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I have posted in the past about my neighbors chickens, roosters and guinea hen.

This is what we are dealing with.

The birds poop everywhere, on our driveway, walkways, porch, patio, outdoor furniture and lawn. Some of it is the size of a small dog's poop.

The rosters come in our yard and scream at all hours, waking us up.

For the first time in over twenty five years our well was contaminated with ecoli. No way to tell for sure what caused it but the people that did the water testing saw the chickens and said that could be our problem. We spent thousands of dollars getting a sanitizing system installed.

The chickens have destroyed very large sections of our lawn. We have no grass in those areas and there are giant craters. Half our yard is a bumpy dust bowl. We will have to get soil, rake and reseed it.

One of the hens nested and layed 16 eggs in our landscaping surrounding our patio. Broken eggs were all over our walkway. The remaining eggs hatched and 10 chickens initially survived. I think there is one left.

We have been very patient about all this. The neighbors have been going through something very difficult. We get along with them and are very empathic about their difficulty but I can't deal with all this.

We spoke to them almost two months ago and they assured us that they would take care of things. The H even came over and asked how things were and told me he wanted to be a good neighbor.

Since I spoke with him nothing has changed and is in fact worse.

I don't know what else to do.

A fence won't work. Beside the expense of fencing in an acre, they fly over the fenced in areas we have for the dogs. The guinea hen has been up on our roof. There is no keeping them out. Water doesn't deter them. Getting chased out of the yard ten times a day has no effect.

I recently power washed my porch and scrubbed all the furniture and it was a mess the next day.

I also have two dogs. One is a puppy who likes to eat everything so I am constantly pulling her away from the poop and feathers they leave everywhere.

I would like to maintain our good relationship but this is just too much to just deal with.

Any suggestions? Would this upset you?

Thanks!!

Yeah you can clip th we wings and they won't be able to fly.
This is a common practice and does not hurt the birds.
I would demand that they fence their area. They are nasty, not as bad as ducks, but they shit everywhere. Clipping wings and fencing them in is for the health of their home and yours. If they are unwilling to do so then you need to file a police report. Their poop carries nasty diseases that can take half a year to get rid of if you get it in your lungs. Also causes permanent lung damage this is why I kept my b9rda in a fenced area and wore a mask when cleaning the coop.

I would be upset by that, too.

I don't know the first thing about chickens, but my daughter has some and their pen is completely enclosed with chicken wire over the top as well as the sides. She does that to protect them from hawks, but it keeps them contained as well. Is that something that you could suggest for their enclosure?

I think I would approach the neighbor and lead with concern over whatever they're going through, and then move the conversation into something like, "I'm sorry that it's a bad time to bring this up, but something needs to be done about the chickens. They're negatively affecting my quality of life and my pocketbook."

Good luck.

Yeah you can clip th we wings and they won't be able to fly.

What a great idea! I'm about to go down that rabbit hole on YouTube.

Thanks Tush and Sacred.

They told us they were going to cover the coop but I can't tell if they did. They think it is only the guinea that is a problem.

Who would think this is ok to do to your neighbors? I have very gently mentioned that the rosters wake us up. They don't seem to care. We let it go because of their situation. Then they got the guinea and more noise and now poop on our outdoor dining table and our furniture we use on our front porch. Then these new chickens that dug up our lawn and landscaping. Then we had the nest and mama chicken sitting on it for weeks.

I am ready to blow!!!!

Thank you for hearing me!!!!

A 1400 acre nature preserve runs up to almost across the street from us. Between the coyotes and foxes we don't have those issues. Wife watches the fox cross over to where a neighbor has chickens every morning whiles she walking the dog at the park. Pretty sure he's just getting the eggs.

When their chickens do get picked off by wildlife they just get more.

They were down to maybe 2 chickens and 1 rooster. They got more chicks and then went on a two week vacation leaving them to roam free. They spent a lot of time under one of our small ornamental trees.

The rooster was going at it at 4:45 this morning.

The whole flock has been eating our plants and kicking and scratching our river rock and pooping everywhere.

I don't understand why people can't be good neighbors!!

Maybe you need a dog who hates chickens.

I actually have one!!! They drive him insane when they are in our yard. We have to be very careful he doesn't sneak out the door behind us.

Our neighbors dog killed about 10 of them. They just got more.

I am really sorry you are experiencing this.

Chickens can be nasty. It absolutely is possible to keep them contained. You have to want to do so. Then you need coops, high fencing, clipped wings (I have never done this so no experience), chicken tractors etc.

I can’t even imagine what you are going through….

This is very reasonable to be upset about.

Thank you Shehawk.

It truly is awful.

I have to put headphones on with a podcast or something or the roosters disrupt my sleep. When I have the headphones on I can't hear the dogs if they ask to go out.

