Chickens

viv1969

viv1969

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A neighbour has decided that it would be a good idea to get some chickens to keep in a coop in his garden. Bear in mind that although we are only a moment's walk away from open countryside, this is an estate situation. He only got them yesterday, but having previously lived on a poultry farm I know by the noise that currently these are not happy chickens. There is also a rooster.

I'm happy to give him a while to get the poultry "settled in", but another neighbour has already been round moaning that the houses in the road have provisos when purchased that farm animals cannot be kept on the premises, and this includes chickens, and I do remember that being pointed out when we purchased our house; so this 2nd neighbour wants to go in guns blazing and demand that the 1st neighbour immediately get rid of the chickens.

We've said no, we won't join in the complaint unless it becomes apparent that the birds are going to be a noise problem. I'm fairly sure the hens will settle down in just a couple of days. I've seen the accomodation and the owner has more than provided for thier needs. The only potential problem I can see is the rooster. If he starts pre-dawn crowing (and they don't all do that), then I don't think we'll be able to put up with that.

So my question.....would you complain right away to the owner of the chickens simply because the local rules state that chickens are a no-no, and demand he get rid of them? Or would you go for the wait-and-see option?
 
I would let your other neighbour be the bad guy!

If it is stipulated in the purchase paperwork then there can be no arguing about it and they will have to go.

Pity they didn't do the investigating about who was likely to object before buying them!


Heather
 
HEather I see your point, but unless they cause a noise issue, I don't see the problem. The purchase rules also stipulate that you don't run a business from your home, but I'd say a good many are doing that with no complaints from neighbours at all.
 
wait and see i would say there are too many busy bodies about i say. if there is a problem then that has to be addressed, but i would wait.
 
viv1969 said:
HEather I see your point, but unless they cause a noise issue, I don't see the problem. The purchase rules also stipulate that you don't run a business from your home, but I'd say a good many are doing that with no complaints from neighbours at all.
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I know that YOU are not too worried but someone is and will probably make a fuss, in which case you are better off keeping out of it. That way at least you will still be on good terms with the chicken people whatever the outcome.

....do they really NEED a rooster? Just asking because if they don't and that is the potential problem it could be nipped in the bud.....


Heather
 
I'd wait an see how things go. Once the birds are settled in you probably won't really notice them very much so its not worth creating a load of aggro over something that may not be an issue.
We have chickens ourself here and you'd only know they were there if you were told. They're well looked after and don't make much noise at all. We were the first people in our street to get hens and now 3 other houses have them.
One of them has a very noisy cockerel though, but we really can't do anything about it as the person that owns them has Down's syndrome and doesn't understand that the noise may be a problem to others. He takes very good care of them though so we're happy to let them be.
 
If it was me I and it didn't cause a problem and they are looked after correctly, I would leave it and find out how much for the eggs.!
 
Ok look at it from another, what if he is successful with the chickens, gets loads of eggs etc and a few other neighbours decide to follow suit, not all as knowledgeable, how would you feel then, and would this have set a
precedent ?
Personally I probably wouldn't going all guns blazing, but I would have a quiet word and explain that it is against the terms of sale before things get nasty as they probably will
 
Live and let live! b****r rules and regulations, there's far too many rules and regulations in this accursed country, along with too many busybodys!
 
We'll Id join in gently and friendly like with the suggestion its not a great idea and against the rules or whatever, no need to go upsetting people go in with full on empathy and love a chicken too...but. :thumbs:

Chickens do take some proper management and unless the back garden is huge, based on my farming background and chicken experinace Id suggest they'll be in a pretty poor state within six months what with lice, desease and whatnot and a garden swamped in muddy rotten chcicken food and feecies, plus the rats they will attract and the foxes trying to dig through fences all the time... smells going to be wonderful in the summer ..wiffy as heck!!... :gag:


Tigger.ufo said:
....do they really NEED a rooster? Just asking because if they don't and that is the potential problem it could be nipped in the bud.....


Heather
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Yes, they wont lay eggs without a good roostering every now and then. ..same for most of us hey. :lol:
 
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JayD said:
Live and let live! b****r rules and regulations, there's far too many rules and regulations in this accursed country, along with too many busybodys!
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+1 unless the noise really did become a problem.

During the day I wouldn't have too much of a problem with the noise, we live right near the Thames Estuary so there are seagulls a plenty but if I was being woken up by a rooster when the sunrises the owner would get sick of seeing me at sunrise from Feb onwards :lol:
 
Point of information, hens do NOT need a cockerel to lay eggs.......... I keep a few chooks in a moveable ark (and have done so for some years) - they're revoltingly healthy, do not attract rats, and fertilise the lawn.......
I'm with Jay D, far too many bloody busybodies, far better someone keeps some chooks properly, rather than buying the produce of a battery farm (a living hellhole for the inmates)
 
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Forbiddenbiker said:
We'll Id join in gently and friendly like with the suggestion its not a great idea and against the rules or whatever, no need to go upsetting people go in with full on empathy and love a chicken too...but. :thumbs:

Chickens do take some proper management and unless the back garden is huge, based on my farming background and chicken experinace Id suggest they'll be in a pretty poor state within six months what with lice, desease and whatnot and a garden swamped in muddy rotten chcicken food and feecies, plus the rats they will attract and the foxes trying to dig through fences all the time... smells going to be wonderful in the summer ..wiffy as heck!!... :gag:

Yes, they wont lay eggs without a good roostering every now and then. ..same for most of us hey. :lol:
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What a load of guff!!

