Neighbor mad about rooster...suggestions?

[nashua]

It is amazing to me that people think it is fine for neighbors to put up with their dogs barking day and night, charging a common fence on sight of a person, and so on. Yet roosters are intolerable? I have one neighbor like this and I have found it works best to ignore him. That works pretty well on bullies

 

[jsr5]

and if you wanna take a nicer route you could try crowing collars as well

I love this idea do you really think OP can get one in the neighbors size though?


For my 2cents. tell him to stick it and tell him solid wooden fencing does lessen noises. He might want to get it built before the next hatch.

 

[Sono]

Hmm that makes sense! But still. Surely they would expect roosters and farm animal noises moving to a farm animal area? I guess maybe not though. Idk. Hahah I never knew about HOAs until several years ago and I couldn’t believe some of the horror stories I’ve heard! And especially these new like mini farm type developments they’re making.

Not only HOA's but also POA's ( Property Owners Assocciation ) and LOA's ( Land Owners Assocciation ) Ive always checked before buying that there are none ( like my current property ) Install or carry a camera to record any confrontation to back your claim of harassment, you can get a restraining order if needed if you feel threatened... all you need is him to say one word to you or harass the birds just once on camera and he will be in deep manure.

 

[Happyfestivous]

I would plant fast growing conifers on his side. Vegetation muffles sound. 8 ft fence. Ensure you have no interaction whatsoever. If he sends a note, send over a cease and desist order from a lawyer. I would block his view from my house at every point.

 

[ChickensinG]

Hi all

I am at a bit of a loss on what to do at this point. Our latest neighbors moved in about 4 years ago and they are NOT friendly
Our community is zoned agricultural and we can do whatever we want out here. Some neighbors have anything from diesel mechanic factories on their property to owning actual lions and kangaroos etc. Property varies but lots are at least an acre and a quarter(what we have) up to 100s of acres. The name farms is even in the community name.

Most recent neighbors have never been friendly. We try to be considerate neighbors. Heard the man cursing out our dog because he was barking (during the day outside)so I bought him a shock collar for barking and call him in if he barks or if I ever see them outside.

Fast forward to the pandemic. I finally convinced my husband to let me and the kids live our dream and get chickens. We put the coop up way back on our property (our lot is long and narrow) the furthest point from any neighbors as our back yard neighbors have the most property. We of course hatched some roosters and we rehomed all of them...5 to be exact. I let the kids hatch a few more eggs to help with the grief of rehoming all these babies and of course we got two more roos. These roos were so awesome though and we loved them.

My side neighbor of course started to complain...you know the neighborly way. Mumbling curse words at me when I would come in my gate. (this guy has never been friendly once) and then having his wife text me. So we rehomed the dominate rooster that did crow fairly loud. However, that left us with the one we really want to keep. He is so small and gorgeous. A frizzle blue bantam polish. His crow is so weak the girls won't even play with him . He only crows during the day.

I came home to a letter in my mailbox today that says YOUR ROOSTER CROWS FROM 6AM TO6PM EVERY DAY. THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS. Then it was signed by him.

I don't want anyone to be miserable in their own house and I believe he works second shift and sleeps during the day. That being said we will most likely never again find a rooster that is so quiet (he does not crow non stop and I can't even hear him in my house which is frame while theirs is CBS). I also think that if we get rid of the rooster it is not going to change our relationship with them at all and he will just find something else to complain about. If their any neighborly dialogue I might think differently.

Again we try to be good neighbors. We cut down a big oak tree near their property line so they could grow a tree they planted as we saw the shade from our oak would kill it. We keep our yard tended always and I do the best I can with the noise. The chickens are in Omlet coops with autodoors so they are locked up sunset to a few hours past sunrise now that it is cooler. Work days they are in the run and on weekends we let them out to free range.

I am just wondering what you would do. Should I rehome him? So far I have just ignored the letter. Feeling really sad today.

This sounds like an unhappy person all together. I would not re-home that rooster. He's your part of your family just as the dog and your kids. If he doesn't like "Farm" sounds or animals, he should move to the city. If he complained extensively about your children, would you rehome them? Just saying

 

[chickengr]

If he complained extensively about your children, would you rehome them?

