Neighbors have hens and they are NOISY

[DobieLover]

Thank you very much for that well thought-out and in depth insight. It has been 3 years of these hens clocking in screeching from 5:30 a.m. until dark almost everyday except for extreme cold. I am not trying to hate on anyting or looking 4 problems. My issue would be the same if those barking dogs or trash trucks or school buses were parked outside of my house and making that noise continuously. I understand living in Suburbia that there is ambient noise and some jarring that will wake you in your sleep however having something constant and louder than the rest of the noises except maybe a lawn mower Park under my window, is excessive and makes me feel trapped in my own home. I don't want an antagonistic relationship with my neighbor and I don't want them to mourn a pet oh, but what is my right? Again if it was a dog that was barking for 16 hours a day constant or four hours at a time in that block oh, it is expected that people can complain and have it resolved. Check any animal welfare site with the city and it's on the Forefront of their page. Please hear me I am an animal lover but this isn't right. If there are quieter strains or Solutions to my problem other than get over it I live in community, please let me know. I am not heartless nor ignorant, I am tired and frustrated. I have a dog that barks but I control her and you may hear one peep before I can come out and bring her in the house. They can't do that with their chickens but it doesn't mean I and my family should be stuck with it.

How much space do these 5 birds have? If they are cramped they can get cranky and complain. Again, you should talk to your neighbor and say all the things you just wrote.
Everyone is entitled to enjoy their property in peace. No neighbor has a right to disturb the peace constantly. Some people just stop hearing it and are unaware that it is sending you off the deep end. Tell them you are happy to work with them but something has to change.
It's simple. You want quiet in your own home.
They want chickens on their property.
But the law is leaning in your favor because there are noise ordinances too. If it's as loud as you say, recording it as was suggested is a good idea to let the neighbors know just how loud it is in your house. If they won't work with you, then you take that same recording to whoever enforces the noise ordinance and file a complaint.

 

[Kusanar]

How much space do these 5 birds have? If they are cramped they can get cranky and complain. Again, you should talk to your neighbor and say all the things you just wrote.
Everyone is entitled to enjoy their property in peace. No neighbor has a right to disturb the peace constantly. Some people just stop hearing it and are unaware that it is sending you off the deep end. Tell them you are happy to work with them but something has to change.
It's simple. You want quiet in your own home.
They want chickens on their property.
But the law is leaning in your favor because there are noise ordinances too. If it's as loud as you say, recording it as was suggested is a good idea to let the neighbors know just how loud it is in your house. If they won't work with you, then you take that same recording to whoever enforces the noise ordinance and file a complaint.

I agree with this, also, you can download a decibel meter app for your phone and let it monitor the sound level inside your house (turn off anything you have going so it's a true reading) then you can let the city know that you are reading x level and you would like an investigation done. "Loud" is a very subjective word, when my husband pulls up in front of the house with his music on, I think his music is loud inside the house, he would say the music is NOT loud inside his car. Clearly one of us is wrong, but without any objective readings it would be hard to say which of us is wrong about the noise level.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Thank you very much for that well thought-out and in depth insight. It has been 3 years of these hens clocking in screeching from 5:30 a.m. until dark almost everyday except for extreme cold. I am not trying to hate on anyting or looking 4 problems. My issue would be the same if those barking dogs or trash trucks or school buses were parked outside of my house and making that noise continuously. I understand living in Suburbia that there is ambient noise and some jarring that will wake you in your sleep however having something constant and louder than the rest of the noises except maybe a lawn mower Park under my window, is excessive and makes me feel trapped in my own home. I don't want an antagonistic relationship with my neighbor and I don't want them to mourn a pet oh, but what is my right? Again if it was a dog that was barking for 16 hours a day constant or four hours at a time in that block oh, it is expected that people can complain and have it resolved. Check any animal welfare site with the city and it's on the Forefront of their page. Please hear me I am an animal lover but this isn't right. If there are quieter strains or Solutions to my problem other than get over it I live in community, please let me know. I am not heartless nor ignorant, I am tired and frustrated. I have a dog that barks but I control her and you may hear one peep before I can come out and bring her in the house. They can't do that with their chickens but it doesn't mean I and my family should be stuck with it.