I had 10 chickens for 2 years, kept in a 60x30 garden during summer and a 6x4 shed at night. During winter we sectioned off a 10x30 section of the garden. No lice, no disease, no foxes, no rats, no muddy rotten chicken food and no smells..

Oh and no rooster and 10 lovely big eggs everyday, except a slight drop during winter when we had maybe 6 or 7.
 
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As far as breaking terms of the lease....yes. if the chickens REALLY cause a nuisance that's a different matter. But why spoil someone's ambition/fun just because of a poxy lease agreement? It's just causing trouble for the sake of it.
 
JayD said:
As far as breaking terms of the lease....yes. if the chickens REALLY cause a nuisance that's a different matter. But why spoil someone's ambition/fun just because of a poxy lease agreement? It's just causing trouble for the sake of it.
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exactly my point.

for example - i want cats. our lease says no pets. we dont get cats because we could get kicked out. we know others in this block have cats and/or dogs. we dont report anyone because theyre not doing any harm. if a dog started wailing at all times of the day and night then we'd think again.

:)
 
I dont recall chickens being a difficult animal to manage when we had them as kids :)

I have a house I now rent that overlooks allotments and it had a cockerel that annoyed me, its not nice every morning.
It annoyed others more though and early one sunny morning i was sat having a coffee and it started its chorus that was followed by the sound of an air rifle shot. Not an action I condone but morning coffee was much more peaceful afterwards

I don't think you need a cockerel for eggs, think the hens manage it on their own so I would ask them to loose the cockerel or join the mob :)
 
I'm with the live and let live camp. Rules are boundaries for the weak and platforms for the brave ;)

As long as they keep it clean, where is the harm?
 
TCR4x4 said:
What a load of guff!!

I had 10 chickens for 2 years, kept in a 60x30 garden during summer and a 6x4 shed at night. During winter we sectioned off a 10x30 section of the garden. No lice, no disease, no foxes, no rats, no muddy rotten chicken food and no smells..

Oh and no rooster and 10 lovely big eggs everyday, except a slight drop during winter when we had maybe 6 or 7.
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Well ok, its just my experiences, you must have had the best chickens ever ...or I don't remember very well, ours needed a regular rooster to keep laying and they'd tear up a ten by 30 foot pen into dust before a summer had gotten half way through ..and given that our summers are wet nowadays I don't think Im talking as much guff as you'd love to make out. ;)
 
I'd give them a chance. My neighbour had chickens and the first we knew about it was when she said "did you know we got some chickens?" They weren't noisy and we'd only occasionally see one of them who was good at escaping. There was no issue with smell either. Her husband did complain that they killed an area of grass, I assume this was because they didn't move the coop round often enough?

My neighbour didn't have a rooster. I was always led to believe you didn't need a rooster but have no genuine experience. I wouldn't have been happy being woken up by a rooster as in the past we've been woken up by the same neighbours Mastiffs and it's not pleasant when you only get one day a week to get a lie in and some animal wakes you up.
 
To reiterate, they do NOT need a rooster to lay - as someone who once had a free-range egg farm, I can assure you that you do not need a cockerel (and would be downright unpopular if you did as a commercial concern) - some plonker will keep your eggs badly and end up with one having a bash at hatching........
One of the worst things that is often done is to have a scratched bare "run", which is a recipe for disaster - if you have a limited space you need to "strip graze" or use a moveable ark to ensure the ground gets "rested".

"Backyard chooks" are no big deal, many families had them during WW2, and they are delightful creatures - a good way into it is to obtain some ex-battery birds, let the poor creatures have a rest and refeather - well-thought out housing and run(s), and away you go.......
The hens themselves aren't liable to be that noisy, most cockerels are a pain in the bum, crowing at dawn as they tend to - in an urban situation I'd certainly advise against having one.....
 
Our next door neighbours have several chickens and we're nowhere near countryside, we hardly ever hear them - there are certainly no smells and to the best of my knowledge no rats or foxes causing problems.
 
Never saw any foxes with our neighbours chooks either although they did have initial problems with the birds of prey as they just made a fenced off enclosure with no roof. The poor birds were just plucked out.
 
Best be very carefull what you start. Houses come with loads of conditions that the buyer is bound by contract to abide by. Such things as fences required or prohibited, no caravans or boats. Loads of things, in fact.
Providing there is harmony usually there is no attempt at enforcement unless someone complains. Then there is no way of stopping enforcement. Next thing you know is that chicken man, or whoever, begins complaining about what others may be doing and before you know the situation snowballs and bad feeling sets in.
Why start a fight in anticipation of a problem when it may turn out that there is none.
 
