icydee

Another interesting fact about Victor, another of our neighbours who we are friends with once saw him fly-tipping a mattress down a local lane. I can't think why since it's only a couple of miles to the local recycling tip where they will take such rubbish for free. I'm not exactly sure what I will do with this information, but I can let it slip at some point in the future if he starts mouthing off again. Although up until know I have remained on speaking terms with him whenever we happen to meet, I'm not sure how I will react in future. I expect i will just give him a friendly 'hi' and leave it at that. No need to stoop to his level. If he refuses to speak I can just smile and move on.

I am at work today, but wife phoned, very upset. Victor pounded on the front door continuously until she managed to get to the door. He was irate, shouting and threatening her and waving his fist and (once again) complaining about the chicken noise. Anyway, long-story-short, wife phone the police made a formal complaint about his behaviour (this is the second time he has done this) and we have a reference number and have been told to phone 999 if he approaches again. Talk about a possible ASBO. Two community officers came around and spoke to my wife, and one stroke one of our chickens, then they went around and spoke to Victor. Not sure what will come of this now, but I expect Victor will try something else...

So six months on, and nothing has happened. I strongly suspect that when Victor got down to it, and kept a log-book of all the 'nuisance noise', he realized that it was not as frequent, or as loud, as he remembered it.

I had a fun conversation again today with Victor. He said that the noise from the chickens was 'louder than a passing jet aircraft'. I suggested to him that to be fair, we should also compare the sound of a jet engine in my garden to the sound of a chicken about two miles away. I actually spent about six hours in my garden this afternoon enjoying the warm sun and just listening to the noises around me. I found it very peaceful. Song birds singing, including wood pigeons, magpies and even a cuckoo! Sound of strimmers and lawn mowers from a distance. A low hum from passing cars on the road about 400 yards away. The sound of passing aircraft every few minutes (we are close to Heathrow) Children playing, a few streets away. Occasional sound of doors closing or bin lids being closed. The gently clucking of hens in my back garden. There were no loud noises at all, certainly the chickens were well behaved without any instance of 'I just laid an egg!' just a couple of instances of them being a little louder than normal (lasting about 2 seconds each).

Hi Yes, you have expressed my opinions too. You should hear the sound of the magpies in the mornings! Still, although I expect that it will come to nothing, it is still a worry while it is ongoing. Kind Regards Iain

We are in an urban area and we free-range our 10 chickens (no cockerel) in our back garden, about 20m x 20m with 6ft fences. Next door neighbour's house is adjacent to our back garden. We have had chickens for about six years now, and our neighbour, let's call him Victor Meldrew, has made complaints all that time about the noise, even though we told him originally that we were going to get chickens and having periodically given them fresh eggs. At each complaint, I listened to him and either agreed to his suggestions or made suggestions myself as to how to reduce the noise. I have done the following. * Boarded up one end of the enclosed run which faces his home to try to reduce the noise. * Added blackout board over the coop window to keep chickens in the dark at night/dusk. * Curfew for chickens between 10:00pm and 10:00am especially during the summer. * Have not replaced chickens where breed seems to be especially noisy. The latest run-in with Victor was when he came around to the house when only my daughter (20) was in and wanting to talk to me. When he found out I was not in he was quite verbally aggressive to my daughter. When I found out I went around to his house, I was not aggressive/angry with him but explained that his behaviour was not acceptable and he should not talk to anyone in my household again except for me. He seemed to be apologetic. He has previously stated he will make a formal complaint to the environmental department of Bracknell Forest Council. He started to do so last year (I spoke to the department myself) but did not follow through with the required log-book of the noise. He seems to have done so this time. My question is, has anyone else had to go through a formal investigation by the local authority for noise complaints, and if so what was the outcome. I am fairly positive that his complaint will not be upheld. The noise he is complaining about is not just the occasional 'I just laid an egg' noise that a few of them make once a day but the general clucking and other noises they make (I would estimate that this is quieter than a normal speaking voice). As further background, Victor has complained about noise from at least three of his four neighbours. He yelled over the fence at a mutual neighbour during the day in summer because the young kids were having fun in their back yard and making noise, as kids do. He also went round in an apoplectic rage to another neighbour warning them that he would have their dogs taken away and destroyed if they did not stop them from (occasional) barking. Any comments welcomed. Kind Regards Iain