Neighbors complained

[Andrea in Texas]

Hi Y'all
I live in Texas.
We live out in the country on 25 acres.
My three little boys and I went and got a brown leghorn rooster and an americauna pullet.
We set them up and were so happy !

12 hours later our neighbor, who also lives on 25 acres, calls and leaves a complaining message.
13 minutes later she was in my driveway in her pink Cadillac ranting and raving in front of my children about how upset her and her husband were because our rooster had been "going off" since 4:30 am and had woken them up.
They also live on 25 acres.

Guess how many roosters I want to go and get now ?

 

[Melinda35]

It is the country! Go back to the city if you can't handle it!

 

[SelfSufficient]

My gosh is her house right up against your property line?!? 25 + 25 acres should be plenty to allow natural buffering of the sound. If she wanted complete silence then she should have bought property on the moon.

I'd get some hippy dogs, some cows & goats & anything else I could legally own. But that's just me!

 

[Andrea in Texas]

It's our house, our pasture an then their house. I set the chickens up in the pasture. Because it was a good spot and where I wanted them.
THEY have longhorns and horses right on our shared fenceline.
So between the houses is a pasture and the pasture is ours...so they cannot get right by my house, but I can get right by theirs.

Bottom line is how dare she. It's none of her business. Perhaps she should buy a white noise machine or earplugs.

 

[Andrea in Texas]

Yeah and get this, they "own" a huge bloodhound dog that is here at my house 23-7.
Ever heard a bloodhound howl at 4:30 in the morning, while standing under your bedroom window or on your front porch ?

 

[SelfSufficient]

Sheesh!! People never cease to amaze me...

 

[Texokie1]

If I may ask, do you happen to live in one of the counties near (but outside of) DFW? The reason I ask is, I have some friends that work for USDA in TX, and they often complain about Dallas folks deciding to move out of the city to "farm" or "ranch" and coming up with all sorts of crazy complaints........stuff that folks who have ever set foot in the country don't even notice........

 

[adrianis]

Hey Honey,

Getting a new addition to the family only to have your neighbors come up and make a fuss would make my heart hurt. People do move out into the country for the quiet but maybe is there another way that she could allow you to have that rooster?

A friend of mine, Ms. Denise had a similar problem like this. She had a coop set up in her son's backyard in Rual Tempe Arizona with 12 girls. I think they were Rode Island Reds. She told me that most chickens make noise, however hens are definitely quieter than the roosters. That is why she chose the hens. There are some chickens that have been known to be quieter than others. Her hens however, still made noise, and with a little less than an acre of backyard you really gotta be on good terms with your neighbors. She ended up giving some fresh eggs to her neighbors every week and after she explained to them how her hens weren't given steroids and how healthy the eggs were, they accepted and even welcomed her chickens. Ms. Denise was known for her ways to keep the peace, and kept her chickens for five years before she moved.

Firstly, it is your property, and 25 acres is no half an acre backyard in the city. You should be able to do whatever you'd like and keep whatever kinds of pets you want, excluding dangerous ones like tigers of course. Secondly, getting used to a rooster call off in the distance of 25 acres or so shouldn't be too difficult. My mom thinks I'm crazy for going out to the city to go to college. Listening to all the sirens and noisy neighbors (college dorms) was something to get used to, but it didn't take me long to adjust to it.

I've heard of trees buffering noises too. If you're neighbor and you were on good terms to begin with, maybe the two of you could come up with some kind of plan to put in some trees around your property to kind of muffle the noise. That's a long term plan and kind of costly, but if you mention it, at least she knows you're trying. Now I'm crazy about chickens and would have no problem if one was crowing all day long. I'm sure between maybe giving eggs to your neighbor, or just telling them how important having a chicken is for your family, to explaining that it is your property after all, to maybe discussing trees, anything to keep the peace except giving up your new pet. Your neighbor has to realize that you're not going to settle for giving away your chicken just because she doesn't like it. Not an option. But it would be better I think if you told them that you're willing to try to help make them happy.

If you prove to this lady that your the better person by trying to fish for a solution, when she says that she won't have it any other way unless you get rid of your chicken, you can tell her she better get on up and start packing because you're not going to do that. Throw in that that dam pink Cadillac is an eye sore and so is her attitude. It's your house and she can plant all the trees around her property and wear earmuffs at night if it bothers her that much.

But seriously, try to make peace first. Wishin' you the best! And congratulations on the new members of your family!

 

[Andrea in Texas]

We live one hour from Dallas.
They moved here from a city that has approx 120,000 people, to our town that has about 1,900.
She is a pink Cadillac driving, Mary Kay, monster.

 

[Beekissed]

I'd tell her there is a simple solution....you can kill her dog for howling and she can kill your rooster for crowing. Until that happens, nothing changes.