I understand you're frustrated. You live around other humans and they live around you too - that's bound to cause conflict. Realistically, what are your goals here? What do you - realistically - think you can accomplish?
Do you think you can talk your neighbors into getting rid of their birds? I don't but I'm cynical. Do you think you can get the city to enforce quiet hours? That would be questionable where I live, but what's your city like? Can you get them to keep their chickens in the coop until, say 8 or 9AM to muffle the sound? Or get them to move their chicken pen further away from your windows? Maybe, I already do those things personally. You know the situation/people better than us.

If you want to preserve a relationship with this person, which is what you suggested, there's probably no way to make them get rid of their birds and still have that. If you really want them gone you're gonna have to pick one or the other. Which is why I gave some options for managing triggering noises without forcing them to get rid of their birds. My chickens are much quieter from my house during the summer when all the leaves on the trees and bushes fill in, for example, than in the spring before they do or fall after they lose the leaves. They sound twice as far away when the greenery around their pen fills in and I can't even hear them from MY window unless something hinkey's going on. Retraining your brain is a genuine tactic used in CBT. The headphone/earbuds are common techniques for people with autism/sensory overload sound triggers. White noise machines are used for babies and rabbits and horses to keep them from waking up or scaring themselves and flipping out. These are all tips used for veterans suffering from PTSD as well. They're meant as genuine advice and good self management techniques for triggering sounds. Positive exposure and sound trigger management is real and well researched. You could also buy and install sound absorbing panels on your outside facing walls in your room to help manage noise levels.

If self management isn't an option you're just gonna have to prove it to your city that it's loud. You can see many of us are skeptical about your description. The city will be more so 'cause it costs them money to send someone out. There's just no way the city can respond effectively to every noise complaint without overwhelming proof so they will treat it as a you problem until you have proof. So the only real way for the city to tell is for YOU to do an actual comparative measurement. You could get a recording device to measure the decibel levels to prove it, or maybe even record through a camera with a sound bar. (This is why several people have suggested getting videos so they can tell you if they're being normal chickens or crazy loud.) You could compare them to similar noises around your city like lawnmowers and school busses and barking dogs or kids playing from a similar distance and take notes or long term recordings to prove frequency. If you can prove they're a nuisance you can get absolutely something done from the legal end of things. Otherwise, perception is everything.

I read a story about a group out in a light countryside (1-2 acre lots) who ended up getting someone banned from keeping chickens 'cause they had over 100 game roosters on their property and they would literally crow day and night. They ended up bringing all their neighbors into a project to remove them and presenting their city council with recordings and tallies of how many rooster crows per day (it was literally hundreds) at a city council meeting before the city did something. A more extreme situation but if you can get recordings and hard data for the council to review and bring it up to them they'd probably be willing to take some action.

Just recognize that you're probably burning your bridges with that neighbor if they lose their birds and I hope you don't have your own housing violations. Personally I've never reported my neighbors for any of their violations, but I've sure been tempted to and I'm not everyone.
I've always been told that you move out to the countryside to get away from noise and people. Five acres of your own without neighbors might be worth considering.

 

[Eggscaping]

I live next door to backyard chicken owners. They seem to be responsible and clean. There's not a smell and we haven't see an uptick in predators. However, that sweet clucking always talked about wakes me at 530AM and goes on most of the day. Even with my windows closed, you can hear them loudly. No, no rooster. Hens are loud too. I'm tired and my work calls are full of chicken talk. Owners may think it is sweet but your neighbors likely do not. Imagine if my dog barked all day starting at 530AM. I'd have so many people on my back so why is it excused for chickens? .Please hear me... chickens are NOT meant for suburbia and land less than 5acres (not talking regs, talking courtesy to those around you.) I am at a loss. What can I say to my neighbor without damaging relationships? Any suggestions on how to mitigate the noise?

