Chicken keeps coming in my yard

[Ellis91]

Hi guys,
We've recently moved and our neighbors have a chicken that keeps wandering into our yard. We do have an outside cat who was a ratter for our old house when we had a huge flock of birds, but we had to get rid of them due to our move. Anyways, I have talked to our neighbor about her hen coming in our yard, attacking our cat, pooping under our carport most of the time right at the door, and stealing our cats food. They agreed about it pooping a lot, but they have made no effort to keep it in their yard. We can't really do the chicken wire because we have no way of keeping it up, I try and feed our cat when I know it is roosting. They have no coop for this hen, just a medium sized wire dog cage that they keep it in every night. When we had the bands of the lastest hurricane come through, the poo thing was soaked to the bone and stayed under our carport just about the whole day or 2. Please, don't get me wrong, I love animals and I don't want to see anything happen to it, but it's annoying that they aren't doing anything about it and make excuses. I live in Mobile county, Alabama if that helps, I just feel like I'm out of options and about to loose my mind.

 

[Ursuline Chick]

Do you want to start keeping chickens again?
Is the chicken in question a *lone* chicken or does it have friends?

 

[LaFleche]

Hi guys,
We've recently moved and our neighbors have a chicken that keeps wandering into our yard. We do have an outside cat who was a ratter for our old house when we had a huge flock of birds, but we had to get rid of them due to our move. Anyways, I have talked to our neighbor about her hen coming in our yard, attacking our cat, pooping under our carport most of the time right at the door, and stealing our cats food. They agreed about it pooping a lot, but they have made no effort to keep it in their yard. We can't really do the chicken wire because we have no way of keeping it up, I try and feed our cat when I know it is roosting. They have no coop for this hen, just a medium sized wire dog cage that they keep it in every night. When we had the bands of the lastest hurricane come through, the poo thing was soaked to the bone and stayed under our carport just about the whole day or 2. Please, don't get me wrong, I love animals and I don't want to see anything happen to it, but it's annoying that they aren't doing anything about it and make excuses. I live in Mobile county, Alabama if that helps, I just feel like I'm out of options and about to loose my mind.

Hi Ellis91,
what other damage besides the poop does the wandering chicken cause?

I am not familiar with US laws and ordinances regarding the responsibilities of animal owners, but as far as I know your neighbour should keep his chicken confined to his own property and would be liable for any damages caused by his chicken.

At the same time you might want to consider that your cat might wander over and poop in your neighbour's garden beds or porch or whereever as well, so...

 

[STACEYH]

If you just can't live with the annoyance, I would rehome the free roaming bird. But remember they could rehome your cat.

 

[LavenderDaFlerf]

Is there a fence that it keeps jumping over if so catch it and clip one of its wings.

 

[Banana01]

I also have a neighbor that has complained to me about my roosters going to their yard, but my opinion is they need to close their yard with a fence. They have this tiny plot of land surrounded by huge acreage of free range terrain, how can i possibly stop a wandering bird? They probably have less than 100 feet that needs to be enclosed, compared to endless open terrain the chicken could visit.

I realize you may live in a residential area, but i live in a farming area where animals roam free, pigs, dogs, chickens, horses etc. Their tiny fenceline that doesnt even touch my property would be easier to close.

If you live in a residential area i can see why you would be annoyed at the idea of needing to build a fence and guard your property.

As for solutions, you could move your cats food where it wont invite other animals. I have seen some people use plastic bottles tied on the end of sticks and they wave them at the chickens and after a while they are trained to not go in the house anymore. So if you have time and an inkling to help, you could try to shoo them away enough times so they finally go away. Otherwise why not put up a barrier or plug the holes where the chicken enters?

 

[HumbleAmerican]

I also have a neighbor that has complained to me about my roosters going to their yard, but my opinion is they need to close their yard with a fence. They have this tiny plot of land surrounded by huge acreage of free range terrain, how can i possibly stop a wandering bird? They probably have less than 100 feet that needs to be enclosed, compared to endless open terrain the chicken could visit.

I realize you may live in a residential area, but i live in a farming area where animals roam free, pigs, dogs, chickens, horses etc. Their tiny fenceline that doesnt even touch my property would be easier to close.

If you live in a residential area i can see why you would be annoyed at the idea of needing to build a fence and guard your property.

