I need to discuss our chicken desires with our neighbors. 3 homes border our yard - each side and in back. The property in back has a 6ft privacy fence so I'm not too worried about them, although they do have 3 dogs and a couple cats (their animals are well taken care of and supervised - never out of the fence.) The couple on one side of the house are pretty easy going - the chickens will be closest to their yard; I'm hoping they won't have a problem. The lady on the other side of us is a bit crotchety, but her dog is also kept in a fence and she'll hardly be able to see the chickens from her house. I'm sure she just thinks we're strange anyway because we have 5 kids and we homeschool them. Plain nuts. So, I've looked up the city codes for keeping chickens and it's a bit vague. Basically, it says that we cannot have chickens that are a nuisance. That might be up for interpretation. So do you have any helpful ways of approaching this? I see it as such a positive thing, but I want to be able to discuss their concerns as well. Any odd complaints that I may need to have answers for?
I asked all my uptight suburban neighbors and they said yes as long as I didnt get a roo and it didnt smell bad. SO I dived right I am going from 6 pullets to 11 in a week. I just presented the information and told them the benifit just do research now your stuff and you will be fine some common question are. Don't you need a rooster for eggs? are hens noise ? Do they smell? All of the answers are no as long as the hens are clean and well fed they will not smell only make noise right before and after an egg and you dont need a rooster. Good luck Henry
i like this word lol good luck. crotchety One entry found. crotchety Main Entry: crotch·ety Pronunciation: \\ˈkrä-chə-tç\\ Function: adjective Date: 1825 1 : given to crotchets : subject to whims, crankiness, or ill temper <a crotchety old man> 2 : full of or arising from crotchets <a crotchety style> crotch·et·i·ness \\-tç-nəs\\ noun
some of my neighbors wanted eggs. one was basically offended i would offer her something out of a chickens but. lol. but then when everyone else went crazy and came begging for eggs and would trade me stuff for eggs, then she came and asked me for some. lol. so, some people will like home eggs and others will only feel their sanitary from the store. i wouldn't be offeneded if someone says something like that. just blow it off. i'm sure it will all be fine.
I live in the city limits and NO roosters....you will do you and your neighbors a favor and you do not need a roo for the hens to lay eggs! They probably are much happier without a roo! Keep the coop dry and clean every other day if possible. Some can go without cleaning for a week. Do not get more than what you need....its addictive! Having 15 chickens was a bit much for me with a 4 x 7 coop with 30 foot by 12 foot run. So stick with six pullets if you can. Some cities object having compost pile...best bet is to bag them up and have it hauled away or put it on freebie newspaper for people to pick up the compost baggies for them to haul it home for their garden. I had to haul mine away because my neighbors complained to the city and city guy suggested to haul the compost away even there were good intentions but just the right mix of rain and fresh compost did me in. Offer free eggs to neighbors, they will love it or hate it. Good thing you have a six foot privacy fence, its a good idea because only one side of my property has a six foot fence and will be putting up all three sides of my yard to keep nosy neighbors out. Hens sometimes noisey when they are just ready to lay an egg and most are quiet. Mine talk all the time when they see me carrying goodies out to them or a pecking order being established. Get some quiet breeds like Orpingtons. Leghorns are noisey breeds and cackle to no end. My neighbors are less than 75 ft away on all three sides so no problems yet so far and it has been almost four years I ve had chickens. Have fun!
Man o man thats why I love livin' out here in the country. I've got hogs, chicks, honeybees, dogs-- well you get the picture. No one to gripe because almost everyone around is raising something. Good luck with the neighbors, the egg offer usually works though. Have a blessed day.
We never had "the talk" with our neighbor's. The city I live in allows us to have up to 15 chickens in our yard. I just figured since the city I live in allows it I do not need to tell my neighbors. It would be like them coming over to ask if it would bother me if they got another dog. As long as they properly care for it I do not mind if they have 20 dogs in their backyard. I have had my chickens since last Spring. One neighbor now knows we have chickens because one went between our new fence and the old fence that runs behind our house. She got a kick out of seeing a chicken standing on her back porch looking into her sliding glass door. The other neighbor knows because they just moved in and we were talking over the fence. They saw the girl's running around the backyard. The Wife wants eggs. My other two neighbor's I have no idea if they know about my chickens. I keep them clean, I do not have a rooster, and for the most part the Girl's are pretty quiet. In fact they are quiter then the dogs in our neighborhood. Personally, I feel you are just setting yourself up to have issues with your neighbor's especially since you said one was some what grumpy as it is. You said your allowed to have them then just bring them into your place. You have the City's permission to have them you do not need you neighbor's. This is my longest post tonight sorry If it comes off some what nasty I am sorry. I am exhusted and I thought I would let you know how I feel about this subject since you live in town like I do. Welcome to BYC
I would not chance it. We live on the fringe of the village tucked away but only 2 neighbors could see our 6 hens when they came out. We were actually just waiting for them to lay their first egg(s) and then we would move them to the family farm about 10 minutes away. They really had a beautiful coop inside the garage built with plywood, chicken wire, etc which shared our back inside garage wall where we then had a flap that we open and closed at night leading to our massive dog run that we enclosed with wire as on top. We cleaned the coop and run every other day so that on each day, one area was being completely cleaned and we made sure there was spray so that there weren't extra flies or anything. No smell, clean and quiet babies growing to pullets from April to September until I was served by the Code Enforcement Officer. The person who turned us in was not an adjacent neighbor but one who lived around the corner, let's her dog come and mess in our yard (never bothered our chickens), we hosted her 3 uninvited, unsupervised and noisy children to at the point of absurdity as they felt they could just come and check out the chicks as if they were part of a zoo but we felt that too was great for them. Our children (hers and mine) also attend the same Catholic school so I would see her at school everyday. I must add and never once did this mother who turned us in bother to ask what our plans were, why we had chickens or anything before taking the step which lead to us taking them to the farm before we were ready. It was a sad day to take them but in hindsight we did make a decision with a risk attached. Thankfully, we had already been working on the chicken relocation program anyway and it only took us 2 days to move them. They are happy and we get an avg of 5-6 eggs per day. No rooster. If you have 5 kids and there is a chance you can't have them where you live, check first with Code Enforcement. We learned we can have one chicken for every 1.5 acres of property in the Village. Obviously our parcel is only around .5 acres and not nearly enough. We had 7 days to remove them or get fined $50 per day per chicken past the 7th day. Chickens become pets very fast. It was surprising to us how much we have bonded with them. It would be a needless hurt for your family to experience if you got them and then had to get rid of them. Good luck.
Had to talk to the neighbors my parents made me. they are friends with them and we dont have a fence and we share a common field so it was neccisary. Henry