the-real-tinkerbell Posted March 2, 2011 Share Posted March 2, 2011 i have one neighbour that thinks my girls are great ,when i first moved in my girls were quite rowdy and unsettle for a couple of days so i took some eggs round and appoligised and reasured her that they are not normally like that. she was pleased as punch and the next day she brought round some cupcakes for the kids ,she said they were so good she had to share them , now every so often i put 6 eggs on the hedge and she will pop veg from her garden on and we sort of swap . i dont have anyone the other side just a old garage site ,that im trying to buy but he keeps sticking objections in . but only because i think he has widened his drive in to the garage site to put a garage up soi think he is jsut worried he will loose his garage Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheryl Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I started off with 4 hens and a cube, about 3 years ago.. Now we have 2 walk in pens, 40 chickens, and I have got into breeding them aswell, haha, we actually have 3 cockerals that crow quite a lot, and I haven't heard a peep from my neighbours and we live in a very residential area in North London.. Either the neighbours are scared of me or they are just really nice people.. but it's probably both!, I do give everyone eggs, because I have so many, and I am know locally as the 'chicken lady' I think there are far worse sounds living in London, alarms, sirens, gunshots haha (no not really), I say they might aswell get used to it because soon it will be as common as dogs barking, because lots of people are doing it. You won't get bored at all, in fact you will get hooked it's a most rewarding thing, and I love my chickens.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
poppy ben grace Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I agree with what you say about sirens etc. I think people seem to forget that not that many years ago most families would keep a few chickens in the back yard regardless of where they lived. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Redwing Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I'm sorry but I can see your neighbours point If you arent used to having chickens then you would think that they'd attract rats and indeed unless steps are taken to control a problem it can get out of hand He may be a busybody but his fears are justified in my humble opinion. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
LizzieLloyd Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 Our poor neighbours had only met us for two weeks after we moved into a new house before we told them we were getting chooks! Luckily for us they are very nice and have no issue with the noise. Some have even rasied the point that the sound of local dogs barking and crying babies is far more intrusive that the odd bok bok from our chooks! We did have the odd sighting of rats in the area when we had the very cold snap in December but that was attributed to the food put out for wild birds rather than implication of our chooks (phew!) but there is no reason why rats would be attracted to your coop if you are sensible with containg their food and dont scatter too much grain around. At the end of the day though... use bribery. I give my neighbours eggs whenever we have a surplus. It always helps! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheryl Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 There are plenty of rats here in London.. and I really dont think my chickens will make any difference.. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Minty_76 Posted March 3, 2011 Author Share Posted March 3, 2011 I agree with that! The rats aren' t a problem in our garden, I think there is one but it's not bothered about the rabbits I have as I keep them clean and tidy. I will keep the chickens in the same way so I don't foresee a problem to be honest. I'm sure Mr Busybody will just get over it and settle down when the next "exciting " road bit of gossip happens!!! Nice to know a lot of you have a neighbour like that! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mawsley Posted March 3, 2011 Share Posted March 3, 2011 I was told a long time ago that it is always far easier to apologise than seek permission. We are not allowed to keep chucks in the garden, it's in our deeds...but seeing as I know a stack of others already do nearby we are going to collect our girls this weekend. We get on great with four out of five neighbours so I really can't see it being a problem. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chortle Chook Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 I was told a long time ago that it is always far easier to apologise than seek permission. How right you are Do enjoy your new hens. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Alis girls Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 There are rats everywhere - most of them have 2 legs and cause trouble. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Cheryl Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 pahaha.. i think that is absolutely true... it troubles me that people have nothing better to do with themselves but complain,, when you think of all the terrible things that go on these days it makes you sick! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickanne Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Sorry to hear so many of you have to worry about your neighbours. Like some posting here, OH was more of a barrier to my plans. It took me two years to get my darlings and only then because he wanted to keep bees! He's now just completed his Intro to Bee Keeping course and is facing the problem of where to site hives. The advice seems to be well away from humans or you will be blamed for every bee sting in a five mile radius! Just the blameworthy/suing culture we live with. I love the idea of spotting rats in his garden!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracyann Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 Everyone always assumes that chooks attract rats, but rats will move in under rockeries and anywhere, you don't have to own chickens to have rats. We have someone down our road who feeds rats at her backdoor. As long as you keep the area clean and tidy they won't have anything to worry about. I would present them with a box of eggs when you can so that they have nothing to complain about it - ignore it and rise above them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chickanne Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 I can't believe anyone would feed rats!! Strange people in the world.... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Plum Posted March 4, 2011 Share Posted March 4, 2011 My brother used to feed the rats at end of our garden. He built them brick houses but stopped when one of them bit him Cats were useless. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracyann Posted March 5, 2011 Share Posted March 5, 2011 Yes and unfortunately during the snow around Xmas one of the four legged variety found its way into our garden, my two cats cornered it one morning, then it legged it acrossed our frozen pond, followed by one of the cats Oscar, to my horror I stood helpless as the ice started cracking, my heart went in my mouth but thankfully Oscar never went for a swim. Ratman cometh and put bait down in a special box so the animals couldn't get in but no rats. Mum has just told me that if the shed is raised off the ground, the rats won't nest underneath. And the neighbours don't have a leg to stand on unless there is a cockrell around. Even then they have no right to tell you want to do in your own garden!! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
daxigirl Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 My neighbours were a bit doubtful when I said I wanted to get some chooks. There were muttering about what building deeds and the council would say so I did my research and my local council is only interested if it's a small holding and my deeds say no pigs or piggeries nothing about chickens and coops. My girls actually catch and eat mice (amazing to see ) the mice have been there since I moved in and come from next door (the other side) who is feeding the wild birds. As long as you keep the feed shut away and the girls area clean and as smell free as possible it shouldn't be a problem. I had mine for 3 weeks before I declared them to the neighbours and they hadn't noticed. Now they are rather fond of hearing them chuckling about in the garden. I did rehome the 2 that turned out to be fellas though, I figured that was pushing my luck. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 Mum has just told me that if the shed is raised off the ground, the rats won't nest underneath 'Fraid they will. Voice of experience. A chap with a couple of terriers did for them. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
oneyolktoanother Posted March 6, 2011 Share Posted March 6, 2011 we only mentioned it to ours as we was hatching a cockeral but our neighbours were fine, he will soon be creeping for eggs Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
