AIBU to think that if you hate animals you shouldn't move to the countryside?

[shiklah]

I live in a very rural community which has become popular with commuters in the last 5 years. Over the last 18 months the following complaints have featured heavily on the local WhatsApp and Facebook groups:

Cows blocking the road for 10 mins (they do this twice a day and have for hundred of years as they go in for milking)
Escapee sheep roaming the verges and traffic islands
Cockerels crowing
Church Bells

Our neighbours moved in Jan 2016 and have built a conservatory overlooking our field. They have complained:

A ram was tupping ewes in the field
Many Sheep gave birth in the field
A sheep had a prolapsed and was attended by the vet in the field (the vet delivered 2 healthy lambs, revived them and saved the ewe, it was awesome and brilliant and they are all healthy and happy but apparently it spoiled mothers day breakfast)
A fox killed a rabbit and ate it in our field
A ferral cat lives in the hedge at the side of our field
A sheep pooed when Mr Neighbour was eating breakfast

Th least one was reported to me at 7pm this eve when I was getting out of my car at the end of a 60 hour working week. He DROVE to my house to tell me a sheep pooed in his view whilst he was eating breakfast in his conservatory that he built, overlooking my field, that has been their since before my house was built, in 1762. I literally don't know know what to say to these idiots any more. AIBU to simply laugh in their faces and move on with my day

I have had wine and am feeling frazzled

😂at these.

I can't believe some people are so dense! I moved several years ago and miss the sound of the horses, cows, chickens, cockerel, sheep and donkeys. Especially at 5am on a a summers morning when the cockerel starts folllowed by the donkey who would kick the gate at the same time as shouting! I loved it! Would move back to an area like this in a heartbeat if I could.

Townie living in the country. Bit Margot, not massively keen on poo etc, but if I'd seen all that in the neighbouring field I'd have been massively entertained. Carry on.

*have planted a woodland, the trees are presently about half a metre high. Neighbours seem quite happy with the lack of farming currently

They have NO idea.*

I don't understand, what is going to happen?

Umm, no views in ten years?!

Lordy me this is hilarious.

You definitely need to start a blog on this. These people are barking mad.

@chemenger some farmers are dicks, he sounds awful. Few farmers neglect their livestock - if report him if he left a dying Sheep, burned noxious waste etc. My dad who is a bit of a dick used to let Sheep onto the golf course and into people gardens if he was short of grass. Classic dick move to leave his fence in disrepair as an excuse.

Dense woodland is also a magnet for a large colony of crows to set up shop 😁

Caw caw caw caw
Noisy beggars

These are hilarious!! OP any chicken houses nearby??? When my dads neighbour complained about the smell of the cow slurry he was spreading he went to the neighbouring farmer who has chicken houses and gives away the manure! It STINKS!!! A million times more than cattle slurry. And seems to linger for weeks for some reason ( not mixed like cow slurry.) Dogs seem to be unable to resist rolling in too for some reason . Pig slurry is another. Worth a try.

*have planted a woodland, the trees are presently about half a metre high. Neighbours seem quite happy with the lack of farming currently

They have NO idea.

I don't understand, what is going to happen? *

Trees grow. Very high. 1/2 metre is 50cm - the trees will not stay that size. It's a genius idea.

OP - our most stupid "complaint" was from a rambler who complained about the cow pats in the field and the fact they smelled. Yes love, that is what you will get from a summer grazing dairy herd if you choose to walk on the footpath through their field.

We also had a neighbour ask us to change milking times because they were woken up by the sounds of the milking parlour at 6am. I've got reems of stupid complaints I can share. My personal favourite was a complaint by a rambler (again) that DH was rude to him because DH had the temerity to shout at him for letting his dog chase our live stock. DH might have used more than a few rude words

DH wants to put in planning permission to drill a well. That should provide a 'wall of sound' effect throughout August if we time right and as they're down stream from us we could have a small flood, just for fun.

Today is flying by at work!

@HopelesslydevotedtoGu

Basically they are eventually going to be living in sleeping beauty's forest in the not too distant future.

It's win win at the moment, they are happy because as far as they are concerned we are not doing that messy farming business.

