Chooks Aloud Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 One of my neighbours came round yesterday and said he was going to the council to complain about my chooks waking him up at the weekend at 7/7.30 a.m. My chooks are let out at approx 6.15 a.m. everyday and are not noisy, even before letting them out. They just make the normal clucking sound. He wants me to move them, but the run we've built is not moveable. It's completely fox proof, we've buried mesh 2 foot around. I've had them for 2 years now and I'm really mad and upset. Has anyone else had dealings with the council because of this. I've had to put up with his dog barking, kids making a noise, kicking balls over and against the fence etc. All I want is a quiet life. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Moonie Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Sorry to hear you're having a tough time. I don't think your neighbour will have a leg to stand on really, unless he can prove your girls are a nuisence. Good luck though. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tina C Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 If the noise is normal chicken noise as you say then try not to worry too much. Let the council come round and see your set up (can you do a video to show them coming out in the morning to prove its not too early and its not particularly noisy (or no noisier than a dog or children ) The blackbirds in our garden are far noisier than the chickens - how does he deal with the dawn chorus??? Is it a new neighbour or have they some other reason to suddenly get funny? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LJ's Chooks Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 if in doubt, give the council chap some eggs and I'm sure he'll leave happy. Shame about your neighbours though.... we've not had the problem yet with the chooks but have with a climbing frame. some people need to get a life!!! they probably buy battery eggs from the supermarket Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FORENSICA Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 I think the same as Moonie. They can try to complain to council but I doubt that anything would happen afterwards. People have noisy parrots, dogs, cats, car alarms and other stuff which is far noisier then chickens. Let them complain, and I believe that the council people are going to be more reasonable then your grumpy neighbour. Good luck! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chooks Aloud Posted March 17, 2008 Author Share Posted March 17, 2008 We've been here 26 years and have never had any trouble with neighbours. He moved in a couple of years ago. My chooks are not noisy the dawn chorus is far noisier. Has anyone else had the council round about this? I'm so upset. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Don't rise to the bait. If he can prove that you have a rooster cockadoodledooing all day he might have a point, but you haven't and I doubt that the council will be interested. Just have everywhere spotless so that if anyone does come, he cant try to go down the "dirty" and "smelly" route. I'm sure you have nothing to worry about. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chelsea Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 I can briefly remember some while back someone had a bloke come and inspect her chooks/set up because of a neighbour. He was satisfied the chickens were kept in clean conditions and concluded they were not a nuisance. I wouldnt worry about it, if they come to visit your garden they will clearly see the chooks are fine and no noisier than dogs/children/mowers etc. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Keanie Bean Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Its amazing how petit people can be these days. Let them complain, I very much doubt the council will be in the slightest bit interested. It's such a shame to have that hanging over you now though. People like that really know how to take the fun out of life ! Hope it all blows over. Sarah.x Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Tiggy Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 I'm sure your council has better things to do!!! some people need to get a life Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
koo2cat Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Poor you, some people eh! You might want to check that there isn't a clause attached to your property saying you can't keep hens/livestock. We can keep chickens without any problem but out next door neighbors can't! Hope it all sorts itself out - some people just have too much time on their hands! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aunty e Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 We had the council round to check out our chooks (luckily had just returfed ) and they agreed they were fine. Could you maybe let them out a little later at the weekend? I leave the door open at the weekend so mine can let themselves out and I can sleep in, but if they've been particularly noisy I sometimes keep them in until about nine so I'm not waking anybody up horribly early. If someone woke me up at seven thirty on a weekend I would cry. A lot. It's the only chance I have to make up the five or six hours of sleep I lose each week. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Poor you, some people eh! You might want to check that there isn't a clause attached to your property saying you can't keep hens/livestock. We can keep chickens without any problem but out next door neighbors can't! Hope it all sorts itself out - some people just have too much time on their hands! I seem to remember this problem cropping up a few times on here, and can't remember a person having to get rid of their chickens because of the council - although I remember reading someone did because of the neighbour. (Think it was on the re-homing topic or the eglu for sale) Hens, as I understand, count as pets providing you don't have dozens for egg production. Not a nice situation to be in - but it will fizzle out I am sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 good advice all round. If it were me, I'd get up especially early every day and find things to do in the graden and sing while I was doing it, he'd soon stop complaining about the chickens! Can you imagine the complaint, "my neighbour keeps singing in her garden and waking me up!" Have a look at this which says... "We are also unable to deal with many types of behavioural or lifestyle noise such as noise from children playing, people singing / shouting/ slamming doors or the normal use of appliances such as vacuum cleaners / washing machines / DIY tools etc." http://www.birmingham.gov.uk/GenerateContent?CONTENT_ITEM_ID=32560&CONTENT_ITEM_TYPE=0&MENU_ID=10438 how are your lungs? