Updates on the last pages: Neighbor is threatening me and my chickens

[lgwilliamson9]

My neighbor all of a sudden has a problem with my chickens. He freaked out because I held 40 chicks overnight for a friend. The chicks were gone in the morning but he is still freaking out. He’s worried his dog will come into my yard and kill my chickens. But then he tells me he has trained his dog not to touch my chickens.

I live in upstate ny where the right to farm law is in effect. My village zoning laws say nothing about not being able to keep poultry. It actually says it’s okay to keep all kinds of livestock in any zone. There is also no limit on how many I can keep. The right to farm law covers most of the zoning law in my village.

I breed and sell my chickens. I sell the chicks and the eggs. This has quickly become part of my income since I cannot work outside of my home. I have four roosters and twenty hens. My neighbor is mad that I have named all of my chickens and that I don’t actually know how many I have. I know how many I have but don’t tell him because it isn’t his business.

I’m wondering if I’m in the wrong here at all. If he calls someone down will I get into trouble? Or can I flip the scrip because he lets his dog off leash in a town with leash laws? In the zoning laws for my village it says no animal shall run at large, except cats, unless fenced in properly. My chickens are fenced in but hes afraid his dog will bust through the fence or something. There is also no talking to this guy. He’s an old man stuck in his ways and refuses to listen to anyone who doesn’t tell him what he wants to hear.

Advice? Should I just let it be? My anxiety has me going crazy.

Sue the jerk!!!

 

[lgwilliamson9]

My neighbor all of a sudden has a problem with my chickens. He freaked out because I held 40 chicks overnight for a friend. The chicks were gone in the morning but he is still freaking out. He’s worried his dog will come into my yard and kill my chickens. But then he tells me he has trained his dog not to touch my chickens.

I live in upstate ny where the right to farm law is in effect. My village zoning laws say nothing about not being able to keep poultry. It actually says it’s okay to keep all kinds of livestock in any zone. There is also no limit on how many I can keep. The right to farm law covers most of the zoning law in my village.

I breed and sell my chickens. I sell the chicks and the eggs. This has quickly become part of my income since I cannot work outside of my home. I have four roosters and twenty hens. My neighbor is mad that I have named all of my chickens and that I don’t actually know how many I have. I know how many I have but don’t tell him because it isn’t his business.

I’m wondering if I’m in the wrong here at all. If he calls someone down will I get into trouble? Or can I flip the scrip because he lets his dog off leash in a town with leash laws? In the zoning laws for my village it says no animal shall run at large, except cats, unless fenced in properly. My chickens are fenced in but hes afraid his dog will bust through the fence or something. There is also no talking to this guy. He’s an old man stuck in his ways and refuses to listen to anyone who doesn’t tell him what he wants to hear.

Advice? Should I just let it be? My anxiety has me going crazy.

Report the jerk. Make sure you keep a diary and someone to verify what is happening. Put a restraining order on him.

 

[schmedlap]

My neighbor all of a sudden has a problem with my chickens. He freaked out because I held 40 chicks overnight for a friend. The chicks were gone in the morning but he is still freaking out. He’s worried his dog will come into my yard and kill my chickens. But then he tells me he has trained his dog not to touch my chickens.

I live in upstate ny where the right to farm law is in effect. My village zoning laws say nothing about not being able to keep poultry. It actually says it’s okay to keep all kinds of livestock in any zone. There is also no limit on how many I can keep. The right to farm law covers most of the zoning law in my village.

I breed and sell my chickens. I sell the chicks and the eggs. This has quickly become part of my income since I cannot work outside of my home. I have four roosters and twenty hens. My neighbor is mad that I have named all of my chickens and that I don’t actually know how many I have. I know how many I have but don’t tell him because it isn’t his business.

I’m wondering if I’m in the wrong here at all. If he calls someone down will I get into trouble? Or can I flip the scrip because he lets his dog off leash in a town with leash laws? In the zoning laws for my village it says no animal shall run at large, except cats, unless fenced in properly. My chickens are fenced in but hes afraid his dog will bust through the fence or something. There is also no talking to this guy. He’s an old man stuck in his ways and refuses to listen to anyone who doesn’t tell him what he wants to hear.

Advice? Should I just let it be? My anxiety has me going crazy.

if anybody is in the wrong, it's him not you. I would tell him to mind his own dammed business

 

[Rosebud25]

I also told my husband the plan is to move the coop down back and fence in the whole area. I’m going to talk to my neighbor about buying their property. That’s all I can afford to do now. Moving isn’t in my credit future for now.

Maybe the neighbor will lease you the property instead of buying it.

 

[Rosebud25]

I also told my husband the plan is to move the coop down back and fence in the whole area. I’m going to talk to my neighbor about buying their property. That’s all I can afford to do now. Moving isn’t in my credit future for now.

Maybe you could lease the property

 

[MTR]

So my neighbor is a drunk and has been for 30 some odd years. My mom says to ignore him. He has been acting nice to me now but then right after acting mean again. My mom says it’s something called wet brain and has to do with drunkards. Talking to this guy is giving me whiplash. I’m trying to ignore him but he’s trying to make “pleasant” conversation with one minute then biting my head off. I wish this all didn’t feel so damn crazy.

