Neighbors Complained to Town about Rooster Noise!!!!

[mlm Mike]

Its interesting. I stuck up for myself with the town rep and quoted the NH RSA to him. I also sent info on a NH supreme court case and Chichester selectman minutes supporting the NH RSA. They have put sending the letter on hold now while they review this. I think they didn't know the state laws even though there's a ton of agricultural zoning in town.

Great! I hope it all works out in your favor.

 

[coolcanoechic]

It almost seems like the zoning never caught up with the building. I'm zoned as agricultural too, though my neighborhood is more woodsy than yours, the houses sit on one acre lots mostly. There is a house way behind me through the woods that has a rooster that crows all day long. I don't mind hearing it at all. I like it. It makes me feel like I'm out in the country. You live in a very nice neighborhood and your neighbors are all a bunch of snobs who can't mind their own business, because they have nothing better to do. They need to get a life.
I'm glad the town rep is taking a second look. Good luck and let me know how it goes.

 

[Leavingegypt]

Is relocating the coop to a more secluded part of your property an option?
We have a very vocal rooster and I wondered about the sub-division across the street from us, particularly one house. I went to visit and bring some veggies and could barely hear my roo in their backyard. They said they hardly hear him at all. I think they like watching BIG AL. Our property is is on;y 1.5 acres, and zoned res/ag as well. We have 2 subdivisions surrounding us- one with large expensive homes. Luckily there is an empty lot next to us that provides a 4-5 acre buffer.

 

[puglady]

Is relocating the coop to a more secluded part of your property an option?
We have a very vocal rooster and I wondered about the sub-division across the street from us, particularly one house. I went to visit and bring some veggies and could barely hear my roo in their backyard. They said they hardly hear him at all. I think they like watching BIG AL. Our property is is on;y 1.5 acres, and zoned res/ag as well. We have 2 subdivisions surrounding us- one with large expensive homes. Luckily there is an empty lot next to us that provides a 4-5 acre buffer.

Moving it is not really not an option. Its a 16x8 raised coop with a finished 8x8 in the underneath part. I have 3 sets of stairs to access the upper part as its divided into two 4x8 and one 8x8 sections. Also the support 4x4s are cemented into sonotubes that are dug 3-4 feet into the ground. With the Nor-Easters we have here in the winter we wanted to make sure it wasn't going anywhere.

 

[puglady]

It almost seems like the zoning never caught up with the building. I'm zoned as agricultural too, though my neighborhood is more woodsy than yours, the houses sit on one acre lots mostly. There is a house way behind me through the woods that has a rooster that crows all day long. I don't mind hearing it at all. I like it. It makes me feel like I'm out in the country. You live in a very nice neighborhood and your neighbors are all a bunch of snobs who can't mind their own business, because they have nothing better to do. They need to get a life.
I'm glad the town rep is taking a second look. Good luck and let me know how it goes.

Thanks coolcanoechic, I'll definitely let you know how it goes. I think they didn't realize that they bought in an resi/agri area and should have been more informed of this when they purchased. They're not going to like it very much as I just bought some cream legbars from GFF for next years breeding program and am growing out 3 roos to see which one is more "type specific". I bought the new birds AFTER the year so I'd be protected by the RSA. Should be lots of fun around here in about 3 months, lol.

 

[coolcanoechic]

Oh boy! I don't envy you in the coming months! I sure hope this does not escalate into a war.

 

[Nickichicki]

I think your neighbor is an ***, you live in rural area that liek you said was zones for animals and such. If they didnt want to live 'country' they should have stayed within the city limits! You have a right to your chickens and the laws are on your side in this case...I hope they actually come in handy and protect you and your coop!
Please keep us up to date on what happens because I am very curious as to how this will turn out!! I hope all goes in your favor and you get to keep your flock and I also hope your neighbor stops the pissin and moaning. Tell them to turn on a fan and use that as a noise barrier...thats what I do just so I dont have to listen to the noise my own 100yr old farm house makes GOOD LUCK!!!

 

[codechicken1]

Thanks Aggiemae, I'm trying to keep my chin up here. Its the night crowing thats bothering them and no one really wants to loose sleep but I know its in a roosters nature to crow at night as well as during the day. I'm not sure if they were really informed by their realtor that they were in an agriculture area and what that might entail. When they purchased we did not have the chickens however it has been well over the year now required for protection by the RTF act and as such I should be covered.
Roosters are allowed here however apparently not rooster sounds!

I realize that I'm probably much more sensitive to this now that I have spent so much on high quality beeding chicks, 3 of them being boys.

With noise complaints, RTF act or not, you will lose.
If they only have a problem at night, insulate (sound proof as best you can) your coop to help muffle the noise. let the Zoning Officer know that you are taking steps to minimize the noise, also talk to your neighbor.
I now you don't want to, but believe me, it will go a long way. Once the war starts, it gets ugly, all kinds of different issues will pop up. Make peace while you still can.
I am a Zoning Officer in PA, if they don't get you with Zoning, the police will get you with disturbing the peace. I deal with this kind of stuff every day. Noise is the toughest one.
Believe me, from the town standpoint, its easier to get you to get rid of the roosters, then try to justify the noise when the neighbors complain at the next town meeting, which they will.

 

[CrzyCknLady]

It drives me absolutely crazy when people focus on the "odd" animal noise and ignore the regular ones......I find it funny people will complain about a rooster who is really no louder than the wild birds........or even the barking dogs in the neighborhood.......just because the sound of a rooster isn't common, people focus in on that and ignore the other nuisance noises.

My neighbor did the same thing yours did - complained about my chickens - the only difference is, they complained I had the chickens period - long before the boys started crowing. It got very nasty this summer as they blasted their stereo from 8am until 9pm every single day in retaliation for me having my flock. I actually paid off the rest of the neighbors with eggs and apologized for having to suffer with the stereo every day. It worked out so that a couple of neighbors got into verbal altercations with the complainers - which was nice because it got the radio turned off.....

In my area, we are allowed up to 50 birds and there is nothing that says they only have to be hen's and there is no restriction on lot size. My neighbors are actually in the process of selling their house and moving this weekend because they hate my completely legal chickens so much (she also hates my large vegetable garden). I'm fine with that. No one else has ever complained about the chickens and I sent a letter to each of my neighbors explaining that if they had any problems, please come to us. We are more than willing to address and possibly fix issues. We did have 7 roosters culled and we're doing one more next weekend so we still will have two (for 23 hens). I explained in my letter that although I really didn't want to have any roosters, the presence of predators such as foxes, raccoons and opossum's in the neighborhood meant I needed to keep at least one to protect the hens. I also explained that I would be giving back to the local school by donating fertilized eggs in the spring for the 2nd grade class to hatch out. Periodically I leave a dozen eggs on my neighbors porches and that keeps everyone happy......so far!

I wish you luck - my village responded to her complaint by sending her a copy of the law and moving on. There is nothing she can do (besides blast the radio) and they just weren't going to deal with it.

 

[yorklady]

Gosh you would think that people would realize when you live in the country you will hear animal noises. My rooster is a noisy critter and he wakes me up from time to time but I go right back to sleep. We have 3.5 acres and we have asked our neighbors if the crowing bothers them. No one minds. The one neighbor just loves if our chickens cross the border because they love to see them. Actually some of our neighbors are way noisier than our rooster with firing shot guns and playing loud music. Good luck with the zoning officer.