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickencam Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 If all they are doing is going about their chicken business ignore the complaining man he must have an empty life We have a tiny pair of Blackcaps nesting in some ivy behind our greenhouse at the moment and they sit in a small tree in the middle of the garden making a 'chit chit' warning call noise at all hours. Our chickens are much bigger but much quieter Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chooks Aloud Posted March 17, 2008 Author Share Posted March 17, 2008 Thank you - yes, that is all they are doing just normal happy chicken clucking. The dawn chorus is a lot louder and so is his dog and kids. Perhaps one of them was laying at 7.30 and gave a little shriek, but so would he if he was trying to pass a melon!!!! I'm a really considerate person and get upset when people say things like this to me. Karen Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirkwood Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 I was worried sick about my chickens making a noise but i have to put up with he noise thats generated in the summer. cars, kids, steroes. but for some strange reason the people doing it seem to think it acceptable!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Treekeeper Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 If the council even bother to send an EHO round then ask them to set up their noise monitoring equipment so you can prove that they do not exceed the recommended levels (the chooks not the EHO ) It takes a lot of noise to sustain a complaint and chooks just won't cut it! I've had noise complaints regarding generators on some of our sites in residential areas and we paid for independent noise surveys and never had to remove one yet. If your neighbour is such a light sleeper where does he sleep outside in a tent? If he has the windows closed he won't be able to hear the chickens anyway. Offer him some eggs and if he won't take them throw them at him You've had 'em for 2 years why has it taken him so long to complain? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirkwood Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 but one request if you throw them can you make sure you have some one taking pictures because i for one would love to see them Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ajm200 Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 After reading your post I was worried that we might have a similar problem when our chickens arrive later in the week as we have one or two neighbours who like to 'police' the street leaving nasty notes on cars, etc so I called the council to enquire... They told me that they have no problem with people keeping pet chickens and would only respond to a noise complaint if they suspected we had a cockrel. The only other time they would get involved would be if a vermin problem or strong smell could be traced back to our property and they found that the chickens were not being kept clean but he also said that they understand that a certain amount of noise and mess is inevitable with any pet so not to worry too much. I imagine your council will take a similar view Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 You've had 'em for 2 years why has it taken him so long to complain? I wondered the same!!! To be honest, we get woken up by our chooks, and if our neighbour (who is a very gentlemanly, lovely elderly man) wasn't partially deaf and if his room is on the side of the house closest to us, he could easily get woken up by them too... they are not always noisy, but occasionally something sends them in a short yet hair-raising bok-bok-bok frenzy... sometimes that's caused by a fox, or there was a magpie they took a dislike to, or sometimes they just seem to play with our cats like that... it is noisy and has sent me flying out of bed a few times thinking they were about to be butchered by Mr Fox... the earliest that happened was around 6.30 in summer and then I worried, thinking if it kept happening we'd have to lock them in at night, which we don't usually do... This being said, usually clucking isn't usually bad at all and never woke us up, even though our window is open and the chooks are right below it... Unless the noise was at an absolutely unacceptable level, I can't see the council being willing to take any action for someone being woken up after 7am... I realise that for many people it's early, but it is actually not that early, to me 7 counts as day time, and there is a huge difference between a bird making a clucking noise or someone actually mowing their lawn (which strangely enough my neighbour's gardener seems to like to do early on a weekend... not that I'd ever complain about it, the neighbour puts up with my kids letting off noisy steam in the garden at all times, and my five cats visiting his garden from time to time, though thankfully they seem to use mainly our own garden for toilet purposes)... Still puzzled about why he'd complain after two years... maybe something else is making him cranky and he is unfairly looking for a scapegoat... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SueSteve Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Good luck, I'm sure everything will be fine. But it is still hard not to worry! One of our neighbours plays loud music and the other side we have drummers. The girls occasionally make a noise, when one has laid an egg, or the more usual is when a cat walks along the fence (they all seem to have a good natter about it!). But it's a lovely noise, and not loud at all! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mirkwood Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 Noisey neighbours are more of a blight on the landscape than chickens thats for sure. Like the previous poster i agree it's hard not to worry. i had some problems with a neighbour who informed the rest of the court that i was bringing bird flu into the area i knocked on the door and said that the only time she need to worry was when i got sick because i am the one that cleans them out. I have moved since because they said they would kill my chickens at the first oportunity as they didnt want to risk bird flu!!!!!!!!!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ziggy Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 they said they would kill my chickens at the first oportunity as they didnt want to risk bird flu!!!!!!!!!!!! People are just insane!!!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Charlottechicken Posted March 17, 2008 Share Posted March 17, 2008 I find it strange that the neighbour hasn't actually reported the chickens to the council, just threatened to. Ignore his idle threats. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...