Sorry it’s frustrating. I’m not sure how unreasonable he is but sometimes when people are being jerks a kind response shocks them into a better spirit. If he comes over complaining offer him a dozen eggs. You don’t owe it to him your going the extra mile and being the better person.

 

[ChickyBacBac]

My neighbor all of a sudden has a problem with my chickens. He freaked out because I held 40 chicks overnight for a friend. The chicks were gone in the morning but he is still freaking out. He’s worried his dog will come into my yard and kill my chickens. But then he tells me he has trained his dog not to touch my chickens.

I live in upstate ny where the right to farm law is in effect. My village zoning laws say nothing about not being able to keep poultry. It actually says it’s okay to keep all kinds of livestock in any zone. There is also no limit on how many I can keep. The right to farm law covers most of the zoning law in my village.

I breed and sell my chickens. I sell the chicks and the eggs. This has quickly become part of my income since I cannot work outside of my home. I have four roosters and twenty hens. My neighbor is mad that I have named all of my chickens and that I don’t actually know how many I have. I know how many I have but don’t tell him because it isn’t his business.

I’m wondering if I’m in the wrong here at all. If he calls someone down will I get into trouble? Or can I flip the scrip because he lets his dog off leash in a town with leash laws? In the zoning laws for my village it says no animal shall run at large, except cats, unless fenced in properly. My chickens are fenced in but hes afraid his dog will bust through the fence or something. There is also no talking to this guy. He’s an old man stuck in his ways and refuses to listen to anyone who doesn’t tell him what he wants to hear.

Advice? Should I just let it be? My anxiety has me going crazy.

His Dog should not be on your property.

 

[ChickyBacBac]

Sorry it’s frustrating. I’m not sure how unreasonable he is but sometimes when people are being jerks a kind response shocks them into a better spirit. If he comes over complaining offer him a dozen eggs. You don’t owe it to him your going the extra mile and being the better person.

I think offering him eggs is great, I have done this too. You also have the right to talk to him only when you are giving him eggs. It is like a cranky rooster- just feed him every time you see him. What is that old saying about people (apparently applies to roosters too) the way to a mans' heart is through food. You and your mood count just as much as being kind to him (and being kind is good), so don't think you have to talk to him all the times he is there.

 

[Hep44]

My neighbor all of a sudden has a problem with my chickens. He freaked out because I held 40 chicks overnight for a friend. The chicks were gone in the morning but he is still freaking out. He’s worried his dog will come into my yard and kill my chickens. But then he tells me he has trained his dog not to touch my chickens.

I live in upstate ny where the right to farm law is in effect. My village zoning laws say nothing about not being able to keep poultry. It actually says it’s okay to keep all kinds of livestock in any zone. There is also no limit on how many I can keep. The right to farm law covers most of the zoning law in my village.

I breed and sell my chickens. I sell the chicks and the eggs. This has quickly become part of my income since I cannot work outside of my home. I have four roosters and twenty hens. My neighbor is mad that I have named all of my chickens and that I don’t actually know how many I have. I know how many I have but don’t tell him because it isn’t his business.

I’m wondering if I’m in the wrong here at all. If he calls someone down will I get into trouble? Or can I flip the scrip because he lets his dog off leash in a town with leash laws? In the zoning laws for my village it says no animal shall run at large, except cats, unless fenced in properly. My chickens are fenced in but hes afraid his dog will bust through the fence or something. There is also no talking to this guy. He’s an old man stuck in his ways and refuses to listen to anyone who doesn’t tell him what he wants to hear.

Advice? Should I just let it be? My anxiety has me going crazy.

You're not in the wrong. It's not his business, as long as you are not in violation of any ordinances.

 

[Tilhana]

Um, he's mad at YOU because he's worried HIS dog will eat YOUR chickens? That's some pretty !@#$ed up logic. He shouldn't be letting his dog off the leash, particularly when there are leash laws.

That being said, being combative is rarely helpful, and threatening to call the authorities on him is likely to just create more hostility, and you do have to live near this guy. What if you approached him with some eggs as a gift, and start by illustrating all you have in common: you're both animal lovers (presumably), or at least animal owners, both of you want everyone's animals in the neighborhood to be safe, and both of you want to respect your neighbors' rights to care for their animals in the way that seems best to them. Try to get him to agree with you from the outset so he's in a more friendly, receptive frame of mind.

Then tell him how much you appreciate his keeping his dog safely confined, which is evident from the fact that he's never attacked any of your chickens (assuming that's true?), and that you feel confident that he's a responsible pet-owner who respects the laws and the best interests of the neighborhood. Perhaps your confidence in his good behavior will inspire him to be more considerate and realize where the responsibility for his dog's actions really lies. Once he sees that you're trying to be friendly and neighborly, that you're generous enough to share the bounty of your flock, and that you see him as a like-minded ally and not an enemy, he may well change his attitude.

Even if you're worried the relationship is already too embittered to be improved, an act of outreach and a show of sympathetic understanding, even if it's a little forced, can go a long way towards changing people's minds. As Dale Carnegie says, you can never win an argument, even when you're right, because when people feel attacked, they dig in and become defensive. Most people are too proud to let their minds be changed simply by being shown the facts of why they're wrong. Much better to disarm them with kindness and win them over with overtures of friendship, or at least empathy. Then they'll often come to the correct conclusion on their own.