Challenge to free range chickens

[gootziecat]

Hopefully, this is the right place to address this.

My problem is my neighbors and their chickens. They free range their chickens. Infact, they do little management for them at all, winter or summer, and they are ranging my property every day. I would like chickens of my own, but I also want to free range my chickens. The eggs taste better and it cuts the cost of the feed bill considerably, not to mention keeping the bug population down. I'd like suggestions as to how I can manage this problem. It won't do any good to talk to the neighbors. They have about 6 roosters and 3 or 4 hens free roaming. I fear the roosters would steal my chickens and that would be the end of any eggs. Or almost as bad, disease and mites in my henhouse plus they might decide to camp in my henhouse and eat the food up. Any suggestions to my dilemna besides chicken and dumplings?

Thanks.

 

[karl E lutz]

Animal control ,or confiscate and cage until the control officer gets there , but you will have tyo use a pen to avoid being in the same boat you are putting them in.I range my flock only in the afternoon when we are home and they usually follow me into the pen when it is time to go in.

 

[SAORSA]

Use a tractor and get a small dog to run off the neighbor chickens ?

Use a tractor and put the neighbor chickens in it, (my property, my chickens).

 

[possumqueen]

hey, gootziecat,

That's a hard problem to fix. I like the "My property, my chickens" concept, except that if your chickens EVER got onto his property it would be "eye for an eye" and it would never end, same if you called animal control, although that's your best legal bet.

Your other best legal bet is to fence your property, which is expensive, and I don't know your financial situation.

There's a gizmo for sale at www.scatmat.com, a kind of water scarecrow. It costs about $80.00. You attach a water hose to it, and set it up at the part of your yard where the chickens spend the most time. It has a motion detector, and when the chickens set off the detector it sprays them with water for about four seconds. They run away. The detector shuts itself off, reloads, and waits for them to come back. I use it to keep wildlife out of my tomatoes. It works on everything except turtles.

Or give up the idea of free ranging your chickens and keep them penned up.

Are the neighbors permanent or tenants? If they're just renters they may just go away by themselves, but you have to wait for that.

 

[gootziecat]

I like the idea of allowing the chickens to free range for a period of time and them returning to the henhouse. I've never trained them before, as I've never had to. How does one "train" chickens, or do you simply wait until early evening and let them out, knowing they will return to roost at dusk?

My situation is I'm a single, retired 66 year young female, so the financial situation is tight. I've raised and loved chickens for 30 years until the last 10, when circumstances didn't allow it. Will have to start from scratch again. Really like the heritage breeds and unattainable colors. lol.

I do appreciate everyone's response. Thanks,

 

[alicefelldown]

Quote:
You can train them to associate a certain sound with treats, like any other animal. After enough times of hearing you shake a can of food and they immediately get treats (worms, tomatoes, anything they like) they will be 'trained'. When I want to get the flock back inside their pen, I stand inside the pen and shake a can of food pellets until they are all inside.

Note, you might get stragglers, but it's pretty easy to "chase" a chicken into it's pen. Usually just walking behind it does the trick.

 

[Amyable]

Quote:
Well, what good is it if it can't control a turtle infestation?

 

[possumqueen]

Quote:
Well, what good is it if it can't control a turtle infestation?

Yeah, I know. I know. You would think at that price it would be all powerful, but some things slip under the radar (or don't pay attention to a little squirt of water) and run rampant. Pretty pathetic.

And turtles will really munch on tomatoes, too!

 

[matthewschickens]

This works for us: http://www.premier1supplies.com/fencing.php?species_id=6

 

[darkmatter]

Quote:
Why not get some of those Free Range fertile eggs and hatch them out. Raising the chicks in your own coop will imprint them on your property, a low cost coop built of salvaged materials and a run should do the trick.