about how this could be resolved so everyone is happy? If you don’t feel like you can talk to them directly write a letter. You hate their loud music, they hate your loud rooster. Both totally reasonable complaints... Considering you live there, compromise would be better than the alternative.

Did you talk to your neighbors about keeping a rooster beforehand? It crows at 4am, and you said yourself the neighbor has to work in the morning. It sounds like he has brought it up with you and you said you were working on taking care of it, but you haven't done anything about it yet other than talking about moving it.

Maybe they didn’t expect chickens to be so noisy - not your issue I know, but the fact is, it bothers them, and even if they knew about the rooster, I do not believe it is common knowledge that roosters may crow all day and night. It’s possible a hen laying an egg would not be too much of a bother to them if they weren’t sleep deprived and cranky already from the rooster.

And maybe their complaint about your 7+ cats was because they genuinely don't like dealing with your animals on their property? Or maybe they are just being petty, why not ask?

It is good that you are getting the cats fixed, but it is not the point. Most people can tolerate one cat, but 7? I have personally lived next to someone who had about that many outside cats, and it was great finding tons of fresh cat sh*t every day in the veggie garden beds (which isn’t safe) and dug up flower pots with yet more cat sh*t in them. A fenced yard doesn’t keep them out, and I had to take down the bird feeders because of the number of birds being killed. Don’t get me wrong, your neighbors seem awful, but the point is, maybe you have been an inconsiderate neighbor as well, without realizing, and so in their immature brains they feel justified.

Taking pictures of rocks isn’t going to solve anything here. It isn’t evidence unless you have a video of them throwing rocks at your property. A game cam is likely not good enough to ‘prove’ who it was. All they have to say is it isn’t them in the video and if it isn’t a crystal clear shot of their face they are off the hook. Probably the most to come of it would be a ‘talking to’ from an officer, unless you wanted to try pressing charges for harassment or property damage. Even if they poisoned your chickens pretty much nothing would happen to them unless you took them to small claims court (money out of your pocket) and then you would have to prove it was them beyond a shadow of a doubt, and since chickens are considered ‘property’ they would only have to pay you the ‘worth’ of the property to replace the chickens. Maybe they would get a small fine for animal cruelty, but unlikely.

 

[Going Quackers]

Oh happy day..........I was visited by yet another officer today to explain that my neighbors essentially don't have a case in court and that the magistrate should not have even allowed the warrant to be filed in the first place. I had to go to the dentist yesterday and this same officer happened to come by while I was out and peeked in my coop and around the property, etc.! He told me today that he had never seen one so clean....that the Snyders' should see his! He read up on the noise ordinance and being agricultural, it does not apply. Now I wonder if the court case will be dismissed beforehand. I am sure the neighbors are very mad that they can't force my chickens out. The officer mentioned that they had been complaining about other neighbors around me, like, how they park their vehicles and another chicken guy in back of me. I said that they were just miserable and he said "thank you, exactly". Now that I know there are chickens so close, I'll invite that neighbor over to see mine. I am so relieved that I am going outside and finish planting my garden and put in the last few pots of flowers around my coop.

Here's a photo of my coop where my hens will be housed and another one of my roo. I am in the process of moving my SFH roo further down the hill where his enclosure will be larger. Was planning on doing this anyway before the neighbor. I am sure he won't be happy until my gorgeous roo is gone.

That is your set-up? that is lovely, seriously. Personally i would never place a livestock building near a lot line even out here in the country we have to have distances from property lines, it just tempts aggravation otherwise. That said, i am pleased it sounds like you will be fine to some extent, this "neighbour" sounds like the sort who enjoys causing trouble, shame. Very pretty birds! and yes those roosters crow when they darn well please... i have quite a few here myself, mostly banty only one standard. Best of luck!

 

[kallan]

Mallory8502...Thanks for sharing your experiences with me...I hear you and appreciate the time you've taken. I am almost 60 and have listened to a lot of noise over the years from my neighbors, too.

We have talked with them beforehand on the shed and this shed houses hens only. I do have a large dog kennel that I can use to house chicks temporarily. Bedtime for the neighbors is 9 pm and he goes to work at 7:30, so I keep Erik cooped until 7:30 or 8:00am and he is housed approximately 1000 feet from them in a separate coop out back. Very rarely does he crow before 5:30 am unless something is roaming the property. He does have a pitiful crow...sounds like he is dying at times. His low crow does not pierce my ears like the beautiful Phoenix bantam I had.

When the neighbor came over to return our electronic equipment, I expressed how sad that it had to come to this and that I moved here for the peace and quiet, too. He made many irrational comments such as "we were here first", etc. A letter was exchanged, etc. They are so miserable and don't even realize it. They love to talk about others in such a negative way....even their family. If they had peace within, my rooster would just make them smile. I remember him telling my husband how he would push his agenda on so many people to get what he wanted. I know he had a case against his employer at one time.

There is another neighbor near me that had pot bellied pigs that I had to scoot...push home after finding them rooting up my flower beds. His three dogs also wandered my property and I got into chickens a year ago because of this type of neighbor because his chickens had no place to sleep and they roosted outside my bedroom window some 30 feet in a tree....crowing every hour! He was fine with me luring them into a coop because they were not being fed, but free-ranging here. I did not resort to filing out a warrant against him.

The officer said the neighbors had filed complaints about cars they see parked on a road near their circle drive out front, some 100's of feet away, complaint of a jeep that travels on that road, and another guy who has chickens as well. We live very close to a busy road, a train is nearby, a shooting range is about a mile away, etc. I feel this rooster just drowns out a bit of that noise. He does not crow as much as other roosters I've raised and did rehome.

As far as the cats go, I understand how you feel. Fortunately, these cats are aging and are very fat and sleep on my front porch or around and under my deck out back. People do like to drop cats off near me, but these seven cats keep them away. When I moved in, there were at least 35 at one time. These seven will probably live out their lives here. Outdoor cats do not live as long as indoor cats. I am taking responsibility for them the best way I can. I love my birds and have so many of them. Indigo buntings, scarlet tanagers, chickadees, nuthatches, goldfinches, bluebirds just to name a few. I haven't witnessed any body parts yet, but they could have carried them off, I suppose. Every spring, we have hundreds robins from Canada here...so large and robust birds. We do have falcons, as well, which I am sure dine on a few, too. The oiled sunflower seeds and thistle do add to my monthly expenses. I've attached a photo taken through my window of another old critter I've been watching keep my weeds down over the years

.

This drama will be over shortly. Thanks for your concern.