We live on a double lot inside city limits of a VERY small town. When we moved here almost exactly a year ago, we made friends with our neighbors on both sides. All went well until we brought in a company to build our chicken coop and run. "What's THAT going to be?" asked our neighbors to the east. "A chicken coop and run!" we said. "Oh no, it's going to stink! It's going to reek of ammonia! I used to live by a person who had chickens and we had a horrible ammonia smell all the time! Can you put it on the OTHER side of your property?" Well no...we couldn't. We explained about the deep litter method and how we would make sure there wasn't a smell. "IT WILL STINK!" was the lady's last word. We invited her over when it was done and the chickens had been in it for a few months. She admitted that no, there was no smell. Then, when it was being built, "Your chicken coop is going to block out all the sun from our cabana!" (what??) And of course, it did not. Next was "We are being bitten to death by mosquitoes! They must be coming from your place." We explained that no, we patrol our yard every day for any standing water and there are mosquito dunks in our little ornamental pond. We sit out in the evening and never have any bites. Still, there were complaints made about "standing puddles" in front of the house, even though they were only 'standing' until the rain stopped, then they vanished. However, in the name of neighborly peace, we got someone to come in, re-grade, make a new drain, and put down gravel. The latest thing was a phone call, first thing in the morning. "We are absolutely infested with flies! We think they're coming from your chickens!" We again invited her over to see that there aren't flies around the coop. Or around anywhere else on our property. Deep litter method means no wet poop or anything to draw the flies and it works really well. The run is dry and fly-free. Also, because we have 2 small dogs, the yard gets walked nearly every day with a dog-poop picker-upper. We have no swarms of flies in the yard...only the normal amount that you'd run into if you have a yard you spend time in. The latest thing...? They nailed up two fly-trap things on their fence, overlooking our yard.
Why am I telling this long story? Well, the moral is this: Now we don't talk to them any more. Instead of going over and hanging out with them, giving them fresh produce from our gardens, and being good friends...we see them as people who are trying to make trouble with us and are going to continue to do so. Never mind their barking dog, their late night cabana parties, their live-music birthday parties and their pool parties in which many invited children yell and scream for hours...
So, give careful thought to how you approach your neighbors, is my advice. Do you want to be on good terms with them, or become enemies? We're lucky in that our flock is very quiet, but when 3 of the eggs I hatched out turned out to be roosters...we ate them as soon as they started to crow. We've done everything we can to please these folks, short of getting rid of our birds and tearing down the coop and run, which we aren't going to do. We have train tracks behind our house and twice daily a train comes by. After a year, I don't usually wake up when it makes its early run - even though the crossing is a block away and it blows its horn several times. I believe that you can get used to a sound if you aren't so angry that you become obsessed with it. Try black-out curtains. They also dampen sound. Play a classical station on a radio while you sleep. Try ear plugs. But as long as you're furious about it, you may find it impossible to ignore.

 

[Chickens Tired Neighbor]

I think that you need to talk to your neighbors. Did they recently get the chickens or has this been an ongoing situation ?

It has been 3 years now. They didn't have them when we moved in either or wouldn't have bought here.

 

[ChocolateMouse]

"But as long as you're furious about it, you may find it impossible to ignore."

This. This is 100% the truth.

And noise complaints are perceptive without proof. I value my birds over my neighbors. I mean, my rooster is still here. The kids next door who used to yell swear words at him aren't. (It was a rental. We went through some wack people there.)

 

[Chickens Tired Neighbor]

Have you asked your neighbor for any eggs? That may make up for your annoyances......

Nope. They haven't been offered either.

 

[Chickens Tired Neighbor]

"But as long as you're furious about it, you may find it impossible to ignore."

This. This is 100% the truth.

And noise complaints are perceptive without proof. I value my birds over my neighbors. I mean, my rooster is still here. The kids next door who used to yell swear words at him aren't. (It was a rental. We went through some wack people there.)

I wasn't upset until I lost sleep and ANY peace.