 

[Goosebaby]

You live in an agricultural zone, you’re doing nothing wrong. If he doesn’t like the ag life he shouldn’t have chosen the ag zone.

Also from my own expierience with people like this, if you give an inch they’ll take a mile and keep taking. Stand your ground but don’t engage if you can help it, when people get obsessive like this it can turn very ugly, if you need to contact him for any reason use an intermediary, like a lawyer.

 

[Flockincrazy]

Hi all

I am at a bit of a loss on what to do at this point. Our latest neighbors moved in about 4 years ago and they are NOT friendly
Our community is zoned agricultural and we can do whatever we want out here. Some neighbors have anything from diesel mechanic factories on their property to owning actual lions and kangaroos etc. Property varies but lots are at least an acre and a quarter(what we have) up to 100s of acres. The name farms is even in the community name.

Most recent neighbors have never been friendly. We try to be considerate neighbors. Heard the man cursing out our dog because he was barking (during the day outside)so I bought him a shock collar for barking and call him in if he barks or if I ever see them outside.

Fast forward to the pandemic. I finally convinced my husband to let me and the kids live our dream and get chickens. We put the coop up way back on our property (our lot is long and narrow) the furthest point from any neighbors as our back yard neighbors have the most property. We of course hatched some roosters and we rehomed all of them...5 to be exact. I let the kids hatch a few more eggs to help with the grief of rehoming all these babies and of course we got two more roos. These roos were so awesome though and we loved them.

My side neighbor of course started to complain...you know the neighborly way. Mumbling curse words at me when I would come in my gate. (this guy has never been friendly once) and then having his wife text me. So we rehomed the dominate rooster that did crow fairly loud. However, that left us with the one we really want to keep. He is so small and gorgeous. A frizzle blue bantam polish. His crow is so weak the girls won't even play with him . He only crows during the day.

I came home to a letter in my mailbox today that says YOUR ROOSTER CROWS FROM 6AM TO6PM EVERY DAY. THIS IS GETTING RIDICULOUS. Then it was signed by him.

I don't want anyone to be miserable in their own house and I believe he works second shift and sleeps during the day. That being said we will most likely never again find a rooster that is so quiet (he does not crow non stop and I can't even hear him in my house which is frame while theirs is CBS). I also think that if we get rid of the rooster it is not going to change our relationship with them at all and he will just find something else to complain about. If their any neighborly dialogue I might think differently.

Again we try to be good neighbors. We cut down a big oak tree near their property line so they could grow a tree they planted as we saw the shade from our oak would kill it. We keep our yard tended always and I do the best I can with the noise. The chickens are in Omlet coops with autodoors so they are locked up sunset to a few hours past sunrise now that it is cooler. Work days they are in the run and on weekends we let them out to free range.

I am just wondering what you would do. Should I rehome him? So far I have just ignored the letter. Feeling really sad today.

I would just ignore it it seems like nothing you do is gonna be good enough I have a neighbor like that I told her to piss off but that's me

 

[CochinLady61]

Make sure to document all the interactions you have with the neighbor. Also document what you have done to accomodate your neighbor. A trail cam is an excellent tool that you should get right away.

Keep all the notes and how / when they were received. At some point you may end up in civil court where it maybe your word against his.

Also rally any other neighbor in your favor.

He / they need to get better windows and insulation if a little polish rooster on someone else's property is such a problem.

You could make it worse for him. You could have someone let you keep a couple of cows who are weaning their calves. LOL. Talk about non-stop noise for a couple of days!

Good luck.

 

[CoconutCoffee]

It makes sense to me: they think they know what it will be like, but they are wrong.

(For an example going the other direction, just listen to the complaints of people who grew up in very rural areas: they are NOT happy when they discover things like HOAs!)

I think that's exactly it. They imagine green rolling pastures with cows off in the distance who create a beautiful silhouette at sunset with neighbors close enough to see but not hear. It's completely romanticized. Unless you have a lot of acreage and depending on how it's actually laid out, chances are you're gonna be closer to neighbors than you'd like.