As for solutions, you could move your cats food where it wont invite other animals. I have seen some people use plastic bottles tied on the end of sticks and they wave them at the chickens and after a while they are trained to not go in the house anymore. So if you have time and an inkling to help, you could try to shoo them away enough times so they finally go away. Otherwise why not put up a barrier or plug the holes where the chicken enters?

So you’re ok with them free roaming a pig or two…. Possibly a few bothersome cows on your place? If it bothered you, it’d then be ok for them to say ‘Fence them out if you don’t like it?’

Disagree wholeheartedly. Your animals. Your containment issue.

 

[U_Stormcrow]

Mobile County Animal Control

I'm not seeing a quick link to Mobile County (as opposed to Mobile City)'s ordinances - but if I found one, I'd do a quick scan for "at large", to see what your legal authority for action entails.

and Banana? I disagree COMPLETELY and UTTERLY with your disrespect for the property of your neighbor. Bad form. Only their respect for your property restrains them from placing your animals in their soup pot. If the space is so small, why don't you erect a fence around it to keep your property in???

Here in the US, we have a legal concept, "at Large" - loosely, roaming off the property of the owner, outside of the owner's control - and the property owner upon whose land the animal is roaming has rights to deal with the tresspassing creature. Sometimes fatally. Don't know what the status of the law is in Peru, but that advice doesn't cut it here.

 

[Banana01]

So you’re ok with them free roaming a pig or two…. Possibly a few bothersome cows on your place? If it bothered you, it’d then be ok for them to say ‘Fence them out if you don’t like it?’

Disagree wholeheartedly. Your animals. Your containment issue.

Okay to some extent i agree that they should keep the hen caged or contained. I would fully agree if i lived in the usa, but where i live there is a "fence them out" way of life amongst neighbors. It is a way of life that does not exist anymore in many places.

Chickens are different story than cows. Cows, pigs, and horses there are rules saying they cannot graze on the grassy areas unattended. Much of the land is privately owned so it would be impossible to have cows without permission of the owner.

I live in a different culture where everybody raises chickens, ducks, turkeys and other avions and because i live in a rural place, they graze on shared 'public' lands and wander into public lands also and the lands are so lands are so large and uninhabited that it would be wierd to say to anyone your chickens shouldn't be here.

So in that way people do have to fence their own property, my chickens are relying on permission from the owners and from the public. I have had to cage a few roosters that were consistenly leaving and the property owner told me they were going to kill it, so until i could get more hens to keep them home, i caged roosters before.

Anyway, my fence is barbed wire and green bushes, but it has holes and animals escape and enter. It is nearly impossible to fence it since its on a mountain. I guess i am lucky we get to raise animals this way, and not live under so many restrictions.

Yes, i had pigs entering my yard at night in the beginning. They ate all my plants and i was livid because i have about 360 feet of fence on a sloped mountain, it has taken me years to fill holes in my fence. I still get dogs entering at night and eating eggs and chicken feed.

Many of my neighbors chickens come to my property and eat my feed. I have had to change how i feed my birds to contain that problem. I suppose i have the right to go to them and complain, but i want to remain friendly with them.

I really can only say that self containing animals is not part of how we raise our animals, but we have huge green areas of mountains and river that are for the people to use. Yes it goes both ways, i lose a lot of feed to stray chickens and dogs. I have had to build secure areas for my chickens to sleep at night and lay eggs. At the same time i have no recourse if a chicken does not return to my house or if someone poaches them. Many of my neighbors lose chickens to thieves, and some people have been thrown out of our village for stealing chickens. Thieves are not treated well.

So i guess i am used to raising chickens where everybody does it. He must have a nice patio with water and food that attracts the chicken, and ge doesnt like cleanong their poop. To the original posters neighbors, they would have no recourse if the chicken were to disappear or if the cat were to kill it. The op could warn the neighbor he is going to kill their chicken, but that creates a massive tension, unhappiness, and escaltes small issues into potential wars and uneasiness. Otherwise yes, i feel wholeheartedly that the op has to build his fence so the chicken doesnt enter unless he is willing to make it disappear and for his peace of mind.

I mean unless it is impossible, i guess i was wondering if that wouldnt be the easiest solution to maintain the moral high ground, and he said he raised chickens before so he has some empathy for them.

 

[STACEYH]

When you become an animal owner you take the responsibility of them. You don't pass the buck to someone that didn't want the animal.