neighbor's chicken coop too close?

[aprilg17]

I live on a private road. Old farm land that was divided up into lots. I have 5 acres. My neighbor has 12 acres (mostly unusable). They have assembled a couple sheds enclosed in fencing and intend to house chickens. They say it is 20 ft from property line. However the edge is with 35 ft from my house and bedroom/living room windows. They did not ask/advise me of this venture. They have make shift greenhouses and are supposed to be an organic farm. I asked them to move the chicken coop because of location to my house. I feel it will bring down the value of my property. I had chickens at one point, raccoons got them all. They stink and they are noisy.
Are there any laws that say how far away from neighbor's bedroom windows coops have to be. In Brown county, Ohio.
Also, not related to chickens...but they have make shift greenhouse with black fabric(?) covering it. What would they grow in there. They have come from the city and are marijuana friendly according to their daughter's facebook page. I have never used the stuff. I can smell an odd sweet odor at times.
I don't at all care that they have chickens.....just away from my house.
any suggestions?

 

[Ursuline Chick]

The laws definitely vary a lot between different towns and counties. For my area the setback is 10 feet from property lines and that's it. I agree the best course of action is to call your local town and/or county and check with their zoning department as far as setback restrictions. Beyond that, if the proposed coop location is legal but undesirable, you could try talking to them again about moving it, maybe help them find a better spot to situate their enclosure. Hopefully you can work together to find a good compromise.

I would not recomend you start a fuss with your neighbor, have had a neighbor do this to me, broke my daughter's heart to have to get rid of a roo (and mine). She was the only neighbor who had a problem and didn't have the decency to approach me, just called the city on me. She was with in her right, however she has caused extreem ill will. It makes for very hard feelings when you use the law or codes to your own ends. I can promise you there is some old law or code you don't know about that you may be violating. You sound very angry and like maybe you don't like where you live, perhaps you should move to someplace where livestock is prohibited altogether, then you can just keep your dogs on a wire. Neighbors should take care of eachother, one never knows when you will need your neighbor. Before you do anything else, check out the thread Hurricane Advice. Then decide whether you want your neighbor to hate you.

 

[SourRoses]

This thread is 5 years old, I'm sure the OPs situation has worked out however it was going to.
I will say it seems like everyone who has responded falls into one extreme or the other. There should be room for reasonable compromise between neighbors. Not "keep your silence lest you want to die in a hurricane", or "terrorize the birds with your dogs to punish the owners".
People think when they locate on several acres that they will have some peace, and that's reasonable. It's also normal for animals to make sound and smells in the country.
Asking the neighbor to relocate the coop is a perfectly decent option. If they consistently refuse you could erect a high wall on that side to reduce the sound. Cover it with vines / bushes / trees.

We had a very rude neighbor earlier this year who put his coop right on the other side of the fence from our chicken yard. We both have woods behind and our coops are not close to the fence, but out of all his choices he decided to put his chickens right next to where ours forage.
Obviously, we don't mind chickens. But we did mind the biohazard to our birds. I especially minded when his rooster kept making it over a 6ft chain link fence, but thankfully people here on BYC had warned me of the possibility so we had kept our hens sectioned off.
I told the neighbor to either clip the wings or pen the bird up, he responded by pinioning (not clipping) both wings of that bird!
A few months later they moved away and left the roo behind. I had zero need for a mixed breed rooster so now the landlord is taking care of it

 

[MommaHen2Many]

Check the county/city code for where you live. I live in Wa state where marijuana is now legal...growing it typically smells like "skunk"..yes isn't that just really pleasant. You will be driving down a road...in the city...and smell this awful smell, and yup there is a huge warehouse with major cooling units on top, and polluting the area with its stink! Most folks don't realize if your state legalizes "smoking it" then "farmers" can now grow it...anywhere! and then their advertisements will be on billboards, the front of your newspaper...everywhere-even for kids to see. (ok I need to stop ranting!) For the chicken coop. Where I live there are certain set backs that are required, so be sure to check with your county/city. Just because there is acreage-doesnt mean they can have farm animals. Sometimes people think they can have "farm critters" but without proper zoning, they may not be able to. Be sure to keep a log/history of your conversations with the neighbors. Once you find out the law, check with code enforcement if they are breaking the law, you can also share that history with them.

