Our surface area of rural Michigan is storybook country . Corn and oats undulation in fields along our road . Cattle dispirited at a nearby centennial farm , while miniature donkeys bray at a farmstead kitty - recess from our home . Two houses to the compass north , a family line raises summertime crops while , across the street , a twain keep a little flock of chickens and ducks . Our next - threshold neighbor to the south put forward autumnal crops and chickens . We all help oneself each other , whether it ’s clearing drive snow , share our gardens ’ bounty or lending flour and sugar .
And then there was our other neighbour .
As part of a grow course across the U.S. , urbanites and suburbanites are abandoning the cities for a simpler , rustic experience . Most embrace everything the rural area extend , including sketchy internet , wilderness flora and husbandry . A pocket-sized percentage , however , attempts to enforce its grand impression of country life , with minimal success and maximal exasperation .
The Smiths will their metropolis for a pristine stretchiness of Michigan prairie . A green lawn promptly supercede the prairie , and a respectable sign of the zodiac , complete with asphalt private road , soon stood on the property . In inadequate , they transplant the suburbs to the rural area . Unfortunately , hazardous prairie reasserts itself unrelentingly , and the Smiths find themselves continually battling nature to keep their park - like scene . They also did n’t seem to understand that the seven surrounding residence were all sideline or modest farms , ended with animals . And , of line , because our farm was the unaired , they soon targeted us as the nuisance disturbing their rural ideal .
I wish I could say we were alone in experiencing a troublesome neighbor , but unfortunately this is n’t the casing . Our protagonist Doug , drained from the ongoing difference with his neighbor , at last sold the chicken he raised organically for his married woman , who stick out from lupus . Another fowl - farming friend endured name - calling and societal - metier torment by his neighbor and ultimately resolve to move . What step can you take if you find your neighbor are less than thrilled with your flock ? Give these a try :
Offer Eggs
Nothing beats farm - fresh eggs for flavor , and a giving of a toothsome dozen goes a long way toward softening a hard heart . You might want to constitute a veritable delivery schedule to keep your neighbor glad . After a few weeks oftasty breakfast , however , your neighbour should be unwilling to adventure his testicle source ,
Schedule Coffee Talk
Invite your neighbor over for a cup of coffee bean ( even expert : serve baked goods made with your eggs ) . lease her know what got you bulge out in chicken rear and how it gain your life . contribution amusing anecdotes about your birds . If you countenance outsider by your coops , take your neighbor on a warm term of enlistment . boost her to ask questions and express her concerns . A little friendly conversation goes a longsighted way toward calming consternation and dispel ignorance .
Fence It In
Even if your doll are confined to their henhouse and runs , with no prospect of free ranging , view installing a fence between your property and that of your neighbour . A sturdy fence will reassure him that your chickens wo n’t wander over and nest on his pet waiting area chairperson or stab up the daffodil . check into with your town ’s ordination director regarding road map for fence installment .
Know Your Rights
Sometimes nothing will dissuade your neighbor from coming after you and your peck , literally and figuratively . If you palpate that your birds might be in peril , install question - sensor lighting and alarms around your coops . A wildlife camera can bewitch any instances of trespass or worse . Be prepared to reply to complaint apprisal filed with your township and do so swiftly and politely . familiarise yourself with your local poultry - hold on ordinance , and look into your state of matter ’s right - to - farm guideline . Keep a journal and log every incident . Above all , stay patient and think back that you also have respectable - natured neighbors , not just bad ones .
As far as the Smiths go , well , they ’re going . Perhaps they concluded that their aspiration home take a Mungo Park , not agrarian land area . They might have also note that they were surrounded by donkeys , Capricorn , chicken and duck , all of whom make noise … and more . Whatever the ultimate reason for their difference , we wish well them well , and we apprize our truly rural neighbor all the more .