 

[Chickens Tired Neighbor]

I understand you're frustrated. You live around other humans and they live around you too - that's bound to cause conflict. Realistically, what are your goals here? What do you - realistically - think you can accomplish?
Do you think you can talk your neighbors into getting rid of their birds? I don't but I'm cynical. Do you think you can get the city to enforce quiet hours? That would be questionable where I live, but what's your city like? Can you get them to keep their chickens in the coop until, say 8 or 9AM to muffle the sound? Or get them to move their chicken pen further away from your windows? Maybe, I already do those things personally. You know the situation/people better than us.

If you want to preserve a relationship with this person, which is what you suggested, there's probably no way to make them get rid of their birds and still have that. If you really want them gone you're gonna have to pick one or the other. Which is why I gave some options for managing triggering noises without forcing them to get rid of their birds. My chickens are much quieter from my house during the summer when all the leaves on the trees and bushes fill in, for example, than in the spring before they do or fall after they lose the leaves. They sound twice as far away when the greenery around their pen fills in and I can't even hear them from MY window unless something hinkey's going on. Retraining your brain is a genuine tactic used in CBT. The headphone/earbuds are common techniques for people with autism/sensory overload sound triggers. White noise machines are used for babies and rabbits and horses to keep them from waking up or scaring themselves and flipping out. These are all tips used for veterans suffering from PTSD as well. They're meant as genuine advice and good self management techniques for triggering sounds. Positive exposure and sound trigger management is real and well researched. You could also buy and install sound absorbing panels on your outside facing walls in your room to help manage noise levels.

If self management isn't an option you're just gonna have to prove it to your city that it's loud. You can see many of us are skeptical about your description. The city will be more so 'cause it costs them money to send someone out. There's just no way the city can respond effectively to every noise complaint without overwhelming proof so they will treat it as a you problem until you have proof. So the only real way for the city to tell is for YOU to do an actual comparative measurement. You could get a recording device to measure the decibel levels to prove it, or maybe even record through a camera with a sound bar. (This is why several people have suggested getting videos so they can tell you if they're being normal chickens or crazy loud.) You could compare them to similar noises around your city like lawnmowers and school busses and barking dogs or kids playing from a similar distance and take notes or long term recordings to prove frequency. If you can prove they're a nuisance you can get absolutely something done from the legal end of things. Otherwise, perception is everything.

I read a story about a group out in a light countryside (1-2 acre lots) who ended up getting someone banned from keeping chickens 'cause they had over 100 game roosters on their property and they would literally crow day and night. They ended up bringing all their neighbors into a project to remove them and presenting their city council with recordings and tallies of how many rooster crows per day (it was literally hundreds) at a city council meeting before the city did something. A more extreme situation but if you can get recordings and hard data for the council to review and bring it up to them they'd probably be willing to take some action.

Just recognize that you're probably burning your bridges with that neighbor if they lose their birds and I hope you don't have your own housing violations. Personally I've never reported my neighbors for any of their violations, but I've sure been tempted to and I'm not everyone.
I've always been told that you move out to the countryside to get away from noise and people. Five acres of your own without neighbors might be worth considering.

I appreciate your input but when you add condescending notes insinuating I am an idiot or ignorant to the realities of suburban living, I read it with a grain of salt. If you really don't think I am telling the truth, which I am, then no comment is needed. Mentioning about keeping them in the coop longer, that could be helpful for my situation with the neighbors. Open your mind and understand that maybe I am in a different situation that you could have helped. The chickens are loud and they are constant it is not the same as a mower going for 30 minutes to an hour or a dog barking for 5 minutes. Please hear that it is loud and I have recordings and I have proof and I have frequency I just don't want to have to go to the city. I was looking for other options that I could go to them with as a neighbor that cares.

 

[Chickens Tired Neighbor]

Welcome to BYC. How big is their lot and how close to the property line is their coop?

The lost is almost a half acre but the house is massive and covers a lot of it. The coop is 15ft ish from my fence line but the hens run free much of the day. They even have sat on my fence that is NOT shared with them.