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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsBackyard chicken coop has annoyed neighbors clucking
Comments at the story are pro chickens 10-1.
http://www.omaha.com/news/metro/backyard-chicken-coop-has-annoyed-neighbors-clucking/article_acfa15e7-b185-5155-9450-2b92f40af484.html
POSTED: MONDAY, AUGUST 3, 2015 12:30 AM | UPDATED: 9:41 AM, MON AUG 3, 2015.
By Todd Cooper / World-Herald staff writer
For Stacy Williams and her son, their chicken coop and six backyard chickens have served as both an egg factory and inexpensive therapy.
It really is therapeutic, Williams said of their daily routine of tending to the chickens.
But for one couple who live next to Williams, her backyard complete with its chicken coop, compost pile, and fruit and vegetable garden has become something else: too much country in the city. So, after a year of backyard chicken farming, Williams six hens have now produced something beyond their typical egg a day: a lawsuit.
Williams Trendwood neighbors, Bradley A. and Lynn M. Perry, have filed a lawsuit over Williams backyard chickens, garden and chicken coop the yoke of which is unheard of in Douglas County District Court. In a county that now boasts a record 232 backyard chicken farmers, perhaps it was only a matter of time before a lawsuit hatched. And on the face of it, this case seems simple.
FULL story and more photos at link. Video: http://studio.omaha.com/?ndn.trackingGroup=91341&ndn.siteSection=omahawh_nws_loc_sty_pp&ndn.videoId=29475816&freewheel=91341&sitesection=omahawh_nws_loc_sty_pp&vid=29475816
BRENDAN SULLIVAN/THE WORLD-HERALD
Adrian Marquez cares for one of the six chickens. "Ive raised them since they were chicks its almost like theyre my kids. They just put you in a good mood," he said.
MADem
(135,425 posts)every now and again!!!
snooper2
(30,151 posts)Never heard of it till a local bar did it last weekend
example
MADem
(135,425 posts)They do this with cow shit, too--on a wider playing field!!
"We don't need no....constipation...
We don't need no...bowel control!"
KittyWampus
(55,894 posts)MADem
(135,425 posts)Which is "cock-a-doodle-doo" in another part of the world!!
I did live close to a rooster years ago, but I can sleep through anything!
RebelOne
(30,947 posts)Her next door neighbor raised fighting cocks. She said the noise at night from their roosters would keep her and her husband awake. She finally had to take him to court. Fortunately, she won the suit and the neighbor was ordered to build a sound-proof enclosure for the roosters.
shireen
(8,333 posts)RebelOne
(30,947 posts)But unless the cock fighters are caught in the act the authorities ignore it.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)This is my Henry:
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
Cleita
(75,480 posts)I'd be nice as pie.
Response to MADem (Reply #1)
Javaman This message was self-deleted by its author.
Warpy
(111,276 posts)My neighbor had chickens and they were great fun to watch. Even the clucking, mostly when one of the hens laid an egg, could be entertaining. She had one hen who'd crow back at a rooster elsewhere in the area.
The only problem was when she moved out and didn't take the mice with her. They moved in here and my geriatric cat couldn't cope. Electronic traps are the best, BTW, if you get rodents.
I wonder what this busybody would do if the neighbors had a couple of bored basset hounds instead of nice, quiet chickens.
MADem
(135,425 posts)magical thyme
(14,881 posts)Warpy
(111,276 posts)and see a wrought iron gazebo accessed by a moon bridge over a koi pond.
I do hope those people spend a fortune and get slapped down, hard.
Some people in this world are begging for it.
jwirr
(39,215 posts)They should put up a privacy fence.
Response to Warpy (Reply #2)
Javaman This message was self-deleted by its author.
shenmue
(38,506 posts)Flap flap flap.
hamsterjill
(15,222 posts)If there are, this woman and her son are screwed. If there aren't, then it will be more difficult for the neighbor to substantiate her complaint.
In this video, this looks like it is within city limits, as opposed to being rural acreage. So there are probably some codes or restrictions in place. If those prohibit raising chickens, then the woman and her son can be forced to get rid of the chickens, or move.
That said, if *I* lived next to this woman, I wouldn't have a problem with the chickens as long as they were properly taken care of and the area was maintained so as not to smell, etc. Definitely good therapy for the son!
csziggy
(34,136 posts)To force her to get rid of the chickens and the garden.
If the neighbor doesn't want to see her garden and chickens, they can put up a privacy fence. That garden and the coop seem to be very well maintained and clean. Those chickens aren't very noisy, not compared to the noise some dogs make. If they were guinea hens I could see a complaint, but those hens, no.
