Are my neighbors attracting predators?

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

Hi all. We have new neighbors that moved in a few months ago to a nearby house. I haven’t formally met them. (I’m not a people person. I live in the boondocks for a reason ).

Anyway, the new owners acquired some chickens recently, and according to the neighbor whose house is between me and the new folks, they don’t have a coop or run or anything to protect them. He also says he’s had to clean up the remains of 2 chickens that were killed and carried over onto his property. Today I found remains on my property in spite of the fact that their chickens don’t even come all the way over here to my property.

My chickens sleep in a secure coop (it’s fully enclosed inside the run, which is inside my fenced yard, and up against my house. But I know nothing is truly predator proof. We have foxes (the most likely culprit), hawks, owls, bears, coyotes, raccoons, etc…

Im curious if the predation of these chickens increases the risk of my chickens being attacked? Will these predators suddenly grow accustomed to chickens being a part of their regular diet? If so, is it appropriate for me to ask them to build a coop or run? I know that not everyone views their chickens as pets, but it also seems cruel to not give them at least a fighting chance.

 

[Lady Clucks-a-Lot]

Well, yes, if your neighbor keeps leaving his chicken in such an in secure place, a fox may try to get his chickens and after the fox finds it very easy to get a chicken from him it will do it continually, so will the other predators that you have around you, and eventually they'll start to try to go for your chickens.

 

[Krugerrand]

If livestock guardian dogs are an option you may want to look into that.

 

[McChooky]

I was startled when I found a bunch of white chicken feathers 50 ft from my coop the other day because mine are all locked up and I don't have any white chickens. Obviously another predator had caught "another" one of my neighbors chickens (he is lax about caring for all his animals ,not just the chickens) I have no desire to warn my neighbor of the danger of not locking his chickens up at night or letting them fly over the fence during the day. Its not his fault the predator go after the easy prey for a fast meal.

 

[cmom]

As long as your birds are being properly cared for there should be no issues. Eventually the predator will get all of their birds, easy pickings and then the neighbor may get more birds for the predator. I'll share an experience I had with someone in my area.
Years ago I sold some birds to a woman that lives in my area. I thought the birds would be well cared for. After a few months she came over and asked if she could get more because a predator had gotten all of the birds. Stupid me I sold her some more. Another few months later it happened again so I said I would sell her a few more. How stupid could I be??? Another few months went by and it happened again. I told her I didn't have any birds to sell. We have a bimonthly farm swap at our local TSC. I took a few birds to sell. At the time I was doing some experimental Sex-Link breeding so I took a few to sell. She came up to me and wanted to buy the birds. I told her they were already sold. She walked off and I told a friend who was there and was also selling some birds of my experiences with her. She told him she was going to buy his birds and went off and said she would be back. She did not give him any deposit on the birds. We were packed up and ready to leave and here she comes wanting the birds but my friend had sold them actually when we were packing up getting ready to leave. He told the woman he sold them. Boy was she mad. He told her she hadn't come back and a buyer was there with the money, not a promise. Sometimes people say they want to buy some birds but never come back and we were ready to leave. Another lesson learned. I found out that she was just letting the birds free range and I don't think she even had a coop for them so the predators were picking them off. If I have any birds to sell now I take them to the swap and sell them. I have had people in the past want to buy birds and come to my place and try to go into the pens and pick out birds. I put a stop to that. Good luck...

 

[McChooky]

