My neighbor lets her chickens free range my yard constantly?

[NatJ]

They’re poison to chickens. (uncooked skin & plant leaves)

Thanks for explaining!

I grant the potatoes & their skins will be toxic after they sit around in the sun. And yes, the leaves are always toxic.

But in normal circumstances, it would not be right to say "uncooked skin" of potatoes is poison to chickens. Both the skin and the flesh of the potato can turn green and become toxic if they are exposed to sunlight. But if they are properly stored (in the dark), the raw skin is no more dangerous to chickens than the raw flesh of the potato.

 

[CNJ]

I don't understand this. Why potatoes?

Reply, I read a lot of articles from paid writers saying potatoes are poisonous to humans and chickens, but I bet none of these writers actually had a chicken die from eating potato leaf. I am tempted to feed my crowing cockerels potato leaves as an experiment.

 

[Iluveggers]

Thanks for explaining!

I grant the potatoes & their skins will be toxic after they sit around in the sun. And yes, the leaves are always toxic.

But in normal circumstances, it would not be right to say "uncooked skin" of potatoes is poison to chickens. Both the skin and the flesh of the potato can turn green and become toxic if they are exposed to sunlight. But if they are properly stored (in the dark), the raw skin is no more dangerous to chickens than the raw flesh of the potato.

Should’ve been more specific & added “green”, sorry!

 

[Double Yolked]

Have you considered a dog? I generally don't like to pit animal vs animal but in this case I'd probably make an exception. Big dogs running loose are the bane of my chicken keeping experience since they will run my hens constantly, even if they aren't chicken killers. So why not take advantage of natural instincts?
Get a good fence to carefully keep the dog on your property and just let him or her do their doggy thing of protecting the place from trespassers, feathered ones included. The neighbors can't complain since it's your beloved pet and they are letting their hens get on your property. Of course, they probably will complain.... but that is where the dog fence comes in. It shows indisputably that you are being responsible, should legalities get involved. Even a smaller dog that just likes to bark and chase will do the trick.
My Yorkie mix will keep my fenced side yard hen free at all times when she's out. She just can't abide those feather balls in "her" territory. My hens have learned to just not go there. She weighs all of 8 lbs so the hens are in no danger but they don't care to test her out.

Chickens? In MY yard?! Lemme at 'em.

 

[RiverOtter]

Folks, you can't divorce your neighbors..

Step one is TALK to them. I know you don't want to. Grow up and use your words guys. Re-read the first sentence, spring 5 bucks for a coffee cake, walk over and talk to them. Nicely. You can always be a jerk later, there's no need to start out by being nasty and confrontational - as another poster pointed out, you have no idea what's going on, so don't assume the worst. Sometimes people have problems, sometimes it's just Hanlon's razor*. If being a good neighbor and friend doesn't work, you can always be a jerk later, but if you start out like that, it will never get better.

What's the worst that will happen if you talk to them? They hate you and nothing changes. Right now, you hate them and nothing changes, so there's really nothing to lose, is there? And it takes a friend to make a friend, talk to them and you may end up with one, which is always better than playing out Hatfields and McCoys.

And if you're really too chicken to talk to them, try motion activated sprinklers.

*Hanlon's razor; Do not attribute to malice that which is adequately explained by ignorance.

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

I moved into my house a year ago, and this neighbor (we'll call her "Jane") moved in just months after, next door. I live on an acre and a half, and all of my chickens are secured in their run with wire of the top. I do this to protect them from predators, and from just wandering.

Jane got her chickens in April. She has no top over her run, and only maybe 4 foot high livestock fence. She also got about 6 times the amount of chickens allowed for their property (I don't care, but I don't think anyone is fooled when 25 chickens walk down the street, that a quantity like that is forbidden). For awhile everything was fine, but starting last summer, her chickens took up the habit of every single day, they come to my front yard, or go across the street, into the yards of the neighbors who don't have chickens.

