Neighbour just came round and demanded I get rid of my chickens!!

[ReallyReallyNearly]

I have to say I was left a gobsmacked. A corner of her garden touches the corner of ours, then we have neighbours along one long fence, with the two other fences backing onto fields so it is quite a rural location in a small village.
We put chickens in the bottom of the garden, they are quiet, content and happy. They are well fenced in, looked after, etc. The problem is her dog tends to bark at the fence a lot - it is a 6ft high panel fence. Now it did this before whenever we are in garden, children playing etc and now also barks at the chickens. The lady doesn't seem to call it off or take it in; and often leaves it barking for an hour or so.
She turned up at our door (I had never met her before this point!!) being really quite rude, demanding I get rid of the chickens as it was upsetting her dog, I barely got a word in. I wanted to suggest that maybe we move them to the other side of the garden so not to worry her dog, but really just couldn't her to be quiet long enough. Also I wanted to say that EVERYTHING upsets her dog and I hear it barking all the bloomin time - but I didn't. I just ended it by saying I'd talk to my husband.
What do I do??? I don't want a neighbour dispute but I want to keep our chickens - I fear moving them won't solve the problem.

Check your deeds that you are allowed chickens. We aren't.

May I complain about my neighbours children? They are louder than chickens and the only reason my dog does not bark endlessly is because he is polite and well--brought up.

Don't worry we are allowed - it used to be a farm cottage.

My neighbours have chickens and the only time I hear them is when they do the "ooooh look i laid an egg, aren't I clever, lookey at the egg here, nice big egg here" dance. The dog on the other side though

no need to swear...gently insinuate that her dog is being ill-treated - why else would a dog be so upset?

Oh Southallgirl I love your style.

Get rid of the chickens and invest in a flock of Australian Cassowaries. They'll stop her dog barking.

Ooof, went a bit dark there.

Irian If she persists, buy some bees - just three of four hives..

OP wouldn't even need to actually get bees. Just four or five or twelve hives and a buzzing sound effect. And start constructing a huge shelter for "when the other animals arrive"... HTH

I'd invest in a couple of ostriches if I were you, they lay much bigger eggs plus they're tall enough to look over the fence and annoy the hell out of her and her annoying dog. (Especially if you knit them woolly hats.)

We kept chickens (5 at peak) up until this week..the last one was nearly 13 years old! and we live on a modern housing estate. No complaints from neighbours ever (to our face at least )

However, when we were erecting the new fence. Our nosey neighbour stuck his head over the wall and asked us what it was for, so i said waiting for the pigs to arrive... oh he said and wandered off mumbling, so he was very happy when we got chickens and not pigs!

... miss them now, but it's only been a couple of days.

I'd tell her to CLUCK OFF.

Tell her to keep her beak out. I'll get my coat!

But her a soft muzzle and pop it through her door. She can decide whether to use it on herself OR her dog.

Eggs would be very nice. I would also take the opportunity to record the barking dog on your phone the next time it happens

I'd be a sweary parrot myself if confronted but clearly OP you're a kind and reasonable person. If you're going down the eggs and a nice chat route then make sure to note everything down (dates, times, what is said) and if the chat doesn't go well absolutely report the dog barking.

I agree with PP's that she will have received a noise complaint and assumed it was from you because you're "attached". It happened to me, i got a complaint from the neighbours about my dog barking.... And I didn't have a dog All because they got reported for noise.

doctoratsea
Your chicken was nearly 13 yrs old - wow! The oldest I know of is 8 and she belongs to a vet nurse. Would you say there was something different in your girl's housing or feed? It's a pity you didnt breed from her, because she had a strong longevity gene.

If she comes around again just tell her you have already gotten rid of them and give her a look of pity as if to say "poor woman, she must be hearing things."

I don''t know about properties in England or elsewhere but in nearly all title deeds in Scotland there is a prohibition against keeping poultry or livestock. Obviously this is to avoid issues with the neighbours. On a personal note I have neighbours who have lots of chickens - I know for a fact they are not permitted to do this, however, I wouldn't do anything about it. They can be a real nuisance though making a racket at 6am, especially in the summer.

I remember hearing Dave Spikey talk about his neighbour who complained about his chickens.

She apparently said they were 'staring at her through the hedge' every time she went in the garden.

Bloody malevolent bastards

I have an African Grey parrot, he's called Delboy and can shout 'shut up you tart' quite loudly at times - perhaps you'd like to borrow him for when you next see her?

Have to agree with mintyglint I love dogs and chickens but fuck off seems appropriate in this situation