As long as your birds are being properly cared for there should be no issues. Eventually the predator will get all of their birds, easy pickings and then the neighbor may get more birds for the predator. I'll share an experience I had with someone in my area.
Years ago I sold some birds to a woman that lives in my area. I thought the birds would be well cared for. After a few months she came over and asked if she could get more because a predator had gotten all of the birds. Stupid me I sold her some more. Another few months later it happened again so I said I would sell her a few more. How stupid could I be??? Another few months went by and it happened again. I told her I didn't have any birds to sell. We have a bimonthly farm swap at our local TSC. I took a few birds to sell. At the time I was doing some experimental Sex-Link breeding so I took a few to sell. She came up to me and wanted to buy the birds. I told her they were already sold. She walked off and I told a friend who was there and was also selling some birds of my experiences with her. She told him she was going to buy his birds and went off and said she would be back. She did not give him any deposit on the birds. We were packed up and ready to leave and here she comes wanting the birds but my friend had sold them actually when we were packing up getting ready to leave. He told the woman he sold them. Boy was she mad. He told her she hadn't come back and a buyer was there with the money, not a promise. Sometimes people say they want to buy some birds but never come back and we were ready to leave. Another lesson learned. I found out that she was just letting the birds free range and I don't think she even had a coop for them so the predators were picking them off. If I have any birds to sell now I take them to the swap and sell them. I have had people in the past want to buy birds and come to my place and try to go into the pens and pick out birds. I put a stop to that. Good luck...

Some people actually use free range chickens to lure in all sorts of predators and have traps to catch them all over their property .They eat the meat and sell the hides.

 

[Fluster Cluck Acres]

As long as your birds are being properly cared for there should be no issues. Eventually the predator will get all of their birds, easy pickings and then the neighbor may get more birds for the predator. I'll share an experience I had with someone in my area.
Years ago I sold some birds to a woman that lives in my area. I thought the birds would be well cared for. After a few months she came over and asked if she could get more because a predator had gotten all of the birds. Stupid me I sold her some more. Another few months later it happened again so I said I would sell her a few more. How stupid could I be??? Another few months went by and it happened again. I told her I didn't have any birds to sell. We have a bimonthly farm swap at our local TSC. I took a few birds to sell. At the time I was doing some experimental Sex-Link breeding so I took a few to sell. She came up to me and wanted to buy the birds. I told her they were already sold. She walked off and I told a friend who was there and was also selling some birds of my experiences with her. She told him she was going to buy his birds and went off and said she would be back. She did not give him any deposit on the birds. We were packed up and ready to leave and here she comes wanting the birds but my friend had sold them actually when we were packing up getting ready to leave. He told the woman he sold them. Boy was she mad. He told her she hadn't come back and a buyer was there with the money, not a promise. Sometimes people say they want to buy some birds but never come back and we were ready to leave. Another lesson learned. I found out that she was just letting the birds free range and I don't think she even had a coop for them so the predators were picking them off. If I have any birds to sell now I take them to the swap and sell them. I have had people in the past want to buy birds and come to my place and try to go into the pens and pick out birds. I put a stop to that. Good luck...

That’s crazy. Why would someone continue to buy more chickens to just let them get eaten? Im hoping when my neighbors run out of chickens, they’ll be done, but I have a suspicion they have a good supply

 

[cmom]

I wouldn't want to eat a fox. The ones I caught were stinky and mangy. I was seeing this really pathetic one but haven't seen it in awhile so it may have expired.

 

[Lady Clucks-a-Lot]

I wouldn't want to eat a fox. The ones I caught were stinky and mangy. I was seeing this really pathetic one but haven't seen it in awhile so it may have expired.
View attachment 2786562

That's literally the skinniest fox I have ever seen!

 

[ChickenSaly]

Hi all. We have new neighbors that moved in a few months ago to a nearby house. I haven’t formally met them. (I’m not a people person. I live in the boondocks for a reason ).

Anyway, the new owners acquired some chickens recently, and according to the neighbor whose house is between me and the new folks, they don’t have a coop or run or anything to protect them. He also says he’s had to clean up the remains of 2 chickens that were killed and carried over onto his property. Today I found remains on my property in spite of the fact that their chickens don’t even come all the way over here to my property.

My chickens sleep in a secure coop (it’s fully enclosed inside the run, which is inside my fenced yard, and up against my house. But I know nothing is truly predator proof. We have foxes (the most likely culprit), hawks, owls, bears, coyotes, raccoons, etc…

Im curious if the predation of these chickens increases the risk of my chickens being attacked? Will these predators suddenly grow accustomed to chickens being a part of their regular diet? If so, is it appropriate for me to ask them to build a coop or run? I know that not everyone views their chickens as pets, but it also seems cruel to not give them at least a fighting chance.

I think you should have a friendly chat.