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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

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Original poster

To be pissed off with my next door neighbour and her chickens

49 replies

Rollergirl1 · 07/07/2012 18:03

Next door neighbour is a bit nuts. She has loads and loads of animals. A few dogs, loads of cats, rabbits, rats, and now she has got chickens. She also takes in foreign exchange students and has just has a very premature baby (born at 28 weeks) who is now at home. Only reason I add all this is cos I don't want to be accused of drip-feeding...

We are in a very residential, suburban area. We are finding the smell wafting over from next door absolutely overwhelming and I can only think it has to be coming from the chickens as it is only in the last few months that i have noticed it. It's got to the point where my children don't want to go in to the garden because of the smell. I don't know if the recent humid weather is making it worse but the last few weeks literally as soon as I open the back door it hits you!

I don't know anything about keeping chickens. Is this smell normal? I'm sure it's much more tolerable if you are in a rural area but here, when you are attached to another house, it really is unbearable.

The reason I mention the other stuff upthread. Yesterday my daughter and I knocked on her door to ask her something. She didn't answer but I noticed about 10 flies on the glass pane on the other side of the door. This has now got me worried that the smell is because the chickens aren't being kept in clean conditions and that is the reason for the smell.

Can someone please enlighten me if it is normal for there to be such a strong smell from keeping chickens? If it is then fine, but I'm not sure I can put up with that smell long-term and would I be unreasonable to complain? If it isn't then what do I do?

OP posts:

Original poster

Rollergirl1 · 07/07/2012 19:28

I do appreciate the advice. And it has been lovely. I concede that i shouldn't have used the word mental. But I didn't say it in a negative way to describe her struggling, just the way that she generally, historically has always been. She has always been somewhat eccentric (and happily admits it) and everyone is extremely accepting. It's just now that I'm worrying about her, the baby and the animals.

OP posts:

mumblecrumble · 07/07/2012 19:31

Agree she needs help.... But if she has a premature baby why has just bought a load of chickens??????

Original poster

Rollergirl1 · 07/07/2012 19:39

lotsofcheese: Thank you for your post. I most definitely will.

OP posts:

AllieZ · 07/07/2012 19:41

OP, report it to the RSPCA. They will come, inspect the house and the circumstances the animals are kept in. They may take away a few surplus ones, or the majority (or all). In any case it will be sorted.

50ShadesOfSaggy · 07/07/2012 19:46

I think that if the smell is that bad, and you are concerned about the animals, then you should contact the RSPCA. I kept chickens at one point, and due to illness, there was one stretch where they weren't cleaned out for a while. Even in full summer they shouldn't smell that bad. I think it's possible that if the smell is overpowering, then there may be dead animals over there. The RSPCA will not disclose your details if they investigate.

ASillyPhaseIAmGoingThrough · 07/07/2012 19:54

You don't seem to have nice neighbours, they were complaining about the mess, and the whole point of them helping was to prevent the stench.

If she was ill and people didn't help her out, just gossiped its no wonder it stinks.

She must feel so let down, ill and overwhelmed, as she sounds like before she was ill she was clean.

BalloonSlayer · 07/07/2012 19:55

All these posters saying "I have chickens and they don't smell" well that's a bit like dog owners saying "well MY house doesn't smell of dog."

My sister and Mum keep/kept chickens and by gum those chickens were/are always the most well kept, doted on, cleaned out, pampered poultry you could ever wish to meet. They still, to me, a non-chicken keeper, ponged.

Not enough to knock you back from next door, granted, but enough for me to find the "collecting the eggs with the DCs oh what fun" experience not particularly pleasant.

Just attempting to add some perspective. It sounds like the baby is taking priority here, which is good, but of course it is bad if the animals are suffering as a consequence.

PooPooInMyToes · 07/07/2012 19:55

Is she on her own? Does she have other children?