 

[rosemarythyme]

The laws definitely vary a lot between different towns and counties. For my area the setback is 10 feet from property lines and that's it. I agree the best course of action is to call your local town and/or county and check with their zoning department as far as setback restrictions. Beyond that, if the proposed coop location is legal but undesirable, you could try talking to them again about moving it, maybe help them find a better spot to situate their enclosure. Hopefully you can work together to find a good compromise.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

That's why I suggested she move where there is no noisy, smelly livestock. She seems unhappy that her neighbors wont do what she wants them to do with their property. I think she needs to move where she can live with like minded people, instead of trying to change the neighborhood she is in to her liking. Per her own admission, there are other noisy, smelly livestock in the neighborhood, so just move.

 

[Nadia808]

I would not recomend you start a fuss with your neighbor, have had a neighbor do this to me, broke my daughter's heart to have to get rid of a roo (and mine). She was the only neighbor who had a problem and didn't have the decency to approach me, just called the city on me. She was with in her right, however she has caused extreem ill will. It makes for very hard feelings when you use the law or codes to your own ends. I can promise you there is some old law or code you don't know about that you may be violating. You sound very angry and like maybe you don't like where you live, perhaps you should move to someplace where livestock is prohibited altogether, then you can just keep your dogs on a wire. Neighbors should take care of eachother, one never knows when you will need your neighbor. Before you do anything else, check out the thread Hurricane Advice. Then decide whether you want your neighbor to hate you.

Is true that neighbors should take care of each other but what do you do when they place their chicken coop far from them and almost on your door? That is abuse. This happened to me ajeno approached the neighbor and he told me he can do what he wishes on his property. So when people take advantages of others you need to bring in a third party

 

[bhaugh]

Honestly they don't have to ask for permission from you as they are on their own property and it sounds like they have checked the codes by advising you how far from the property line is. Have you talked with them and asked them if they consider moving the birds a bit farther away and give your reasons? Don't go with attitude be pleasant about it. Saying your going to raise birds and doing it are two different things. Grain prices are going through the roof so maybe they will wait awhile. And for those of us who raise birds, there is a hell of a lot that it takes to raise birds. Maybe they will try it and not like it.
These people will most likely be neighbors for a long time. Do you really want to start a war over chickens that may or may not even pan out?

 

[aprilg17]

thank you

Check the county/city code for where you live. I live in Wa state where marijuana is now legal...growing it typically smells like "skunk"..yes isn't that just really pleasant. You will be driving down a road...in the city...and smell this awful smell, and yup there is a huge warehouse with major cooling units on top, and polluting the area with its stink! Most folks don't realize if your state legalizes "smoking it" then "farmers" can now grow it...anywhere! and then their advertisements will be on billboards, the front of your newspaper...everywhere-even for kids to see. (ok I need to stop ranting!) For the chicken coop. Where I live there are certain set backs that are required, so be sure to check with your county/city. Just because there is acreage-doesnt mean they can have farm animals. Sometimes people think they can have "farm critters" but without proper zoning, they may not be able to. Be sure to keep a log/history of your conversations with the neighbors. Once you find out the law, check with code enforcement if they are breaking the law, you can also share that history with them.

.....
I think they can have chickens....we have cows on our road....and horses. What I need to know is if there is a restriction on how close they can have this coop. It is right outside my bedroom window.

 

[aprilg17]

thank you

.....
I think they can have chickens....we have cows on our road....and horses. What I need to know is if there is a restriction on how close they can have this coop. It is right outside my bedroom window.

the pot is illegal here.....that is just an irritation. I don't smoke anything, I don't do drugs, etc. They are hippies. Their daughter b_t_h a rant at me a year ago...about cats pooping in her organic garden. I don't have cats. I do have two inside dogs....that could be on a wire some during the day....ten feet from the coop. I love dogs...I could be a rescue too. And I am probably a brat....but a good brat.