Are Chickens a Danger to Horses? Bad Couple Months With Neighbors

[M To The Maxx]

Well to start off we have had a bad couple months with the next door neighbors. They own a horse farm (please see site here for more info about them: http://www.kingsmeadefarm.com/ ). As usual we always let our chickens out on the weekend once a week. Well the owners at the farm have complained about our chickens. They say that our chickens are hopping the fence between our two properties and have been going around their barns. Well yes that is true. NOTE: Whenever I see my chickens have hopped the fence I immediatly go over (with permission) and bring my chickens back over to our property. But they are really making a big deal out of nothing IMO. They have complained that our chickens are a danger to their horses. They have said that the horses could get "spooked" and injure their horses. They have sent us a "threat" letter to take us to court over this if we do not keep our chickens "contained". I for one think that a huge horse would never get scared by a little chicken. We have limited their time to free roam. But that is not what is really pissing me off. They have set traps for our chickens. Traps that could KILL our chickens. Also they have chickens of their own. They did trap one of my chickens before and refused to give her back. But that is another story for another day.... So do you really think a chicken could cause the injury of a horse? I mean come on really????

 

[mississippifarmboy]

Sorry, but it is possible if the horses aren't used to chickens. I've had a few high strung horses that would spook at nearly everything.
The horse we have now were raised with chickens and other farm animals and just ignore them all.
Good luck though.

 

[Sir Birdaholic]

I think a horse is more dangerous to the chickens, but..... that's not the point. Their land, their rules. You have to keep YOUR chickens on YOUR property. I know the chickens aren't harming anything over there, ....but..... it is.....OVER THERE.

 

[Pickles03]

mr. birdaholic :

I think a horse is more dangerous to the chickens, but..... that's not the point. Their land, their rules. You have to keep YOUR chickens on YOUR property. I know the chickens aren't harming anything over there, ....but..... it is.....OVER THERE.

agreed....​

 

[drumstick diva]

I've heard horses spook easily , I would imagine if someone where riding them at the time they could be badly injured. Heck a bunch of feathers flying at me(unexpectedly) and I'd spook too. You mention they have chickens also. I bet their chickens have never trespassed on your property.I would imagine they have ever right or catch or dispose of your chickens on their property. You've been warned.

 

[darkmatter]

Quote:
A friend of mine that has show horses, bought bantams to live in the barn & corral with them just so the horses would be used to birds and not get "spooked" in the show arena when the pigeons fly around. So, Yes, Horses can be spooked by birds, till they get used to them.

 

[natrgatr]

I had a horse I was driving jump three feet in the air to get away from a plastic bag. Yes a chicken can spook a horse and injure it or a rider.

 

[redhen]

Yeah, Kiddo..
They CAN scare the horses and if someone is riding the horse and it spooks...the person riding the horse can get hurt very badly.
I know you dont want that to happen, cause you're a good person.
Sooo.. my advice... find where your birds are jumping the fence and make that part of the fence higher...
We had that problem too.. a few of our birds were jumping the fence. My husband just nailed some extra chicken wire we had and kinda curled it over...making it so they cant jump over it anymore.
Its easy to fix. And the safe thing to do... cause a horse can also step on your birds and kill them.
Good luck! Tell your neighbors that you are working on something to fix the problem.

 

[19hhbelgian]

Horses and chickens might not always mix well - especially if the horses aren't used to the chickens running around. They could spook and hurt someone or themselves, but if the farm already has chickens... Well... I have horses and chickens, and a lot of other animals. They all eventually get used to one another, but that doesn't mean a chicken won't come running around a corner and startle a snoozing horse. PLUS, if one of your birds gets kicked by a horse, the outcome most likely won't be all that great for the chicken.

They obviously don't care about how you feel about your birds and will do what ever they want in order to take care of the "problem". This means that you, as the owner of the chickens, needs to take care of them by making things so the birds cannot get over to the other property. If you don't do it to placate the neighbors, simply do it for the safety of your birds.

 

[FuzzyButtsFarm]

I have chickens and horses. They get along just fine. None of the horses had been ever exposed to chickens before and never spooked because of the chickens. But the bottom line is they are not on your property. You need to keep them contained, no matter how outragess your neighbors claim my be. Sorry