Chickens in the road..

[NYRIR]

Quote:
Because some people are rude, inconsiderate and irresponsible?

Talk about rude much? All I did was ask for stories of others getting notes and the like from neighbors or other people who dont appreciate freeranging chickens occasionally crossing the road...

I would certinly hope that anyone going down my road would be going a speed reasonable enough to break for small animals considering there are multiple children (guess I better fence them in too? Sorry Ashton, no more bike riding) and a childrens home right down the street not to mention the dogs, deer, rabbits and other wildlife.

I have been driving backroads my whole life and have yet to break for something and go sliding into the ditch or damage my car in any other way. I understand the dangers of driving on a backroad and go slow and am cautious of anything that may cross the road just like others should be.

You dont see me driving into the suburbs and demanding that all the children, dogs, cats ect. that are in the roads be fenced in because its all about presonal choice.

Im just going to go ahead put up my signs and take my chances, obviously it would be horrible if someone got into an accident due to my chickens but anyone who drives on dirt backroads way in the middle of no where should be considerate of their speed due to all the wildlife and constant bad road conditions...IMO if you are going over 20mph or so on my road, you are asking for trouble anyways.

What ever happened to people slowing down and enjoying the scenery?


*Off to have a chat with my four freeranging cats about playing in the road...wonder how they all made it to over 5 years old without dying?

Right....

I'm grateful no one calls animal control around here...with all the animals running around ,they'd be on my road so much....someone WOULD get hit

 

[comptonsgonecountry]

I respect what you are saying but I feel that QUALITY OF LIFE is more important to me personally.My cats are 10 and 8 years old,have been outside/inside cats since 8 weeks old.They are still alive AND I have NO MICE in my garage as well as NO MICE in my house ...double bonus
Country living=animals in the road.

I need to get a couple barn cats

We have mice coming out of our ears... LOL.

My family and I moved to the country 9 months ago. I love the wild life and the various farm animals that venture over to our property to visit. The dairy farmer up the road from us had a couple of his cows that got of their fence and in to our yard. We didn't mind them being there but out of respect to the farmer we let him know just incase those cows decided to venture out to the road. Come to find out part of the fence was down. We still get occasional visits which we enjoy. Oh, and the benefits from those visits, free fertilizer for our lawn

We are not the minority we are the majority of neighbors who feel at ease with visits from the cows. This is the country!

Everyone around us has grown up in the country or has been here for years. We are city slickers that wanted to raise our family the "good old boy way". We love the moto "you work for what you have" and "we have your back". It's true, the majority of city folk that move to the country only want the scenery part of it. But they can't deal with country living at it's whole and best. Just like they have signs for deer crossing, tractor crossing and horse crossing on our road. I agree with bufforp89 and others on the chicken sign. At least you're warning drivers that there may be chickens crossing the road.

Whether driving in the city or country you have to slow down while driving. In the city I was braking for kids running out in front of my car to fetch their ball. Or adults who felt the world revolved around them and didn't care one bit about the crossing lights. Now I'm braking for deer, turkey and other wild life. I'll take the country roads any day over city driving.​

 

[pixiedouglas]

Sounds like much ado about nothing to me. Whatever happened to do unto others? If my neighbors animals or kids wander into the road... well that's why I drive slow and keep my eyes open. Sometimes peoples animals and kids get loose it happens to everyone. Nobody is perfect. If you hit a cow that wanders into the road, it might YOU that gets sued (assuming you live) depending on where you live NOT the other way around as was suggested.

I try and keep all my critters contained as best I can, but I can't see it being reasonable to leave people nasty notes just because a chicken wandered across the road a few times especially in the country. We don't always have to agree with everything our neighbors do and leaving people notes like that is just mean. If you have a concern about something then put on your grown up pants and go have a polite adult conversation about it.

Think everyone could do with a good review of those rules they teach you in Kindergarten.

And I'm not even old like Sourland.

 

[Pele]

I have lived in the country, and I controlled all of my animals, especially when it came to the roads.

