OH NOOOooooOoOooo... now what? - neighbor hates chickens!!

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
Definitely have to agree. Stay away, don't talk to her, try to avoid her. Keep the chickens out of sight. Good fences make good neighbors. If you can afford it put Stockade fencing to block the veiw of your back yard. Or plant a row of evergreens to block the view. Follow the above advice or you will be sorry.

 

[redhen]

Sorry..i would not have even said a word to my neighbors to begin with... it just invited trouble.
Now all you can do is drop it... dont say another word to them about it.... nothing...
If they bring it up just be polite to them and firm that the chickens are staying.. they are legal where you live... end of discussion..
You pay for your house... its none of their business whats in your yard....

 

[Laurajean]

Honestly, it sounds like these are the type of people who like to make an issue out of everything. I recently had some "neighbor issues" not related to chickens, but came out with the conclusion that some people just suck, plain and simple. Some people just want to complain. Furthermore, I suspect that if you try to bring her literature, or invite her to see them, etc, you will be feeding into her need to make this a big deal. I really think the best thing to do is enjoy your chickens and completely ignore her. If she complains, remind her of your zoning rights. She can move if she doesn't like it. You did nothing wrong, do not feel obligated to oblige her. If she's crabby about chickens, then OH WELL! Also, if you try too hard to appease her with your efforts, she will get used to it and will only become more demanding. Nip it in the bud right now and ignore her completely. Let her know she is not in control over this situation.

 

[HathawayHens]

We have a chain link fence for the back yard. It is what has always been there. However, I did just plant passion vines all along it... so hopefully they will thrive in our summer rains and make a nice barricade. I will move on and stop caring... it has just been a shocking evening. Irrational people drive me coo-coo!!!

I guess it's just the hypocrisy that gets under my skin. We even signed a variance for them to put an addition on their house... I remember as I was signing it saying... hey, your property, your business! It is interesting to me that THEIR desire to do things is ok, but ours is clearly just an effort to piss them off.

At any rate, I will be OK, but this is just a new crisis. Glad DH will be home with me tomorrow... maybe we can get the coop done!

 

[Happy Chooks]

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That is the total IRONY of this!!!! Their old dog used to come crap on our lawn every day, and we'd just pick it up... never once yelled at them or anything... and they WATCHED her do it!!!!

It does not pay to try to live and let live, apparently.

I'm just glad they'll be in the keys all summer.

We teach people how to treat us. If she thinks her dog crap is okey-dokey for you to clean up then you have taught her that her needs are greater than yours. And if you cow-tow to her temper fit over your perfectly lovely, legal chickens, then you would once again be teaching her that her needs outweigh your own...

I don't quite understand why her disappointment over your chickens matters to you. What could she do or say at this point that would make this all ok? Can't you just be ok with her being unhappy -- sucks to be her? So she's unhappy. So what.

Enjoy your chickens,
Jenny

Yeah, this.

Quote:
Definitely have to agree. Stay away, don't talk to her, try to avoid her. Keep the chickens out of sight. Good fences make good neighbors. If you can afford it put Stockade fencing to block the veiw of your back yard. Or plant a row of evergreens to block the view. Follow the above advice or you will be sorry.

And this.



I think you're being too much a push over to her feelings. Don't be the door mat. Who cares what she thinks? You're legal and that's all that matters. I'm all for being "neighborly", but this is just over the top if you allow her to control what you do with your life. I live in the country (but used to live in the city, so I know how that works) but I never once asked my neighbors what they thought of chickens. I'm allowed to have them, and that's that. (and I DO have a rooster, in fact I have 2 right now and a few more 7 week old cockerals) I figure if I have to listen to their barking dogs at all hours of the night, then they can listen to my rooster at 5:30 in the morning. (hey, at least he doesn't bark all night)

 

[Laurajean]

Don't feel bad or minimize it, I would be ticked too! It's really upsetting to be a good conscientious neighbor and not have that attitude returned in kind. It would really bother me also, but I'm just starting to learn that I cannot please everyone, even though I try try! It's okay, go ahead and feel upset. But then move on and enjoy your chickens! Don't let some crabby neighbor ruin a wonderful hobby for you. Miserable people have a need to bring others down too, it makes them feel better. The best thing you can do is not let it stop you from having a fun time! Can't please 'em all!

 

[HathawayHens]

Yeah, I think there is a lot of that going on... all she does is work, work, work, so I guess driving home and seeing chickens was the only excuse she needed to go ape-S on us.

Whatever. They have a zillion dollars, so if they hate chickens that much they can move where it is zoned differently. We in turn will enjoy our girls, keep them safe and healthy, and enjoy those yummy eggs.

 

[Laurajean]

There ya go, that's all you can do! I on the other hand, have a neighbor up the road that has two huskies, which they refuse to spay or neuter "in case" they want to breed them. This results in them constantly getting loose and I have heard more than one story of them killing the other neighbors' geese and chickens.

So now I can't free range my own chickens even though I have a nice piece of property and the setting is otherwise ideal to free range, because I am afraid their dogs will kill my babies. So even though I'm frustrated and bummed out that I can't free range them, and thus have to spend more money on a large run so they will be healthy and happy and SAFE, I have to just accept it and move on. Either that or start a feud with them, which I am not up for. I'm the new girl in town, so the last thing I want to do is anger the locals, lol!

 

[SkyWarrior]

Back when I was racing my sled dogs, I moved into an agricultural zoned land and the day I put my dogs in the kennels, my neighbors had animal control on my doorstep with false accusations and noise complaints.

Despite the fact I was home and knew my dogs weren't barking, two would get together because they didn't like sled dogs and corroborate the story. These people actually told me to buy more land and move. I told them I would if they'd pay for it. I ended up debarking my dogs (either that or getting hauled into court

) so the idiots could complain all they wanted to, but they couldn't go anywhere with that. Still, it was an absolute nightmare because they made up stuff all the time to try to get me to move. Eventually I did and I now have 10 acres. Not as private as I would like, but nobody can tell me what not to own.


What I learned was neighbors can be hell. (From the neighbors who broke into my house before we moved everything to the heroin addict who died in a crack house on Christmas Eve

) Your paranoid neighbor needs to get a life and as long as you have the law on your side, it's none of her business. Trust me, you need to let it drop and go on. Don't give her a leg to stand on and have a decent coop.

 

[coastaltx]

Chicken racists!! Get a BIG flock of hens, and maybe the neighbors will move....