(as you've probably gathered people on here don't like it when you use terms like that. Probably in real life they wouldn't think anything of it as they would just know what you mean and that you don't mean anything offensive by it, but on here its way too pc for that )

UnChartered · 07/07/2012 20:05

too pc?

it's not fine to use derogatory slang terms in any walk of my life Poo - it's offensive and never helpful

Original poster

Rollergirl1 · 07/07/2012 20:07

She is on her own. She had sperm donor and fertility treatment.

It doesn't smell like something is dead. It just smells like a farm right next door to the house. And if I leave the back door open we can smell it in the house. I can see the chickens through the fence. I'm not sure how many she has but at least 3.

OP posts:

mumblecrumble · 07/07/2012 20:20

How long has she had the chickens?

When did she fall pregnant?

PooPooInMyToes · 07/07/2012 20:43

Chartered. But we all know what she meant, why does it have to been gone on and on about! And no in real life people would hardly blink because they wouldn't assume the worst of the op unlike on here.

UnChartered · 07/07/2012 20:58

what's it with the 'assuming the worst of the OP'?

i'm certainly not, especially as she's already retracted saying it

purplepansy · 07/07/2012 21:35

Maybe I'm getting the wrong end of the stick here, but it sounds a bit like she has no other children, has wanted kids for a long time, has tried to fill a gap with lots of animals to care for instead, and now she has a baby, and not just any baby, a really difficult and horrible experience and a terrible few months.
I cannot see how she can possibly manage to look after lots of animals and a tiny baby at the same time on her own, and if I was her I'd be feeling totally overwhelmed (maybe she isn't, but doesn't sound like she's coping). I don't think it is your responsibility to totally sort her life out for her, going round with a meal or offering to do her hoovering and generally being a good neighbour while she has a little one isn't quite the same as mucking out the hens on a daily basis. Phoning the RSPCA seems a bit like a nuclear option as you probably don't want to 'get her into trouble' but maybe you could try to make friends with her and give her a hand with the baby, and gently suggest that she could easily rehome her hens via gumtree etc if they are too much for her? Probably worth a check with the council whether she is even allowed hens anyway if you are in a very built up area. Sounds a nightmare.

50ShadesOfSaggy · 07/07/2012 23:40

Ok, chickens can pong a little. But at least 3, no matter how filthy shouldn't smell bad enough to overpower you next door!
Something is up, and it needs checking out. If the animals are that bad, they are suffering. Call the RSPCA.

ROSEMARY666 · 13/06/2019 14:18

Hi read your story and I have kept chickens for 12 years and they do smell if not clean out from time to time I clean mine every 3 days you did right to complain about it on here this Lady might need help she could be overhead now with having a new baby can you try to approach her or talk to another neighbor if not you canot you have must inform social services or her health worker she must have one with a new baby I know its hard to intervene but its better now than when its to late you have to live with it after the event ignore the negative comments on here they should ask themselves what would they do in your position and the smell something is wrong chickens do not smell only when they are neglected and they can get sick very quickly and die you would only be helping your neighbor and isn't that's what, neighbors

SmellbowSmellbow123 · 13/06/2019 14:20

Someone say it.....

makingmammaries · 13/06/2019 15:17

I live in a village where loads of people have chickens, including my neighbours. Never noticed a smell. She must be neglecting to clean them out.

CustardCreamLover · 13/06/2019 15:23

I wonder how the baby is now, 7 years down the line?

maras2 · 13/06/2019 15:24

I'll bite.
The chooks have long gone since this 7 year old thread.
ZOMBIE

floribunda18 · 13/06/2019 15:53

ANY UPDATE, OP?

I always wondered what happened in the smelly chicken thread from seven years ago.

CuriousaboutSamphire · 13/06/2019 16:37

ROSEMARY666 Mmm! Is that name in any way a clue?

Nofilter101 · 13/06/2019 16:57

Wanting an update too

toriathet · 13/06/2019 20:07

good grief

i read this and didnt realize it was 7 years old till CustardCreamLover said, it came up on my feed and i just clicked it not realizing the date

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