Neighbors have hens and they are NOISY

[N F C]

Hello, sorry you're bothered by your neighbor's flock. The other greeters have already suggested what I would...so, best wishes, hope things can be resolved with no hard feelings.

 

[Yep I Talk To Chickens]

I started raising chickens and now I get sick from store bought eggs.

 

[Kiki]

I live next door to backyard chicken owners. They seem to be responsible and clean. There's not a smell and we haven't see an uptick in predators. However, that sweet clucking always talked about wakes me at 530AM and goes on most of the day. Even with my windows closed, you can hear them loudly. No, no rooster. Hens are loud too. I'm tired and my work calls are full of chicken talk. Owners may think it is sweet but your neighbors likely do not. Imagine if my dog barked all day starting at 530AM. I'd have so many people on my back so why is it excused for chickens? .Please hear me... chickens are NOT meant for suburbia and land less than 5acres (not talking regs, talking courtesy to those around you.) I am at a loss. What can I say to my neighbor without damaging relationships? Any suggestions on how to mitigate the noise?

Welcome to BYC!
Will you please take a video, while you're sitting inside your house, of this chicken noise and upload it to YouTube?

 

[Isaac 0]

Hello, and Welcome to BackYard Chickens! So glad you decided to join! Make yourself at home here.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

I mean, I get annoyed by my neighbors lawnmowers and cars and kids, but I don't think of them as not belonging in suburbia. There's a lot of sounds out there that are made in suburbia, even early in the morning or after dark at night, for a lot less reason - most of them you're just used to.

It may take some time, but there's a chance you can get used to it IF you try to change your perception so you don't train yourself to get upset every time you hear them.
I did that with my own rooster for a while. We had a neighbor who was trying to break into our yard because of him (don't do that, they became pariahs in the neighborhood pretty quick and moved the next year), and his crowing was stressing me out 'cause I was worried his noise was gonna get him stolen or worse. Every time he'd crow it was like needles on a chalkboard and it made me so upset, but it was just me psyching myself out. One day he nearly died 'cause I had a no-crow collar on him and it got stuck and he choked. When I heard him crow again two days later I was SO happy. I never felt anxious about his crows again because it meant he was alive and healthy.

This is kind of just how brains work, they're like a muscle, when you think something over and over it gets easier to think that thing. When you experience something and associate it with bad you build a neural pathway for that in your brain. Then every time you do that the pathway gets thicker, so your brain actively punishes you for hearing the sounds by making them more irritating than they really are. It doesn't do this for other sounds, even ones that may be louder, because you expect to hear them or like them.

So bear in mind that your own attitude can effect how your perceive these sounds. If you convince yourself you don't like them or they wake you (but you're cozy with the school bus in the morning and sleep through the garbage truck) then they will always be triggering no matter how quiet they get. If you can learn to appreciate the birds their sounds may not be so bad.

But anyhow, my own experiences aside, here's some non confrontational ways to manage the sounds and this is how I manage unpleasant sounds for me;

Plant a chicken-friendly hedgerow and trees between your properties. Arborvitaes, pine shrubs and other bushy plants give not only visual privacy but also help block sounds and redirect them.
Run a fan, play music, or use other white noise in the mornings/when you sleep. This can train you to sleep through other noises or ignore them.
Headphones or earplugs go a long way if you're feeling too overwhelmed by the sounds.
Try to listen to the chicken sounds while doing something pleasant where it won't break your concentration. Even if it's something as simple as a granola bar and staying calm while hearing the sounds. This can help build neural pathways that the sounds = good, and make it harder for your brain to jump to sounds = bad.
I'd say you could try to think of the ways these chickens could help the community you're in - bridging the gap between farmers and city folk, teaching people about where their food comes from, localizing food production, etc. But if those don't matter to you then they probably won't work. But if they do, give it a shot.

However... If they're legal, what are the owners going to do about it if you confront them? Get rid of their pets/animals that they clearly value? Is that what you're expecting as a result? Because of course that seems DEEPLY unlikely. TBH, the most you're probably going to get out of a real confrontation over legal chickens is the neighbor telling you to call the city to remove them (because obviously the city won't) and then souring to you and keeping an eye out for you doing anything shady of your own.

They may, however, be happy to try to help you pay for/plant the hedgerow or something if you go in nicely and explain. But if they're legal, don't think that it's a guarantee. Chances are good they already know their laws and obligations.

(Also, less than 5 acres? I'm hoping that's hyperbole. You can't even hear my hens from a few houses away unless there's a predator and our lots are only 40'-50' wide...)

 

[drumstick diva]

Chocolate Mousse, I like the way you put it, very well reasoned out. We have a neighbor a few houses away, they let their dog out in the yard late at night and he barks almost constantly.
I figure if the neighbors on either side of them don't complain - I have no reason to.

 

[chrissynemetz]

They can definitely be loud. I have one hen who sounds like a two cylinder John Deere tractor all day long, almost at a tractor's volume. But I don't live in town. How many chickens do your neighbors have?

