Stupid Neighbors and Noise level??

[Diesel84]

Ok, so I haven't had a complaint.. YET. My 3 Black Australorps are 2 1/2 weeks old and i'm not concerned, however one of my next door neighbors already has it out for me - I saw them looking at my lawn last week and I mysteriously got a letter from the HOA yesterday regarding replacement of sod - Even though half the neighborhood has dead lawns due to the weather. Coincidental? I think not. I think they have it out for us, so I'm trying to prepare my hens and coop location enough so HOPEFULLY they won't notice I have them. (We live in an urban residential complex.) I have already thought of bribing them with eggs, but I'm afraid that i'll give myself away and they'll call the city on me regardless.. Seriously, these people haven't even waved hi to us since we've lived here. LOL
My coop is enclosed and attached to an open bottom run and is located on the opposite side of their house (My other next door neighbor and I get along Great! so I thought i'd better keep anything chicken related closer to her, since she's the nicest) my question is - how should I prepare the best way possible for when the girls get big enough and their peeps turn into sqwaks? Lol. I read Australorps handle confinement well and were one of the quieter breeds but has anyone had experience with them and this kind of situation? This is my first time raising hens and I want to take the best precautions, they are my pets!
ANY of your help will be greatly appreciated BYC! I'm so glad to have found this site!!

 

[suburbanminifarm]

The conversation could go something like this.....

"Oh hi neighbor! Wanted to let ya know that we are getting 4 Great Danes soon. A friend has a litter. Yep, I always liked Great Danes and I checked with the city and we are allowed 4 dogs per household! Ok, well have a nice day! What a pretty lawn you have!"
(1 week later)
"Oh hello neighbor! Well, I reconsidered the Great Danes. I think maybe I'm in over my head with that one seeing as how I'm so busy at work these days. We decided to just get 3 little laying hens in a cage, you know, to teach the kids where eggs come from / to eat the bugs in my organic tomato garden / urban organic eggs are so trendy right now. See you later! Nice lawn ya got there!"

 

[mdbokc]

A good one.

 

[Diesel84]

LOL Suburban - Hilarious!

 

[Lucy4]

I'm in your situation (with the neighbor out to get us, and just ended a long (and expensive) fight for our hens.

You're doing it right, by keeping the coop as far away from the offensive neighbors as possible. And austrolorps are good choices, since they're quieter.

I would put much effort into weekend mornings. Let the girls out early, give them an oatmeal treat to keep them quiet. I think people are much more inclined to turn a blind eye if their Saturday morning sleep is uninterrupted, you know?

I did a lot of bribing with eggs. For good-natured neighbors, it was appreciated. For the ones that were inherently evil? It means nothing. If they're out for you, they're out for you. Hide the chickens and don't acknowledge they're there. We only still have our girls because of a very hard-fought for variance.

Good luck.

 

[scarter]

Are you allowed chickens in your neighborhood?

 

[RickMiller]

We have four Australorps (and a RI Red) that we got the begining of last summer. I think we are allowed to have them but I never checked with the town. Great chickens for a back yard. They are pretty quiet and great layers. My only complaint is they are hard to tell apart (I finally got colored leg bands).

Anyway, we got lucky, the neighbors that have seen them all seem to think it's kind of cool and so far no complaints. If I were you I would check with the town to see if it is allowed, pull a permit, if required, for building any sort of coop and just generally follow all rules and regs. It stinks to have to do all of that but it's better than getting a fine or having to get rid of them just because your neighbor is an xxx. Good luck.

 

[WingingIt]

If you're allowed to have them then just make sure that the area stays really clean. I think it's a good idea to keep them away from the jerky neighbors, but if they do see them and complain you want the compliance person to come look and go back and tell them you're doing everything right and they are out of luck. If you're not allowed to have them, then I'd say along with planning to hide them really well, you need to be prepared to be caught and have to get rid of them at some point. Not fun, but a def. possibility if you know they aren't allowed, so I'd be prepared with a plan B of a friend's house where you can legally take them, etc.

Do you have any kids? If so, they need to know not to mention them to the kids (if any) of the jerks next door.
Good luck

 

[wolftracks]

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Good one.

 

[squeakyballs]

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