My neighbor lets her chickens free range my yard constantly?

[Chickibee]

For us, it's clear to see it as a case of neglect, but it's crazy what people can convince themselves of sometimes.

I don't really think she does this for the birds benefit, either. The defining moment for me was late summer--I use to view her as a friend, and would ask if she needed any chickens (back before she had seven hundred) when I went to a show or swap. She told me some sad story about the raccoon who had been taking her birds all summer, having eaten her olive egger. I felt bad, so at the swap I went to in the summer, when I saw a man with a point of lay olive egger, I bought it for her. The seller had originally wanted to sell this girl as a pair with a cockerel, I talked him out of it, took the pullet, and brought it to my neighbor. Beautiful and really sweet chicken that I quite liked.

....She texted me three days later to tell me quote "the olive egger disappeared, must of been eaten, she never bothered to sleep with the other chickens in the coop, was pretty antisocial and slept outside." So instead of just taking this chicken like a normal human and putting her in the coop bc it was new and scared for a few days, she let her get eaten.

 

[gtaus]

....She texted me three days later to tell me quote "the olive egger disappeared, must of been eaten, she never bothered to sleep with the other chickens in the coop, was pretty antisocial and slept outside." So instead of just taking this chicken like a normal human and putting her in the coop bc it was new and scared for a few days, she let her get eaten.

Yeah, I'm glad I don't have her as a neighbor. Sounds like she has issues.

 

[gimmie birdies]

I have had a rooster in my neighborhood, and people could see my coop, my neighbors had roosters that people could not see from the road. But all the noise was blamed on me, even though my rooster was kept cooped up in a sleepy box until 10 AM.

 

[saysfaa]

Seven hundred?

 

[neo71665]

Dear damn this is one of the many reasons I live out in the sticks. You want to be a dumb a$$ and your XXXXXXXX animal is causing me problems I legally remove your animal from my life.
Years ago we had idiot city slickers move out here that thought it was funny their aggressive dogs chased our cattle, stood at my pet coon pen barking all night, and tore up the unsecured part of my chicken run. After multiple warnings I had to put all 4 dogs down. They called the sheriff. They showed up and told them they were idiots and should have kept their animals under control. They went and got more dogs 2 times with the same exact results. Finally moved off because we were all "dumb rednecks" that just liked to kill their dogs and were picking on them. Didn't like it because I had the legal right to protect my animals and property.

 

[DebinCR]

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.

I have trained my chickens to stay away from certain areas by using a hose on them. They run away instantly & stay away for weeks. Then I might have to remind them again if I'm late with a meal for some reason, but it works very well as a chicken deterrent.

 

[Pgnelson45]

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.

At the very least you need to tell all your neighbors that the chickens and rooster they are seeing are not yours but hers. If Jane won’t control her flock and you don’t talk to her about it then you probably have to live with it until she moves.

 

[Saveria]

You don't have anything to lose by being frank with her, that much is clear. I understand wanting to avoid confrontation, but it helps no one when we don't speak up about these kind of things.

The hard part about helping others is that we should expect the worst, and then commit from there. We can't change others, but we can change ourselves. So the next time just keep the olive egger for you, because people are weird and you can't expect very much from them. Who knows what they have been through or what is on their plate, and for that reason you have to protect yourself. I understand wanting to be nice, but then we can't be mad if people disappoint us, and our loyalty should really reside with ourselves.

Expect the worst, be surprised by the best. The people who surprise you are the ones worth your time. More than anything, don't be afraid to stand up for yourself, even if it is just a letter. The worst she can do is yell at you, but you aren't giving her a chance to be a better person if you say nothing. When I confront people they usually have no idea it was a problem. It will help you to feel comfortable speaking up next time, too, cause there will always be some jerk coming into your path.

Wow, philosophy on our chicken forum, who would have guessed ; )

 

[Saveria]

At least I know the answer to why did the chicken cross the road now. To run Betty off into the mailbox.

Hahaha!

 

[McChooky]

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.

I have a neighbor like yours and my advice is get along the best you can until they are gone.There is a light at the end of the tunnel! Unfortunately my own neighbor has no plans to move. After they moved across the street I fenced my front yard off so their chickens can't come in my yard for the same reason.Their chickens have an open coop with no door and free range during the day .Predators kill them day or night so I really feel bad for them. Predators have already killed about 30 so far so the numbers go up and down (they hatch their own chicks with incubators) If you can build a temporary fence until they move it will help you dramatically .It'll not only save your landscaping,it'll draw less attention to your chickens and will show your neighbors they aren't yours. Black metal metal t posts and black netting makes an invisible temporary fence and will keep them all out until they move.Meanwhile I'd be sure to keep giving my neighbors eggs and be sure to let them them know the bad neghbor will be gone soon.