Kerryblue Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 (edited) My neighbours complained because one of my silkies was 'making a racket'. I had no choice but to rehome my girls as they were going to report me to the council. I am so upset. I wouldn't mind but only a few weeks ago after I gave them some eggs, she (my neighbour) handed back the egg box but she had replaced my girls eggs with Cadbury's cream eggs, we had a real laugh about it. I had no idea that my chickens were upsetting her. I am completely bemused! Edited July 15, 2011 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mart2584 Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 I am really sorry about your loss. How much noise were they making? Chucks do make noise they are living things, I really want to swear but I can't so, get some more chucks you will feel better about it and blow the neighbour. I would have left it until the last minute before rehoming myself,I have recently lost a couple of my girls a nd had one that was getting old and i was not going to get anymore but, I couldn't bear to be without them, they are such a positive element in my life that i really don't care what the neighbours think and I have had council letters so go for it, get some more chill out relax and enjoy you won't get any better than chucks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracyann Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 Oh gosh, so sorry to hear your news. I'd have them take me to court before I got rid of my hens, especially now I have 12. I'm planning on hatching some more in the summer next year... If I have a broody hen that is. Neighbours, who needs them. Mum and I were saying how we'd like to live in the middle of three acres with no-one surrounding us, we'd have goats, pigs and lots of chooks. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tracker57 Posted July 15, 2011 Share Posted July 15, 2011 So sad...some people. I always think, well my chickies do sometimes make a noise, but so do the kids that live around the corner...whats the difference? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerryblue Posted July 16, 2011 Author Share Posted July 16, 2011 Ah thanks for your messages, it has made me feel so much better....I live in Billericay and to be quite honest there are a lot of stuck up people here (but also some lovely ones!). I am a born worrier and would get myself into a right old state so I knew that the only way out would be to rehome them. They are now at Marsh Farm Essex. I am delighted that they took them from me as I know they will be looked after. The girls had been so so quiet until about a month to six weeks ago when one of my silkies - Tina (aka Tina Turner) got caught by a fox in the garden. They were free ranging whilst hubby, my daughter and her boyfriend were having a bbq. They popped in to get salad from the table when Mr Fox struck. They were out there like a flash and the fox dropped Tina. When I got in from Lakeside hubby told me what happened and first aid was administered. She had lost a lot of feathers and had a nasty open wound. I irrigated it with saline and antibiotics and dressed the wound, gave her Metacam for the shock and watched over her for 24 hours. Understandably they have been stressed out by the incident, I told my neighbour so she knew that they were unsettled but hey ho.... Perhaps I shouldn't be such a weak individual! We moved here last year and I now wish we never had! . Like you, I would love to live in the middle of a field in the middle of nowhere... We have such a set up in Italy and can't wait for the day that I go to live over there permanently.... I am going to have so many chickens. My friend and neighbour over there has 20 dogs (too many for me! lol) a donkey, a goat 4 cats and 3 chickens! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Henchanted Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 (edited) Kerryblue I am so sorry to hear your story and frankly, hearing about neighbours' complaints about noise makes me quite cross. We live in a terrace, neighbours either side, and my instinct (like when your kid makes a noise in public) is to feel self conscious and embarassed about the hens bokking and squaking BUT THEN I remember MY experiences of nuisance car alarms, house alarms, dogs barking, cats caterwauling, loud music/radio playing, lawnmowers/strimmers/hedge-clippers breaking peaceful Sunday lie-ins, kids screeching and shouting, ball playing/ repetitive bouncing off concrete, second-hand cigarette smoke, bbq firelighter smells, burning garden waste smoke......need I go on. Thats not to mention the things out of our control like seagull and magpies screeching at all hours, foxes barking, traffic, etc..... Thats when I realize that I should not be so sensitive and my hens, who also started out quiet and now make quite a racket when they see magpies or other visitors in the garden, are just part of the rich tapestry of the neighbourhood and should be enjoyed or tolerated like every thing else. I hope that you reconcile yourself with having the right to have hens (even noisey ones) and one day keep hens again. Edited July 16, 2011 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Happy Mrs Chicken Posted July 16, 2011 Share Posted July 16, 2011 Sorry you had to rehome your chickens,even if she had of complained to council it doesnt mean they will make you rehome them.My two boys make far more noise than my chickens as do lots of other things,and thats what i shall say if any of my neighbours make any comments. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerryblue Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 I know what you mean but I am a born worrier and would worry myself sick that the chickens are doing something to upset my neighbour I think she had it in for them so she wouldn't have rested till they were gone. There is a cockerel, some chickens and geese next door but two to me so I brought down what feed and treats I had left to see if they could make use of it, Nick was really happy with it although was disappointed that I had to find a new home for my chickens. He gave me a big box of eggs this morning as a thank you which has really restored my faith in neighbours. (Not everyone is cranky! ) . I went down and saw his set up and said that I would be more than happy to look after the chickens if he needed it at any time. He was delighted as I am only a couple of doors away. Not such an awful ending but I do miss my girls dreadfully... I really need to pull myself together.... What on earth is wrong with me???? They were only a few chickens! I seem to be so much more upset than when my dad died!!!! I hate feeling like this.... KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Egluntyne Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 How does this nuisance neighbour feel about the cockerel up the road? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 I was wondering exactly the same thing - how could she possibly complain about your hens if there is a cockerel living so close, he must be waaaay noisier! Not to mention the honking geese! