Stock Fencing for Chickens

[GGx]

Hi Backyard Chicken members!

I'm involved in a legal case where part of the evidence rests on a claim from the defendant that her father installed a stock fence in front of a hedge to contain his chickens. We're looking for an expert in rearing chickens who can provide a statement as to the veracity/plausibility of this claim.

Is anyone here a poultry expert who could comment on the viability of a stock fence to contain chickens ranging free in a garden?

Many thanks!
GGx

 

[DobieLover]

Define "stock fencing". What does it look like? Is it cattle panel? How high? How large are the openings?

 

[Penpal]

You might want to address this to a college that has an agricultural department. they would be experts, we have opinions.

 

[DobieLover]

You might want to address this to a college that has an agricultural department. they would be experts, we have opinions.

Respectfully disagree.

 

[Penpal]

I think in a court of law, a professor presents a "knowledgeable" expert. This may be different from real life.

 

[DobieLover]

I think in a court of law, a professor presents a "knowledgeable" expert. This may be different from real life.

I seriously doubt we are talking about a trial case involving trespassing chickens...

Many academics just have "book knowledge". Practical knowledge trumps that any day. Regardless, it doesn't take an expert to know how large of a hole a chicken can squeeze through or how high of a fence a chicken can jump to the top of. It takes knowing the birds and having observed them and their behaviors to be able to give a very experienced opinion on the topic.

 

[KyCoop]

Also, are we talking about full size, large breed hens or are we talking baby chicks, bantams?

 

[Penpal]

I'd kinda like to know what kind of mischief the chickens got into that someone would make a legal claim about their getting out of the yard.

 

[GGx]

Hi and thanks so much to everyone who's responded so far.

Penpal: Believe it or not, they are attempting to claim Adverse Possession with chickens! We can't deny their chickens might have wandered onto our land in the nineties (after the fence degraded) but if that constitutes Adverse Possession, we'd better prevent the other neighbours’ cat from frequenting our garden with some urgency!!

DobieLover: No, it's not a trial case involving chickens. It's a boundary dispute where the other party are using their chickens to claim the standard garden fence that separated the properties from the late sixties to the nineties wasn't a boundary fence at all.

They claim the hedge behind it was the boundary and their father installed the fence in front of it as a 'stock fence' erected to contain his chickens.

It's a total lie, of course. They've lied hundreds of times and contradict their written statements all the time. They get to make up all sorts of stories, but we have to disprove every single one of them with hard evidence for the court.

Attached is said 'stock fence': the wood panel fence behind the telegraph pole in the image. It doesn't look like a stock fence, it looks like a standard garden fence because that's exactly what it is. What we need for the court is an expert opinion on whether this could be a 'stock fence' and its efficacy at containing chickens.

KyCoop: Full-grown chickens. Apparently bantams, but I wouldn't know. They aren't great photos but I've attached them in the hope they'll help you.

As to the type of expert, our solicitor wrote: 'I would think that some info from a poultry breeders club would be enough. It would not warrant an expert.' So when I say "expert", I mean someone who's been raising chickens for a very long time with lots of experience. It doesn't have to be a professor, just someone who can state what qualifies them to express their opinion for a judge. And don't worry ... any volunteer won't be called as a witness or anything. Just a written statement will do.

Before anyone says, why would anyone go to court over a metre (yes, the strip of land is only a metre wide)? Yes, we're aware of the madness of boundary disputes but this isn't a metre of land at the bottom of our garden. They want the last metre of land between our properties, right up to the windows of our house. They demand we brick up our fifty-year-old windows and seal off all access to our own property (as in we couldn't unblock our drains, clear our gutters, paint our walls, or even clean those windows). And they demand the removal of two large and expensive structures that sit on the land: a carport and a gazebo. We can't not fight this, sadly.

Any help you can give would be SO appreciated. Thus far, this has been a six-year nightmare.

 

[DobieLover]

hard evidence for the court

Why is a professional land survey out of the question here? In the USA that is how these things are settled. We have records dating back as long as records exist on the property.

That fence would be a deterrent to keep chickens from crossing but any bantam or LF chicken could very easily jump that fence. Even with clipped wings.

Years ago I fenced in my flock using electrified poultry netting that is 42" tall. My gates are constructed of 48" high braced wood frames to hold 1/2" hardware cloth and the frames are hinged to wood posts. All of my LF chickens flew up to the tops of the gates and jumped out when I first enclosed them.

I clipped the primary feathers of one wing on each bird using the old "it will throw them off balance" malarky. They all jumped out again.

I clipped the primary feathers of the second wing. The majority of them still jumped out including the big line backer rooster. He's no nimble ballerina.

I then clipped into the secondary feathers of one wing of the ones that were still jumping the fence and STILL had 4 out of the 12 that were jumping out!!

So... that little garden fence would be extremely easy for the birds to jump over. Especially all the breeds shown in the pictures. Which are very cool by the way!