Cantankerous neighbor

flibbertijibbet said:

I believe Reynard was a fox that was running around the city awhile back. And for those who brought up the link and could not find my response here it is. BTW haven't heard a peep out of her since.

Dear Martha,

Astonished? Of all the joys of life that we value here in Rock Hill, maintaining a hen house in our neighborhood is something we believe makes our city great. Just the ability to combine an old-fashion way of life within our city limits is something that we believe adds value to Rock Hill. It does not diminish it, as you suggest.

To be clear, there are specific guidelines in the Rock Hill ordinances that describe how to properly maintain chickens within our city limits. We follow these to the letter. Also, we have no roosters at this time, although I do prefer the sound of a rooster crow in the morning over a dog barking at night.

Most importantly, though, are the lessons and experience that we gain from raising our own food here in the city. Teaching our families both the responsibilities and rewards of raising chickens in the backyard, and enjoying their eggs, just does not compare to the shopping carts and check out lines you offer as an alternative.

Omelet, anyone?

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Well stated! Not to mention the fact that "organic" and "free range/cage free" labels on food and particularly eggs does not always mean what most people are lead to believe that it means. Growing veggies and fruits, raising animals for food is not just about being "organic" but as you said the rewards and responsibilities. It is wonderful to teach the kids that eggs don't come from a carton in the grocery store.

Not sure how "country" it is where you live, but there are a lot of rural areas that still practice some pretty archaic beliefs. One of them being if your dog kills a neighbors chicken, you have one option. Kill the dog. Not doing so is highly frowned upon by the other neighbors. So much so they make your life a nightmare until that dog is gone. I've seen this go on with my own eyes. And while I find it to be completely appalling, these idiots continue to carry on this barbaric tradition. Maybe he just likes his dog?

tri1sam said:

Not sure how "country" it is where you live, but there are a lot of rural areas that still practice some pretty archaic beliefs. One of them being if your dog kills a neighbors chicken, you have one option. Kill the dog. Not doing so is highly frowned upon by the other neighbors. So much so they make your life a nightmare until that dog is gone. I've seen this go on with my own eyes. And while I find it to be completely appalling, these idiots continue to carry on this barbaric tradition. Maybe he just likes his dog?

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I'm not sure where you live, but I do live in the country (a true rural area where people farm, raise animals for food, 20 miles from the nearest town and our nearest neighbor is 1/2 a mile away) and this is how that "archaic belief" works here. (And where it works in most if not all truly rural areas) If YOUR dog comes onto MY property and kills MY chicken, you would probably get a call the first time it happened, letting you know that your dog killed my livestock and it may not come home again if it does it the second time. You would then have the decency to try to keep your dog home, apologize for the dead animal, and maybe even offer compensation for it. If the dog were to continue to be a livestock killer, it would either not leave my place if caught, or you might kill the dog yourself because you can't control it and it would become costly for you to have to continue to repay me for the animals it continues to kill. (Be it chickens, cows, pigs or horses - doesn't matter). You would in no way be pressured to do so, or your life made miserable. You'd just owe me a lot of money and your dog would likely die anyway. Now, in the OP's case, HER chickens were going onto the neighbor's property. That's a whole different thing. If MY chickens went onto YOUR property and YOUR dog killed them, I would be kicking myself for not properly containing my chickens and realize that I am responsible for their deaths. This is how we "idiots continue to carry on this barbaric tradition". Animals that are raised as livestock and being decent to your neighbors are far more valuable than a livestock-killing dog.