Neighbours

I really do not like my neighbours. I seem to have idiots on both sides of me :(

My poor hens have been locked in the barn now for five weeks. They had to be quarantined for a month (Coming from one province to another) and due to both my neighbours I cannot let them free range anymore (both neighbours complained about them going onto their property before they even got out! Its sad when people complain about stuff before it even happens!). I have to get a fenced area set up for them.

The weather was lovely yesterday, so I figured I'd put the hens in the dog cage for the afternoon so they could get some fresh air and do some scratching. I set up the cage in the area that the veggie garden is going, so the hens would start breaking up the earth for me. Chickens are excellent for tilling the land; one hen can till 50 square feet of established sod in just 4-6 weeks!

I set the pen up and as chickens can fly had to put something on top of it so they wouldn't get out ... I found an old wood pallet that fit well. My son helped me put the wood pallet on top of the cage ... and then the screaming started.

My one neighbour came to her back door and SCREAMED at me to move the pen. She DEMANDED I move the pen behind the barn so she "wouldn't have to look at it all summer".

Ummmmm, what?

I tried to explain to her that it was just temporary. I tried to explain why I wanted the pen there (so the hens would till the land for me). All she did was scream at me.

She never once asked me to move the pen. She never once said please. She simply demanded, very rudely, that I move it.

WTF?

That is one crazy bitch! What kind of person does that? I was so upset, I literally cried for almost three hours afterwards, I was so upset.

The house I rent comes with about 2 and a half acres of land, land I thought I could use as I wished. Land for a huge garden, for my hens to range on, and for me to enjoy and host celebrations on ... ya, I guess not. Who wants to go out to their yard with neighbours like that?

I think most upsetting is both my neighbours come onto my property and disrespect my space, but bitch about everything I do. The one neighbour is tapping trees on my property and is in my backyard several times daily. He has never once asked if I'm OK with that (i had planned on tapping my trees!). He is selling maple syrup (illegally) and his customers often use my driveway (despite him having his own private drive) and again he has never use asked if its ok or apologized for any inconvenience he has caused. My other neighbour has a dog that just wanders around his yard and mine, sleeps in my garage all the time, and poops all over my lawn (which they have never cleaned up). Just like the other neighbour, they have never once asked if its ok or apologized for my inconvenience. My three dogs are not big fans of some strange dog sleeping in their garage and its really frazzling to try to take my dogs out and have someone elses dog right at my door!

I really hate this whole neighbour thing. I put a wanted ad on Kijiji yesterday looking for a rural home to rent. I had planned to stay here until I could buy a house, but I cannot live here with such nasty neighbours. I don't want to live beside someone who would scream at me and make me cry. Life is too short to be near nasty people. I want to live somewhere where I can enjoy my yard, as I should be able too.

Here's a great article, on ways to use hens to help make gardening easier:
http://www.theprairiehomestead.com/2015/02/chickens-in-the-garden.html