Quarrel with the neighbor

crzycknladyofwa · Mar 20, 2016

I have a small flock, 5 chickens, 5 ducks. Of this, I have 4 of each hens, a rooster and a drake. They really are the sweetest group of birds Ive ever known, Including Rooster Cogburn, which pleasantly suprised me after growing up with agressive roosters on my mom's place.
Anyway, Cogburn is a great protector of his harem, but has always recognized the limits regarding humans. My birds are free-range most of the day and we have lots of friends and neighbors stop by regulalyincluding small kids. He has never done more than flap his wings and strut a bit at new comers.
Now, my neighbor has recently come over and complained that he is coming into her yard and attacking her. She's insisting that I need to keep him locked up or she'll be calling the animal control dept.
Does anyone have any helpful thoughts? I thought about a tall fence, but he can flutter at least 6ft up already, so i doubt that will help. I really dont want to get rid of him, but i'm out of ideas.

howfunkyisurchicken · Mar 20, 2016

You'll have to find a way to contain him in your own yard. Unfortunately, whether he's nice to people or not isn't the issue here. Its that your chicken is wandering onto your neighbors property, where he isn't wanted. I wouldn't be happy if my neighbors had chickens and let them roam my yard (and I have chickens). You might consider setting up a run (if you don't already have one), perhaps with a top so he can't escape, and only letting your birds out when you're around to keep an eye on them and redirect them when they head over to the neighbors house.

Its a crummy situation, but he needs to stay home.

Good luck.

donrae · Mar 20, 2016

You can build a run to contain your birds to a specific area.

You can purchase electric poultry netting and see if he'll respect that fencing. That way you could sort-of-free-range and rotate the area they're allowed to forage.

You can build a perimeter fence and run wire along the top. There are creative ways to top a regular fence to make it less likely for a bird to fly over.

You can look into clipping is wings in conjunction with the fence ideas.

Kudos to your neighbor for letting you know what is going on. And I"m going to hazard a guess he's not going over there alone, his hens are going along. They're probably tearing up your neighbor's landscaping or garden, and pooping on her property. Free ranging is great....on your own property. I have to say, a rooster that wandered on my place and attacked me would be treated to the same SSS treatment as a dog that did the same thing. Thank you neighbor for not killing your rooster and giving you a chance to remedy the situation.

aart · Mar 21, 2016

Welcome to BYC.
Sorry you came for such a problem.

You've already gotten realistic, but probably not helpful - in your eyes, advice and solution suggestions to your problem - all of which I agree with.

It's another case of Romance meets Reality in the chicken keeping realm...you have to keep your animals on your property.
Not everyone loves chickens and even if they do, they shouldn't have to deal with yours in their space if they don't want to.

Pork Pie · Mar 21, 2016

Maybe a 6ft fence with an additional 2ft angling inwards (towards your property) 40 degrees from the vertical should prevent unwanted wanderings. Its what i have done and it seems to work.

All the best

CT

BertandMary · Mar 21, 2016

If you have a fenced area, backyard or run without a top, you can clip one wing to keep them in. As folks habe said, your birds, your responsibility to keep them on your property. As spring approaches we have to put our duck in a run or she will eat the neighbors flowers.

Quarrel with the neighbor

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