I wonder if this woman has a place where people could contribute to a defense fund.
hamsterjill
(15,222 posts)When there are deed restrictions filed without a mandatory HOA in place, it is left up to the individual land owner to enforce those restrictions (should they choose); therefore, a lawsuit. My own subdivision was platted before HOA's became the norm, and our restrictions are set up like that.
Also, there are times when city code enforcement simply doesn't happen and homeowners resort to lawsuits.
I agree. There has to be some give and take within any community, and I just cannot see how the chickens and/or the garden would be an issue, especially if the chickens never leave their own backyard. But the story doesn't give the side of the complaining neighbor either, so there may be more to the story than this report indicates.
Response to hamsterjill (Reply #16)
Javaman This message was self-deleted by its author.
djean111
(14,255 posts)restrictions and zoning in the rest of the county. I would like to have some chickens - I live in a subdivision, but have a lot that is almost half an acre - but don't think I am allowed to. Plus I am not sure about the ramifications of the summer heat. I am trying to use as little electricity as possible, and I don't use my air conditioning, and I don't want to have to cool the chickens that way.
Go Vols
(5,902 posts)as long as there is shade where they can scratch a bare spot to sit and cool.
djean111
(14,255 posts)gollygee
(22,336 posts)No roosters, no problem, IMO. People can't expect complete silence from their neighbors, and I promise my kids make more noise than a few chickens. If kids can live next door to them, there's no reason chickens shouldn't be able to, so long as they're just hens.
REP
(21,691 posts)My hens are my hens because Buffy crows and our friends' neighbors couldn't take it. We live in the middle of nowhere where everyone has hens and roos, so a crowing hen isn't noticed.
Drahthaardogs
(6,843 posts)Also there is no need for a rooster. Hens lay just fine without one.
Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)But I think they should releggs a bit ... chickens are meggnanimous creatures.
madinmaryland
(64,933 posts)Arugula Latte
(50,566 posts)hifiguy
(33,688 posts)dumb clucks.
Hekate
(90,714 posts)...exactly nobody has ever complained about our hens. When we asked our next door neighbor to care for them while we were gone, he loved them so much he got a few of his own.
Just never get roosters.
I'm sorry about these folks' unsympathetic neighbors. Best of luck to them in beating the lawsuit.
Erich Bloodaxe BSN
(14,733 posts)I give extra produce to some of my neighbours, and have made some friends I otherwise wouldn't have.
sarisataka
(18,663 posts)My neighbor's chickens and he doesn't mind my dog chasing them.
We are just waiting for the day he catches one and finds out a chicken is three times the size of a chihuahua. Our expectation is the the dog will get his furry butt kicked back to his yard.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)Well, the lucky ones who don't get eaten by wildlife, released in parks, etc.
My dbag neighbors don't keep their chickens in, other idiots let their cats out. I've found so many dead chickens lying around I was starting to wonder if we had a sloppy Santeria practitioner on the block.
Chicken shit reeks and draws rats. Suburban lots are too small to spare the neighbors the unpleasantness. If you want to live like a hillbilly without irritating the neighbors then buy a hobby farm on the edge of town. That's what those lots are *for*.
Aerows
(39,961 posts)Plenty of people are more than capable of raising chickens for their eggs without fouling up the neighborhood and becoming a nuisance.
If a person is raising chickens in the backyard, ideally you would never know it.
Think of the positive - you could have a neighbor with an apiary next door .
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)And there's a real problem with chicken dumping. A friend of mine lives on a country road at the end of town and people constantly dump chickens there. He saves as many as he can, but the local coyotes are very fat.
Hipster chickens are bullshit. At best it's a nuisance and more often than not it devolves to animal neglect or abandonment.
This nonsense was illegal for a reason.
BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)BlueJazz
(25,348 posts)Aerows
(39,961 posts)iemitsu
(3,888 posts)to cluck like chickens themselves.
I did not know that clucking was contagious.
Retrograde
(10,137 posts)There are a few people in the immediate neighborhood who have chickens - occasionally I hear them clucking when I walk by. I personally think they're too much work in an urban setting, but as long as they're kept clean they're not a problem. Now, a friend in the next town down has a next-door neighbor who lets his hens wander all over the block - and yes, the local dogs sometimes catch them. That I would complain about.
ladyVet
(1,587 posts)George can be noisy, and so can the hens when they sing the egg song, but my neighbors can't complain. They have a dog pen about twenty feet from the coop, and the dogs are a lot louder than the rooster or the hens (we have five).