 

[rjohns39]

Hi and welcome to BYC We're so happy you've decided to join us

 

[Chickens Tired Neighbor]

They can definitely be loud. I have one hen who sounds like a two cylinder John Deere tractor all day long, almost at a tractor's volume. But I don't live in town. How many chickens do your neighbors have?

Thank you for understanding. I have lived next to chickens before in the country but never like this. They have five but it seems like two or three that are the main culprits.

 

[Chickens Tired Neighbor]

I mean, I get annoyed by my neighbors lawnmowers and cars and kids, but I don't think of them as not belonging in suburbia. There's a lot of sounds out there that are made in suburbia, even early in the morning or after dark at night, for a lot less reason - most of them you're just used to.

It may take some time, but there's a chance you can get used to it IF you try to change your perception so you don't train yourself to get upset every time you hear them.
I did that with my own rooster for a while. We had a neighbor who was trying to break into our yard because of him (don't do that, they became pariahs in the neighborhood pretty quick and moved the next year), and his crowing was stressing me out 'cause I was worried his noise was gonna get him stolen or worse. Every time he'd crow it was like needles on a chalkboard and it made me so upset, but it was just me psyching myself out. One day he nearly died 'cause I had a no-crow collar on him and it got stuck and he choked. When I heard him crow again two days later I was SO happy. I never felt anxious about his crows again because it meant he was alive and healthy.

This is kind of just how brains work, they're like a muscle, when you think something over and over it gets easier to think that thing. When you experience something and associate it with bad you build a neural pathway for that in your brain. Then every time you do that the pathway gets thicker, so your brain actively punishes you for hearing the sounds by making them more irritating than they really are. It doesn't do this for other sounds, even ones that may be louder, because you expect to hear them or like them.

So bear in mind that your own attitude can effect how your perceive these sounds. If you convince yourself you don't like them or they wake you (but you're cozy with the school bus in the morning and sleep through the garbage truck) then they will always be triggering no matter how quiet they get. If you can learn to appreciate the birds their sounds may not be so bad.

But anyhow, my own experiences aside, here's some non confrontational ways to manage the sounds and this is how I manage unpleasant sounds for me;

Plant a chicken-friendly hedgerow and trees between your properties. Arborvitaes, pine shrubs and other bushy plants give not only visual privacy but also help block sounds and redirect them.
Run a fan, play music, or use other white noise in the mornings/when you sleep. This can train you to sleep through other noises or ignore them.
Headphones or earplugs go a long way if you're feeling too overwhelmed by the sounds.
Try to listen to the chicken sounds while doing something pleasant where it won't break your concentration. Even if it's something as simple as a granola bar and staying calm while hearing the sounds. This can help build neural pathways that the sounds = good, and make it harder for your brain to jump to sounds = bad.
I'd say you could try to think of the ways these chickens could help the community you're in - bridging the gap between farmers and city folk, teaching people about where their food comes from, localizing food production, etc. But if those don't matter to you then they probably won't work. But if they do, give it a shot.

However... If they're legal, what are the owners going to do about it if you confront them? Get rid of their pets/animals that they clearly value? Is that what you're expecting as a result? Because of course that seems DEEPLY unlikely. TBH, the most you're probably going to get out of a real confrontation over legal chickens is the neighbor telling you to call the city to remove them (because obviously the city won't) and then souring to you and keeping an eye out for you doing anything shady of your own.

They may, however, be happy to try to help you pay for/plant the hedgerow or something if you go in nicely and explain. But if they're legal, don't think that it's a guarantee. Chances are good they already know their laws and obligations.

(Also, less than 5 acres? I'm hoping that's hyperbole. You can't even hear my hens from a few houses away unless there's a predator and our lots are only 40'-50' wide...)

Thank you very much for that well thought-out and in depth insight. It has been 3 years of these hens clocking in screeching from 5:30 a.m. until dark almost everyday except for extreme cold. I am not trying to hate on anyting or looking 4 problems. My issue would be the same if those barking dogs or trash trucks or school buses were parked outside of my house and making that noise continuously. I understand living in Suburbia that there is ambient noise and some jarring that will wake you in your sleep however having something constant and louder than the rest of the noises except maybe a lawn mower Park under my window, is excessive and makes me feel trapped in my own home. I don't want an antagonistic relationship with my neighbor and I don't want them to mourn a pet oh, but what is my right? Again if it was a dog that was barking for 16 hours a day constant or four hours at a time in that block oh, it is expected that people can complain and have it resolved. Check any animal welfare site with the city and it's on the Forefront of their page. Please hear me I am an animal lover but this isn't right. If there are quieter strains or Solutions to my problem other than get over it I live in community, please let me know. I am not heartless nor ignorant, I am tired and frustrated. I have a dog that barks but I control her and you may hear one peep before I can come out and bring her in the house. They can't do that with their chickens but it doesn't mean I and my family should be stuck with it.