My sister's jaw dropped when she saw the damage to our yard. It's that bad.

They poop everywhere and lots. It stains my porch and is very hard to clean. The puppy tries to eat it and the feathers that are everywhere.

The guinea has pecked at our front door, the screens on our windows and my car. It gets up on our furniture and poops all over it.

I do not understand how people can do whatever they want and not care how it affects others.

We have been putting up with this for three years!!!

I hate confrontation and get very upset and stressed.

Sorry for rambling. I really appreciate your comments and support!!!!!!

There's no way I could live like this. How have you not reported them??

As a chicken person this is not ok and truly can be ome a health issue.
I would send them photos and an estimate of having things professionally cleaned and repaired and tell them simply if they don't contain them by x date then we will be forced to take action on it. I'd give them 30 days. It's ple to of time to do some fencing and netting.
Fencing can be done in short time. Netting can he a bit more difficult but definitely doable in a month. He'll we did a half acre with fencing and netting with sinking support posts in concrete, and got it done in a weekend.

"There's no way I could live like this. How have you not reported them"

They have been dealing with something very difficult and then a horrible thing happened.

We have mentioned that the rosters bother us. They did nothing about it.

Then they got guinea mensaje things got much worse.

The damage to the lawn just happened in the last month or two.

We talked to them (before the lawn damage) about the poop everywhere. They said they would take care of it and want to be good neighbors.

We get along and would like to keep it that way.

One of our neighbors who is friendly with them told me they weren't doing well and laid a major guilt trip on me. The neighbor lives far enough for this to not affect them.

I started to question if I was being to picky and should show more kindness.

Also, we live in a small town and out in the country surrounded by farm land. I don't know who to report this to and have my doubts that I would get much support.

Thank you all for chiming in. It has helped me realize that what they are putting us through is not ok. It's also helpful to know that there are things they can do to stop this. If they aren't up to doing it then at the very least they should stop getting more and keep them from nesting and having more chicks.

Thank you all again!!!!!

I guess I'm worried about them (and neighbors) being mad at me when they don't seem to care if their behavior is making us mad. I have never had a problem with neighbors and have made lasting friendships with some.

[This message edited by zebra25 at 5:13 PM, Thursday, October 24th]

Yeah I'm sorry but even if they are having a difficult time with life it's not your problem however chicken feces spread all over your home, knowing the diseases they can cause and spread, is not your problem. If you want to be kind about it offer to buy the supplies needed or if physically able to do it offer but again if you don't demand it stop they won't make it stop.
Demand better. If you don't it won't end.

Do you have bylaws? That's who I'd be reporting it too.

Ok I wouldn't have let it go this far. I'd have round up all their birds and put them into my coop until the neighbors decided to make theirs secure.

You can have empathy for whatever they are going through and still demand they control their animals. The other neighbor who guilted you wouldn't be doing that if the birds were destroying their stuff!

"Do you have bylaws? That's who I'd be reporting it too."

I don't think the township I live in has restrictions about having chickens. I'm not sure what if any the rules are about them going into your neighbors yard.

I'm not sure who to call to ask. Not much is available online.

"The other neighbor who guilted you wouldn't be doing that if the birds were destroying their stuff"

You are 100% correct about this. I'm not sure why he thinks we should have to live like this when there is no way he would put up with it.

When it rains our yard is going to be a big mud pit. We have a motion activated spot light for taking the dogs out at night. That whole area is either big dirt craters or littered with poop.

I don't know why this is so hard for me to deal with.

As far as rules and limits that's totally dependent on where you live. I am in a rural unincorporated area so no rules on how many etc. But 2 miles away in a township you are allowed 3 chickens and no roosters, 5 moles the other direction allows for 4 but is very clear on being penned and so forth. I would start with your county's extension or famr bureau office. From there you will.k.ow the legalities.
But again unless you give a firm boundary and timeline they aren't going to do anything to.change the situation because it's not causing them problems. Also do research on what disease and bacteria and health issue being exposed to their waste can cause. Provide them that literature as well.
But until you request a fix they won't.

"Demand better. If you don't it won't end."

Sadly this is generally true. There are people who show us they don’t care about the effects of their behavior on others.

I am not in the legal profession but I did recently start reading the zoning ordinances for where I lam thinking of moving so what people are saying about regulations makes sense to me…. Wish I had thought of this tush
The things I was reading were very specific regarding poultry.

I am truly sorry you are dealing with this.

I would be eating a lot of free chicken. Thanks to my grandparents and their small farm, we learned at a young age how to properly slaughter and dress our own meat! 🤣 and I'd start with the rooster(s).
ETA: have you tried suing them in small claims court for the constant damage?

[This message edited by StillLivin at 5:17 PM, Tuesday, November 5th]