mommabirdof4
In the Brooder
- Nov 17, 2015
- 6
- 1
- 14
Hello!
Our neighbors and we are situated well off the road in the country, but our houses are close together even though we both own about 11 acres. We both have free range chickens, and we got them at approximately the same time a couple years ago. The neighbors have a shared easement with us 1/4 mile through our property (our property is on both sides of the driveway).
Due to some strange situations (planned yet unplanned) we now have about 60 chickens in our backyard, while our neighbors have only five. Most of our chickens do NOT go into our neighbor's yard - only a few young roosters have recently been going over to harass the neighbor's hens. We both sort of co-own guinea fowl that free range on both properties and are sort of feral now. The neighbors had 20 and we had 10 - they recently hatched 5 or 6 more. Meaning, their chickens don't come over here, but the guineas definitely do - and we don't care in case you were wondering.
Anyway, because our young roosters are getting in the neighbor's hen house and they have eggs getting broken (they have a small hen house, but it could be our roosters eating the eggs), our neighbors are upset with us and are concerned that we don't feed our chickens (which we do, but they are on a high free range diet, and that's with intention). The neighbors use soy-based commercial feed mixes, and we don't, and that doesn't help because their chickens get huge fast while ours take longer to grow and stay small (it also depends on variety, and we have varieties like Isa Browns, but we have some bigger kinds too - mostly all mixes though - they have all Sex Links).
Now, because of this situation which has escalated into the neighbors calling animal control to check on our dog (because our 10-15 year old dog is skinny too and they also think we don't feed her...we make her dog food so she can have a low protein diet according to the vet's advice while the neighbors happily feed our dog various commercial treats and think they are showing her love) - thankfully the animal control guy said her weight is typical given her age and other health conditions - I am thinking that we need to erect a fence to establish healthy boundaries.
Here's the problem with the fence (if you didn't notice):
If we construct a fence, we will need to have a gate going across the driveway since our property is on both sides of the easement. We use both sides of the driveway plenty and our chickens go across the driveway daily to forage. Our neighbors will have to open and close the fence every time they come and go.
Our chickens must stay behind our house because of predator issues - we've tried two other locations to keep the number of chickens near our neighbors to a minimum, but we have lost 50% of the chickens at least when they are not near our house.
I just read that livestock owners in our state cannot let their livestock "run at large" without incurring a class C misdemeanor, and since our neighbors today indicated that they may not have chickens much longer and that our chickens would be the only chickens on either property, I feel like they are aware of this law and are kind of warning us what their thoughts are toward this situation.
I assume that we have the right to install a fence and gate across the driveway that they are free to open and close to get to their house, though I don't want to bother the neighbors or make them more upset. It seems like a logical conclusion toward ensuring our livestock don't go in the neighbor's yard, which needs to be addressed immediately.
I've also read that having a gate across an easement does not mean that the neighbors will have to keep it closed, but I assume that if the gate is installed to keep livestock in our yard, then they will have to keep it closed or else they cannot prosecute us if our livestock get in their yard.
Has anyone dealt with this kind of situation? It's not a normal fencing situation with neighbors on either side - we would actually have to cut off the neighbor's access to their property because they drive through our property to get to theirs, but of course there would be a gate they can go through.
Thoughts? I don't think our neighbors will like the idea, but I think it may help to alleviate the obvious issues we are having with boundaries (no pun intended).
Our neighbors and we are situated well off the road in the country, but our houses are close together even though we both own about 11 acres. We both have free range chickens, and we got them at approximately the same time a couple years ago. The neighbors have a shared easement with us 1/4 mile through our property (our property is on both sides of the driveway).
Due to some strange situations (planned yet unplanned) we now have about 60 chickens in our backyard, while our neighbors have only five. Most of our chickens do NOT go into our neighbor's yard - only a few young roosters have recently been going over to harass the neighbor's hens. We both sort of co-own guinea fowl that free range on both properties and are sort of feral now. The neighbors had 20 and we had 10 - they recently hatched 5 or 6 more. Meaning, their chickens don't come over here, but the guineas definitely do - and we don't care in case you were wondering.
Anyway, because our young roosters are getting in the neighbor's hen house and they have eggs getting broken (they have a small hen house, but it could be our roosters eating the eggs), our neighbors are upset with us and are concerned that we don't feed our chickens (which we do, but they are on a high free range diet, and that's with intention). The neighbors use soy-based commercial feed mixes, and we don't, and that doesn't help because their chickens get huge fast while ours take longer to grow and stay small (it also depends on variety, and we have varieties like Isa Browns, but we have some bigger kinds too - mostly all mixes though - they have all Sex Links).
Now, because of this situation which has escalated into the neighbors calling animal control to check on our dog (because our 10-15 year old dog is skinny too and they also think we don't feed her...we make her dog food so she can have a low protein diet according to the vet's advice while the neighbors happily feed our dog various commercial treats and think they are showing her love) - thankfully the animal control guy said her weight is typical given her age and other health conditions - I am thinking that we need to erect a fence to establish healthy boundaries.
Here's the problem with the fence (if you didn't notice):
If we construct a fence, we will need to have a gate going across the driveway since our property is on both sides of the easement. We use both sides of the driveway plenty and our chickens go across the driveway daily to forage. Our neighbors will have to open and close the fence every time they come and go.
Our chickens must stay behind our house because of predator issues - we've tried two other locations to keep the number of chickens near our neighbors to a minimum, but we have lost 50% of the chickens at least when they are not near our house.
I just read that livestock owners in our state cannot let their livestock "run at large" without incurring a class C misdemeanor, and since our neighbors today indicated that they may not have chickens much longer and that our chickens would be the only chickens on either property, I feel like they are aware of this law and are kind of warning us what their thoughts are toward this situation.
I assume that we have the right to install a fence and gate across the driveway that they are free to open and close to get to their house, though I don't want to bother the neighbors or make them more upset. It seems like a logical conclusion toward ensuring our livestock don't go in the neighbor's yard, which needs to be addressed immediately.
I've also read that having a gate across an easement does not mean that the neighbors will have to keep it closed, but I assume that if the gate is installed to keep livestock in our yard, then they will have to keep it closed or else they cannot prosecute us if our livestock get in their yard.
Has anyone dealt with this kind of situation? It's not a normal fencing situation with neighbors on either side - we would actually have to cut off the neighbor's access to their property because they drive through our property to get to theirs, but of course there would be a gate they can go through.
Thoughts? I don't think our neighbors will like the idea, but I think it may help to alleviate the obvious issues we are having with boundaries (no pun intended).
I am PennyJo in Mossyrock, Washington State