We didn't want a rooster, but we ended up with one and I want to try to brood some of my own eggs to add a few hens to the group. He may end up in the stew pot, but I doubt it. I love him, and he thinks I'm his mama.
Lancero
(3,003 posts)And we lived right by a highway.
Though on the flipside, no one really gave a shit about it since there was also a lumber yard. So noise and the like never really was a problem.
We had a dozen chickens in a caged off coop, a couple smaller cages on the other side of the property with quail. For a while we also had a couple of geese out free on the property.
We did a yearly garden as well, right by the highway. No issues with that either, except for one year when a driver fell asleep and ended up driving through the neighbors fence, straight through the garden, taking out the tiller, before running into a small brick shed.
(And thank god he hit that shed instead of continuing on - He'd have crashed into the kitchen if that happened.)
cwydro
(51,308 posts)Much smarter than folks think.
My ladies:
[URL=.html][IMG][/IMG][/URL]
taught_me_patience
(5,477 posts)If this hipster toolbag wants chickens, then he should go live out in the country.
Omaha Steve
(99,660 posts)The flip side is the city allows it!
Adrahil
(13,340 posts)garywilsonjr
(1 post)A few Omaha citizens are helping Stacey fight her neighbors fair and square. We have set up a go fund me account for her to help with the legal costs of hiring a lawyer to help her defend the right to healthy and cheap food. Please help us help her. Thanks.
http://www.gofundme.com/3k4vxt9sgs
Liberal_in_LA
(44,397 posts)cwydro
(51,308 posts)He was not supposed to be a rooster lol, but he turned into one.
We're out in the country, so no one cares. I can actually hear another rooster just over the state line answer him back in the mornings.
mopinko
(70,127 posts)the neighbor's completely entitled judgements.
property values my shiny metal ass.
i have a couple of folks who hate my farm, especially my roos. i also have about 5 times as many neighbors who love the whole thing, and especially the roosters. my boys dont crow all day, just for a while in the morning, and an occasional outburst during the day when something upsets them. they are better that my dogs at raising the alarm when a stranger comes along. it isnt the decibel level that is the problem, it is their obsession that is the problem. they have yet to wake me up and they are in my back yard.
there is a train at the end of the block that goes by 40 times a day. there is a fire station around the corner. car alarms. people walking by screaming into their cellphones. it's a city. it's noisy. bfd.
my boys take care of the girls. i have seen them stand between the hens, who are hiding like he told them to, and hawks. i would not let them free range in my yard without any protection.
it also allows me to keep a closed flock, raise my own babies, without worrying about salmonella or avian flu coming in.
i have zero rats. some of the haters take the interwebs word for it that chickens=rats. done right, they are the anti-rats.
we are practically zero food waste, as any scraps go to the girls, not the garbage cans. anything in the yard that a rat might like is eaten by the girls before they have a chance.
my feed is stored in steel cans, and the feeders are all inaccessible to critters. everything is eaten before nightfall. there is no reason for a rat to enter my property.
for someone to give 2 shits about what someone has IN.THEIR.OWN.BACKYARD is beyond my comprehension. living next door, i presume they know about the son, and the healing that he finds in these critters. i feel that way about mine.
what kind of an asshole do you have to be to want to take that away from someone?
i hope she not only kicks their ass, but countersues.
eta- just about everyone who is taking the very smart step to grow their own food and make a wild place in the city gets the same shit from someone. it comes w the territory.
it is bullshit.
cwydro
(51,308 posts)Of course, the farm is home to quite a few rat snakes.
And the cats.
mopinko
(70,127 posts)not a cat person but adopted some ferrels through a county rodent control program.
also have 2 rat terriers, so....
LeftyMom
(49,212 posts)You can't blame that on haters on the internet.
Response to mopinko (Reply #55)
Javaman This message was self-deleted by its author.
AngryAmish
(25,704 posts)She was a Michigan girl with hippie parents, MWMF, the whole nine yards. Some mornings we would be lying there trying to catch our breath and we would hear all the roosters crowing across the balconies. She thought it was very cool that her Puerto Rican neighbors kept chicken on their roof for eggs. Until I pointed out we never heard clucking, only crowing.
She did not support cockfighting.
Omaha Steve
(99,660 posts)Response to Omaha Steve (Original post)
Omaha Steve This message was self-deleted by its author.
mopinko
(70,127 posts)i gave to this kickstarter, and got the news that the hoa polled it's members and it was unanimous in favor of the chickens.