Well apologies for misleading then, I do remember it was important for us to have him around not just for moral support ...more just a self perpetuating farming thing I guess then.


I think, Who knows what your neighbour might do, is he going to raise more chicks and try and self sustain, feeding supplementary foods, brooding hens, all the while eating his garden alive or is he going to buy them all in ready to lay feeding them the best grain in super clean stylee just for the joy of it, year in year out.
I'm thinking 'The good life' here
 
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Live and let live. Remember the Law of Unintended Consequences. If you, or someone else, kicks off over this then your neighbour could start kicking off over other things.

He'll probably have more eggs than he can use: can you use them?
His hens will probably become old broilers in time. Stick then in a casserole for a day or so and they are lovely and tasty.
Ever had a session necking hens? Great fun!!!

And most importantly - if he's your next door neighbour do nothing. Let others cause the problem and take the flack. Sit very firmly on the fence.

Chickens in a coop are very seldom a problem, unless you're a townie!
 
Julie1979 said:
I wouldn't have been happy being woken up by a rooster as in the past we've been woken up by the same neighbours Mastiffs and it's not pleasant when you only get one day a week to get a lie in and some animal wakes you up.
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I had the same trouble, kept awake by the neighbours dog in the garden, barking all night.
So one night I kidnapped the dog and put it in my garden, just to see how he liked it :D :coat:
 
Without resorting to a bunch of quotes I'll try to reply accordingly.

The garden's not massive, but in my own experience (pretty extensive with chooks), they don't need a ton of room, just good accommodation and excellent care. From what I have seen of the equipment he's bought, he's certainly on the right lines.

No leases are being compromised as these are freehold properties. I don;t know how the "rules" work, but they were definitely there when we signed for our property.

The rooster is my only real concern once the hens have settled. As I say, not all roosters are crowers, but the majority are so that's what's concerning us.

We're just going to give them some time and if the chooks settle then all well and good. The mere fact that chickens are there doesn't other me at all. Each to thier own I say.

Plus, nothing beats fresh fresh eggs :)
 
my next door neighbours have four chickens and we can here them but only when it is really quiet in the morning
i fed and watered them this morning as they are away for a couple of days
free fresh eggs are a bonus and we are thinking about getting some ourselves
 
viv1969 said:
No leases are being compromised as these are freehold properties. I don;t know how the "rules" work, but they were definitely there when we signed for our property.
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for the record i was only using the word "lease" to cover any requirements/rules :)

if theyre freehold i dont know how anyone can impose rules though (ive always been leased/leasehold), unless its a local authority (council) thing?
 
neil_g said:
for the record i was only using the word "lease" to cover any requirements/rules :)

if theyre freehold i dont know how anyone can impose rules though (ive always been leased/leasehold), unless its a local authority (council) thing?[/QUOTE]

Possibly...even probably. As I say I can't remember the exact ins and outs, just that the rules were there. :) I remember being a bit peeved cause I've always liked the idea of a pet goat :)
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Let me tell you a funny story.

About 10 years ago a neighbour to my dads had an allotment next door. They got some chickens and a rooster. The rooster woke them up every morning at 4am. One night just before it got dark, my dad had enough so we both climbed over the fence and went to find the rooster. My dad opened up the shed where they were being kept and I never forget how he was looking in the dusk light and couldn't see any chickens, they were all above his head, quizzically looking down at him.

I pointed it out in fits of laughter and in he went. The door closed shut behind him and I couldn't open it. All I could hear was clucks and commotion then after about 2 minutes silence. Followed by my dad bounding out of the room with the rooster in a pillow case amongst a load of feathers, like out if something in a cartoon.

We took that rooster a few miles down the road to a farm and released him there. They never got woken up at 4am again.

It was such a funny event, but yes I do realise how naughty he was doing what he did. Never forget the cartoonish nature of the whole incident though
 
joescrivens said:
Let me tell you a funny story.

About 10 years ago a neighbour to my dads had an allotment next door. They got some chickens and a rooster. The rooster woke them up every morning at 4am. One night just before it got dark, my dad had enough so we both climbed over the fence and went to find the rooster. My dad opened up the shed where they were being kept and I never forget how he was looking in the dusk light and couldn't see any chickens, they were all above his head, quizzically looking down at him.

I pointed it out in fits of laughter and in he went. The door closed shut behind him and I couldn't open it. All I could hear was clucks and commotion then after about 2 minutes silence. Followed by my dad bounding out of the room with the rooster in a pillow case amongst a load of feathers, like out if something in a cartoon.

We took that rooster a few miles down the road to a farm and released him there. They never got woken up at 4am again.

It was such a funny event, but yes I do realise how naughty he was doing what he did. Never forget the cartoonish nature of the whole incident though
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Rooster napping....funny!
 
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