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerryblue Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 Everyone down here seems to have lived here for something in the region of 20 years so we are deffo the newbies on the street (we have been here for one year). I suppose its probably because the chickens were only about 50 ft from the back door whereas the cockerel is that bit further away (they are all detached houses and longer gardens). However, saying that the cockerel does make quite a bit of noise and the geese certainly make even more noise than he does... The woodpecker gives his two-penny worth and so do the Magpies and the foxes as well as the pigeons and any other wildlife which co-habits the area. Frankly I don't have a problem with any of them and if I'm being honest I love the sound of them all (apart from the foxes ;P). The neighbours son does make me cross, I have not said anything but last year he kept on kicking his football over into our garden (which kept on hitting the Eglu and I am sure he was doing it on purpose!). I quite often saw him jumping over the fence at the end of the garden to retrieve his ball . I have also found quite a few bits from balloon (from water bombs) in the garden which I am sure have come over from that side as I can't see the retired couple on the other side playing with water bombs I am aware that they (our wonderful neighbours) have upset quite a few people around here... Need I say more.... Hindsight tells me that I acted far too quickly however, I still think it was the only thing to do as they are not very nice people and I would not have heard the last of it until the girls had gone. We also live on a main road so cars, lorries, buses, bikes and the emergency services are the norm. Hmmmm.... now thinking about it.... It's probably us she has an aversion to! KB Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimmyCustard Posted July 17, 2011 Share Posted July 17, 2011 KB My neighbour has just told me that he heard the girls squwarking at 0430am this morning, he was dozing in bed and thought he'd overslept cos he can usually hear when they've laid an egg and do the 'announcing' thing at the door of the Cube (at about 9am!) . God knows how he heard them, our gardens are 90 feet long and the girls are at right at the bottom and they were still locked in at 0430am!! I have got a box of eggs with a sticky note on it apologising for the noise to give them. He didn't seem that bothered when I asked if they had woken him up and he hen sits for us as well! The kids who live on the street at the end of our garden also fling water bombs, 2 have been found in our garden and their ball comes over as well but the fence is too high to be climbed. They have a pool and a trampoline and do lots of screaming so our hens pale into insignificance compared with that row. Its such a shame you got rid of your girls, I would also get some more and start again, your neighbours can go poop! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kerryblue Posted July 17, 2011 Author Share Posted July 17, 2011 I was so excited when we were going to move here because behind our garden is 450 ft of trees and rambles. We then have fields. Approximately 8 to 10 houses down again we have fields so we are rather rural here. When we moved in, our neighbours were going on about what a horrendous four years they had had with the different people who lived here (it had been rented out for four years prior to us buying it). Everyone barring one who had rented the property had had big dogs which apparently barked and barked. I must say, I would not dispute that there had been dogs here because of the level of dogs muck in the garden. It took me three months of continuous raking to get it and all the dead grass up. Our lawn is now really lovely, all the fence panels have been painted and the fence panels we are responsible for have been replaced. The hedges are all trimmed, all the pots and flower beds are full with flowers and a daily scoop around by me keeps the garden clear of any mess. They (the neighbours) complained that the people who were there before kept putting the black plastic bags out in the garden and the foxes pulled the contents all over the gardens. They complained to us that they had had a problem with rats and mice because of it. I just think they are that type of people and nothing we will ever do will keep them happy. By getting more chickens will only give them fuel for the fire. There can only have been a couple of occasions where the girls have awoken extra early and have been sqwaking at the pen to be allowed to enjoy the early fruits of the garden. One of those occasions happened to be this Thursday. Hubby had bought us tickets to go to see Neil Diamond at the O2. I thought that one of my three young adults would have ensured that the chickens were locked in their Eglu for the night but no and that's why she (Shirley) was there wanting to get out. Other than that, I had been going out to them at 6.50 every morning, letting them out of their Eglu and also letting them out of their pen to free range. At times, they used to follow me down the garden path and sometimes they would run down after me and yes they would make a noise. They have not been left to make any noise for any length of time though. I always have the window open and am aware as soon as they awoke and made any noise. If I heard anything, I would be up like a shot! I look forward to the day that I can retire to our house in Italy, in the countryside and live happily ever after with as many chickens as I would like. Unfortunately that time can not come soon enough for me! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
KimmyCustard Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 I see your point KB but then you're only living your life to suit them! As you say, whatever you do wont make them happy so I'm pretty sure they would still have preferred your chickens to the dogs there before. It just seems so unfair that you cannot lead the life you want in case someone complains about it! Some people just like it all their own way and its not as if you're having a party every night or the girls make that much noise, I certainly wont be getting rid of mine cos a neighbour heard them for one morning! If you had a cockerel, then it would be a different story. Mice and rats only arrive if food is left about for them and if the other people in your house left bin bags out then they will appear! I feel for you, but don't make decisions based on what they think, they dont sound very nice neighbours and youre not doing anything wrong! Hugs. xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jomeena Posted July 18, 2011 Share Posted July 18, 2011 So sorry you had to lose your girls. They do become part of the famly and feeling low is normal. I often find the people who do the complaining are often the loudest in the street. Why cant people live and let live. Love and Hugs xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