All I know is that I wouldn't be able to live with myself if my animals somehow caused someone's baby girl or boy to lose control of their car and die. I just couldn't, it would break my heart. You even mentioned that there is a children's center up the road, so people are driving by with children in the cars. You probably got a note from a mother who almost drove her children off the road because she was trying to avoid your chickens.

Please don't take this the wrong way, but I find your feelings of ownership of the road and neighboring property to be curious. Animals can make themselves obnoxious in various ways that arn't immediately self evident. For example, if I didn't love my hens dearly, I would have been SUPER mad this month when they polished off my beautiful hostas and dug out my flower beds.

Chickens are still free range if they are roaming in a fenced acreage. And being fenced just along the road would still be free-ranging them.

 

[JoePa]

Cats - man don't get me started on cats - that roam all over the place killings birds. rabbits, chipmunks, and everything else that they can catch - they hunt all the time - sure they eat ncie but that ain't all by far - cats are probably the worste predator there is - it would be one thing if they were hunger but they just kill for the sport of it - we use to have pheasants around our place but the cats killed them all - I remember reading some years ago about a study done by a group - If I remember correctly it was at Wisconsin University - they studied a cat - it was fed so it wasn't hunger - over a course of a year and one half it had killed 1300 animals and birds which it did not need to because of hunger -

 

[BoltonChicken]

Cats and dogs wandering about is a different situation completely from a chicken on the loose. Even the fierce attack chicken has
never been know to kill other farm animals or pets, at least in my neighborhood. There are those who like to force their ideas
on others; but this is the first time I have heard of someone who got upset about seeing a loose chicken.
I suppose I was raised up in the country where everybody got along and it was considered very bad form to tell others what
they should be doing. Especially with their own livestock. I have dodged many chickens in the road, but I have never had the gall
to tell someone to keep their chickens penned up because I might run them over if they don't. Good grief, people. Life is too short.
Enjoy yourself. Raise some chickens. Mind your own house.

 

[Squirrelgirl88]

But where do you draw the line? Chickens are allowed in the road. What about ducks and turkeys. Ok now how about goats, llamas, sheep, pigs. Should there be a size limit or weight limit? And cats - well I love cats - but the Tom cats next door come and spray on my door mat and porch and the smell will take your head off.

The neighbor should have been up front with the chicken's owner - if they know the specific owner. But the owner is responsible for keeping the animal safe and that means out of the road. I understand the quality of life arguement. But we don't let our kids play in the road even if they think it's fun.

Bottom line - keep your chickens, ducks, turkeys, swine, cows, goats, llamas, donkeys and any other critters out of the road. I doesn't matter if the road is dirt, gravel, asphalt or somewhere in between.

We free range our chickens. We are adding fence on the perimeter of the property to keep all critters in/out. And the "old saying" is GOOD FENCES MAKE GOOD NEIGHBORS

 

[Pele]

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Amen

 

[NYRIR]

Quote:
Where I live? We get all that.
Yes,the kids DO play in the road...on their bikes,and 4 wheelers,and snowmobiles.Oh and 1 neighbor has a horse and buggy....
As for the cats spraying your mats? That stinks

The owners should neuter them of course!A neutered cat does not stray as far from home.
A chicken,duck or turkey if hit...is not going to total the car.(if you fly into a ditch because of it?You were most likely going to fast anyway!)..a pig,cow,goat,etc is a bit different IMO.
Maybe it doesn't bother me as much simply because I live in moose country...Now THAT will total your car!!

 

[rancher hicks]

Quote:
Cat's who have this habit don't usually have it for long.

Also it's DIRT road and it's 30 mph which isn't very fast. One has to anticipate animals in the road in the rural, country, boony, sticks , God's country setting. I once drove to pickup horse manure and the road went from paved to unpaved field to unpaved woods to unpaved field to paved again. The only thing missing was the river. You don't drive to fast on and unpaved road unless your foolish.

So OP do what you want and if the note writer cares to they can own up to it. If not it can't be that important to them.

Such is life. If only this were my worst problem.

Rancher