Help me fight my mother-in-law's HOA...

[Randal Stevenson]

In the meantime, (I am walking a thin line here), have her look into changing religions, aka Voodoo, where the chickens could be part of a religious ceremony.


And don't get on her bad side, or you will be hexed.

[Scott Hildenbrand]

That always freaks me out, those eggs full of blood, grass, bone chunks and whatnot... Eeeewwwwww....

Bad juju...

[Jim Rimmer]

It's more difficult to deal with the recalcitrant homeowner and the board may have to take legal action.
Mike

I attended my HOA meeting last night and the subject of what Mike refers to as recalcitrant owners (or, even worse, those who have leased their homes and may be out of the country) came up. The manager of the company that handles our HOA explained the process - letters are sent several times, lawyers are engaged, fines are levied, liens are filed. But nothing really happens until the owner tries to sell the house and then the lien has to be addressed. HOAs can foreclose but that doesn't happen often and it usually makes national news when it does.

Our HOA has restrictions on boats being parked in the drive or street and there are city ordinances about parking them in the street - both have time limits. One homeowner basically flaunts the rule through the time limit loophole. He moves the boat a few feet every x number of hours.

[Lee Schierer]

Is there a "sweet spot" for butchering? Time of year? Age of hen? Any change of diet prior to butchering?

Once they start laying they start getting tougher. Most "fryers" you buy in the store are barely 3-4 months old. About all an old laying hen is good for is chicken & biscuits and rely heavily on chopping the meat to bits before cooking. The phrase "She's a tough old bird!" came from a lying hen....

[John A. Callaway]

There is always the option of using a alternative hobby over keeping chickens. Aside from my dabbling in working with hand tools and making the occasional pen on the lathe, I have been into car audio for years.... Not the "piss you off at a traffic light" kind of car audio, but more along the lines of a 31 year old with a very high quality, responsibly controlled car audio system... The point is, my system has been tuned with a RTA ( real time analyzer ) and a oscilloscope ..... And in the process, I had it's decibel level measured at peak volume. It plays at just over 141 decibels.... Which , as you can imagine, could be very loud if played in the wrong location.

There is a Lady named Alma Gates. She is about 65 years old. About ten years ago, In a mild debate with some of her grand children's friends, she got into car audio, and car audio competitions. She is the owner of one of the loudest vehicles in the car audio competition circuit. She ended up being sponsored by a large car audio company....

So in all of this, your ma-in-law could be doing several things that could and would aggravate her neighbors in a much bigger way. After all, most city ordinances only enforce loud noise violations after 9 or 10 p.m.

Check local laws, and make sure she isn't violating any livestock laws by keeping these chickens in her yard. Some Locales have laws pertaining to livestock and residential areas. If she is violating these laws, case closed. If not, depending on how willing you are to help her fight this, a judge would almost certainly agree that a few chickens are not any worse than a yard full of blue-tic hounds or beagles, which will howl all the time, destroy a nice yard, and bark at the clouds at night..... ALL NIGHT LONG.

You have to do your homework, and stand your ground.

[Michael Wetzel]

And if I'm forced to play Henry VIII, I'm going to buy my mother in law two beagles and a Moluccan cockatoo.

Nonono... 2 beagles and a rabbit

[bob klein]

have you tried to have a conversation with the one person that is making the noise? perhaps talking to them privately and just ask what can you do to satisfy them without your mom giving up her chickens may be helpful.

if that doesnt work, annoy the prick forever.

[Eric Larsen]

have you tried to have a conversation with the one person that is making the noise? perhaps talking to them privately and just ask what can you do to satisfy them without your mom giving up her chickens may be helpful.

if that doesnt work, annoy the prick forever.

We just found out who was complaining today. And yes, she's had problems with this neighbor before. I'd write more about these neighbors, but I've recently run afoul of SMC profanity rules, and do not wish to do so again. (I thought it was OK to use such words in a scholarly manner -- mea culpa. (Yep, busted for quoting George Washington.))

I suppose I could describe this family with G-Rated language. But it simply wouldn't be the same. Sometimes, there's only one word that can get the job done.