I'm happy because I am waiting for the moment the penny drops, about three years time I reckon.

I'm not a total bitch, planting nearest the house has been chosen for its ability to be coppiced or harvested for firewood, if needs be.

@Quiettiger didn't you have signs with something like loose dogs that worry livestock will be shot?

I always remember this after a couple of us walked a friend's collie that escaped and being told off by the farmer's son in the group.

I love it when people come out with batshit insane nonsense then laugh at themselves thou. A common one is when people get close to a cow or heifer and are shocked how big they are, they tend to say 'they never look that big in the field' well no, that's because they're far away! 😂

Also struggle to believe that Silkies are hens 'hens don't look like that, it's like a muppet' cracks me up every time.

'Aren't they cold' about the sheep in snow 'well no, they have woolly jumpers' 😂

My fav is people's refusal to believe a brown, grey or black sheep, or a freshly sheared Sheep is actually a Sheep. I'm always 'omg, I've been ripped off then!'

Farmers are allowed to shoot dogs but I've only ever met 1 that had. The dog killed 4 lambs and 2 ewes so she didn't really have a choice. Very very sad.

You should get some geese and a donkey for extra noise 😂

Love this thread! We're rural. Our townie neighbours bought a converted barn beside the clashed, and constantly complain about the noise/smell of the cows . Likewise about the unsightly dungheap, noise during harvest, slurry, ungritted roads and the tractor blocking their view. They're v pissed off too that the farm track isn't going to be tarmacced. First thing they did when they moved in was gravel/pave their whole garden. I don't get why they moved to the country, it brings them no pleasure. I am also tempted to get chickens/donkeys.

• cowshed (not clashed)!

We have a few of those in our village. The best one wanted to know when the cows would be moving from the cow field so that she could walk her dog! Cows in a cow field? How very dare they!

I'd build a muck heap at the bottom of his garden

When we moved to the countryside (DSF was a herdsman) we had all sorts of shennanigans!:

Woke up one morning to the dog going crazy, racing up and down the hallway like a loon, only to open the front door to a herd of cows in the driveway!!

Pheasants regularly hiding out in our garden.
Skinned rats, mice and baby bunnies being gifted to us by cats.
Frogs (also skinned)
Toads
Moths the size of fucking bats
Bats the size of fucking birds of prey
Spiders as big as your fist
Cows regularly blocking roads
Cows jumping on top of hedges
Cows escaping and going on adventures
Foxes leering at chickens with hungry eyes
Dog would regularly escape (usually with a pair of my Mothers underwear dragged down the lane and sat waiting to greet us )

Anyone who moves to the countryside and doesn't expect to have the wildlife regularly show up at the most unexpected and awkward of times, is in for a shock!

Someone once described a pheasant sat on the wall as a 'rare, beautiful chicken' which was nice!
Before these neighbours moved in we had a hilarious old couple who once work up to find 26 turkeys roosting on their roof. Escapees from a nearby poultry farm. The man was out in his dressing gown waving a net to try and get them down when we passed 🤣

Bluebug45 - yes, we did. This is the new one for our footpaths, that literally arrived on Friday because some fuckwit decided it would be funny to remove the last ones by trashing them.

It's surprising how many fucking arseholes people try to argue with DH about what "dogs under control" means when they're on the footpath in a field of stock (It means put it on a fucking lead). They try to argue that our working collies should be on a lead like their dogs - even when our dog(s) are sat on the back of the quad bike watching DH get his knickers off at idiots.

Sorry, it's a bit of a soap box for me - we've had several dog attacks on our sheep this year, one close neighbour has lost 30% of his flock to dog damage and another friend had her alpaca savaged and killed by out of control dogs. It's a real problem because of where we are (on the very outskirts of a big city).

Sorry, it's a bit of a soap box for me - we've had several dog attacks on our sheep this year Same here Quiettiger

A common one is when people get close to a cow or heifer and are shocked how big they are, they tend to say 'they never look that big in the field' well no, that's because they're far away!

Father Ted all over again

That’s dreadful Quiettiger. Can you come back and let us know how you get on?

You need one of these...