Jane's coop is obscured behind her house, while mine is visible from the road (my yard doesn't have many trees), so my concern is always that the chicken-less neighbors will think these are my chickens doing this, and call the county on me.

She then got a rooster. The rooster comes down to my front yard, and the neighbors front yards, and crows in my yard and theirs. I work from home, and give a lot of presentations to clients for my job. Having her rooster crowing in front of my window 10 feet away doesn't work. Additionally, I have my own rooster, contained in my chicken run at the back of my property--I worry that when neighbors hear/see Jane's chickens cruising by and her rooster crowing and annoying them on their windowsill, they will think it's mine, and call the county on us both. You aren't really allowed to have roosters, it's a "don't ask, don't tell" kind of thing. I also take all my neighbors adjacent me dozens of eggs every year, for tolerating my rooster. Jane does nothing for them. And I'm worried the day the call comes, the county will come and make us BOTH get rid of all our extra chickens and rooster.

Last month, her chickens ran out in front of a neighbor's car, causing her to swerve and strike the mailboxes, and the neighbor had to buy a new mailbox over it. The chickens current hobby is spending about 1/3 of their day each day in the mulch that landscapes the exterior of my house--they have completely destroyed it, and ripped down to the liner, and now I need to go buy more mulch and fix this. Additionally, her chickens have become a good food source for predators--there are now extra foxes, hawks and raccoons that hang out around the premises because of her valiant predator feeding efforts. When chickens disappear, she just buys more.

Jane texts me chicken questions, and we previously had good rapport, but I'm so angry over this I don't speak to her anymore. Additionally, they just bought land and are building a farm, so a year from now, they can move away and this won't be an issue. I'll still be here, and if my chickens have been taken away by the county, I'll still have problems.

Any suggestions? I'm very confident just telling her to keep her chickens contained will not be well received at all.

Can you put up a temporary chicken wire or barrier? That's cheap?

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

Have you considered a dog? I generally don't like to pit animal vs animal but in this case I'd probably make an exception. Big dogs running loose are the bane of my chicken keeping experience since they will run my hens constantly, even if they aren't chicken killers. So why not take advantage of natural instincts?
Get a good fence to carefully keep the dog on your property and just let him or her do their doggy thing of protecting the place from trespassers, feathered ones included. The neighbors can't complain since it's your beloved pet and they are letting their hens get on your property. Of course, they probably will complain.... but that is where the dog fence comes in. It shows indisputably that you are being responsible, should legalities get involved. Even a smaller dog that just likes to bark and chase will do the trick.
My Yorkie mix will keep my fenced side yard hen free at all times when she's out. She just can't abide those feather balls in "her" territory. My hens have learned to just not go there. She weighs all of 8 lbs so the hens are in no danger but they don't care to test her out.

View attachment 3045261
Chickens? In MY yard?! Lemme at 'em.

I wish I have 4 dogs lol and they all like chickens lol

 

[NotAChickenKiller]

So, I am here in Ohio and in a county that the Sheriff's Office advises they won't do anything about chickens (10-15 of them) being a destructive nuisance my two acre lot. I have photos and videos of them all the way up to my house and distroying my flowers. Two Deputies and a Township Trustee says although they can't do anything, I can shoot the chickens. Ohio just passes a law that if you shoot a neighbor's animal, it is a felony.

So, a little about the neighbors. The owner owns about 6-8 acres with a barn and pasture. The owner lets this fella board his horses and chickens. As far as I know, he only pays in eggs. The land where the barn and pasture are behind in property taxes and the owner is in bankruptcy.

I spoke to the owner's wife (I was on my property and she on hers) last year (2021) and explained I didn't want the chickens on my property. She said the chickens had torn up her landscaping and their dog killed at least one chicken. This prompted the owner to have the bird keeper keep them from free ranging on their home area. I spoke with the chicken fella and he said he wanted them to free range and I said ok, but not on my property. It never stopped.

