Totally O.T. but I am so P.O.'d at my neighbors!

[sweetangel7]

So, like the title says, this is off topic but I am so p.o.'d that I need any guidance/opinions I can get!  Here's the problem:  My husband and I bought a house last March...we love everything about it-the land, the house, the yard, the town, the location...but we have a problem with the neighbors.  The neighbors to our surprise, raise chickens, pheasants, peacocks, quail and who knows what else!  Not only have we dealt with the birds screaming like a woman being murdered in the night and at all hours of the wee morning but the worst of it is the smell of their feces!  In June, July and August when it gets hot (70+ degrees) the bird s**t roasts and smells up my yard and inside of my house if I even crack a window...we have tried to keep the house closed up and put the ac on but it is just as bad because it siphons in the chicken s**t smell!  I have never smelled anything so bad in my entire life...it is putrid.  Last year I complained to the Board of Health all summer and basically they said they know it smells bad but there is nothing they can do.  Well, we've made it to another summer and I just can't take it any more...I'd seriously sell my house and move if I could but now that the housing prices have gone down significantly, that is not an option because no one would ever pay what we'd need to sell it for...My mother in law and brother in law went with me to actually talk to the neighbors about this and they pretty much gave us a tough s**t attitude that they know it smells but there is 'nothing' they can do about it...My BIL helped them clean the cages because they were so dirty from the feces.  The roosts or whatever you call the things the birds are in, are like right on my property line so it is almost like I have them in my backyard...they have a large yard and no neighbors on the other side so I think it would solve a lot of problems if they would just move them away from my house!  Anyways, I'm tired of dealing with the board of health because they don't do anything so I have contacted the Selectmen and have asked them if they would meet with me to discuss this as a quality of life issue.  Does anyone have any info to help me plead my case to the Selectmen that you shouldn't be able to smell your neighbor's birds' feces from inside your home hundreds of feet away!!!!!  Isn't that unsanitary?  Isn't it unhealthy?  Any advice would be sooooo appreciated!  I feel like I am going insane!

[Mumita]

I've had free range chickens that poop all over the yard and it never smells the way you are describing.  It must be that their birds are in horrible living conditions where the poop can't drain and it keeps piling on instead of decomposing on the ground.  they could also have a lot of dead chickens decomposing.  Cause it only smells that way when its a rotting chicken. When they are not taken care of they die and get sick and die, so maybe some chickens are living in with dead chickens...if they are as dirty as they seem.
I'd say to bring in animal control so they can at least tell them that they need to clean the cages better and move them away from your property line.  
They should also build wood chicken coops so they are in a covered area where the rain doesn't get in and the chickens don't get sick.

[LosingMyMindInGA]

Definately animal control or the humane society or spca...on of those type places.  Tell them that becuase of certain conditions you fear mistreatment of these animals and it would make you feel a whole lot better if someone would atleast come take a look. Be sure you do it AFTER the cages have had plenty of time to get nice and rank and filthy again.  You mentioned your bil helped them clean em.  To support your case you may have to wait a little while til they are really nasty again.  

If that doesn't work, the only other option I see is to take them to court and request that they move the cages/pens/whatever to another location away from your property line.  

[sweetangel7]

THANK YOU SOOOOO MUCH!  

[Michele, Katy, TX]

Yeah, ovaz129 said it much better than I did.  I just thought that if animal control got involved, at least someone might get out there and make them fix the problem so that you and your husband can live more comfortably.  And the squawking would get on my nerves too.  I get annoyed when my dogs start barking too early on the weekends or the neighbors decide it's time to mow the lawn as soon as the sun peeks though the clouds on Saturday morning.  LOL!

[ovaz129]

I agree with Michele... call your local animal control and tell them that you are "concerned" about the birds living conditions... I know that is not your main problem, but it will get them out to take a look at their living conditions to see if there is an excess of poop.  If there is, they will make the owners fix the problem and will mandate that they continue to keep it clean.  That should help with the stench, I don't know about the squawking.  That would annoy me too!

[Michele, Katy, TX]

I agree with Joy.  Also, if there house is that far away and you can still smell it, can't you call the SPCA??  That's what it is called here in Houston.  I mean maybe the animals are in a place that is not even fit for them and the neighbors can get in trouble for that.

[JoyRenee]

I don't know what you could tell the Selectmen (don't really know what that is either). But if it were me, I'd plead

1). Fear of bird flu or other contagious bird diseases that may be airborne

2). (If pregnant) The smell is making me ill

3). Invasion of home and privacy

4). Noise ordinance (the squawking especially at night and early morning)

Honestly these people need to find a home in a rural area.