I have chickens housed "about" 15-20 feet away from my neighbor's windows—I never actually jumped the fence to measure accurately). The neighbors have never complained. I was a tinge worried last week when I had 3 building inspectors surveying my entire property for code compliance since we are applying for condo conversion. They said nothing about about the chickens, but did give an "aww" for the bunnies, so I was quite relieved. I guess they are just sticking to the plumbing, electrical and building codes, not the municipal health code which is believe is where the "20 foot rule" comes from. Probably would only need to worry about enforcement (w/o neighbor complaints) if you were keeping the birds near a restaurant or other food oriented business where the inspectors are familiar with the health codes...Robin