Here we are March 2022. I birds were up into my landscaping at the house and I let my dogs out. Ten to Fifteen chickens flew out and freaked us out. I will not let my dogs chase other animals, but they did. I got up early the next day when the chicken fella was out and told him it was the last time or I'd file a police complaint. I put up no trespassing signs and set up cameras. Kept happening and I followed through with the complaint and the rest is in the beginning of the post. Deputies will speak with animal control tomorrow, but if that doesn't work, what the crap do I do?

I will not kill the animals. I will not let my dogs chase them. I will not spend money to contain chicken boy's chickens. Please help

 

[U_Stormcrow]

So, I am here in Ohio and in a county that the Sheriff's Office advises they won't do anything about chickens (10-15 of them) being a destructive nuisance my two acre lot. I have photos and videos of them all the way up to my house and distroying my flowers. Two Deputies and a Township Trustee says although they can't do anything, I can shoot the chickens. Ohio just passes a law that if you shoot a neighbor's animal, it is a felony.

So, a little about the neighbors. The owner owns about 6-8 acres with a barn and pasture. The owner lets this fella board his horses and chickens. As far as I know, he only pays in eggs. The land where the barn and pasture are behind in property taxes and the owner is in bankruptcy.

I spoke to the owner's wife (I was on my property and she on hers) last year (2021) and explained I didn't want the chickens on my property. She said the chickens had torn up her landscaping and their dog killed at least one chicken. This prompted the owner to have the bird keeper keep them from free ranging on their home area. I spoke with the chicken fella and he said he wanted them to free range and I said ok, but not on my property. It never stopped.

Here we are March 2022. I birds were up into my landscaping at the house and I let my dogs out. Ten to Fifteen chickens flew out and freaked us out. I will not let my dogs chase other animals, but they did. I got up early the next day when the chicken fella was out and told him it was the last time or I'd file a police complaint. I put up no trespassing signs and set up cameras. Kept happening and I followed through with the complaint and the rest is in the beginning of the post. Deputies will speak with animal control tomorrow, but if that doesn't work, what the crap do I do?

I will not kill the animals. I will not let my dogs chase them. I will not spend money to contain chicken boy's chickens. Please help

Buy the property at a tax delinquency auction kick them all out

 

[Lenny loves chickens]

So, I am here in Ohio and in a county that the Sheriff's Office advises they won't do anything about chickens (10-15 of them) being a destructive nuisance my two acre lot. I have photos and videos of them all the way up to my house and distroying my flowers. Two Deputies and a Township Trustee says although they can't do anything, I can shoot the chickens. Ohio just passes a law that if you shoot a neighbor's animal, it is a felony.

So, a little about the neighbors. The owner owns about 6-8 acres with a barn and pasture. The owner lets this fella board his horses and chickens. As far as I know, he only pays in eggs. The land where the barn and pasture are behind in property taxes and the owner is in bankruptcy.

I spoke to the owner's wife (I was on my property and she on hers) last year (2021) and explained I didn't want the chickens on my property. She said the chickens had torn up her landscaping and their dog killed at least one chicken. This prompted the owner to have the bird keeper keep them from free ranging on their home area. I spoke with the chicken fella and he said he wanted them to free range and I said ok, but not on my property. It never stopped.

Here we are March 2022. I birds were up into my landscaping at the house and I let my dogs out. Ten to Fifteen chickens flew out and freaked us out. I will not let my dogs chase other animals, but they did. I got up early the next day when the chicken fella was out and told him it was the last time or I'd file a police complaint. I put up no trespassing signs and set up cameras. Kept happening and I followed through with the complaint and the rest is in the beginning of the post. Deputies will speak with animal control tomorrow, but if that doesn't work, what the crap do I do?

I will not kill the animals. I will not let my dogs chase them. I will not spend money to contain chicken boy's chickens. Please help

Electric fence