Driver hit chicken, wants us to pay for new bumper

[Mtn Laurel]

We live in the country, there are several properties that have free ranging chickens. Last week, there were pigs in the road. We are the only property who has even put a fence up towards the front. To finish fencing our acres would cost several thousand more and we just couldn't afford that this year.

These are turning into extremely expensive eggs!

The large single piece bumper does jack up the repair price. That's unfortunate. You should still ask for two estimates if you plan on paying for damages. Had they hit a wild animal - raccoon, deer - their insurance would pay for it less their deductible. But, since they know who owned the chicken, they obviously want to collect from the owner so as to not use their own coverage or be out the deductible.

There's really no way to prove they were speeding at the time of the incident. Even if they were speeding, domestic chickens should not have been in the road. Thankfully they didn't swerve and go into a tree or another car or you could be looking at Bodily Injury damages as well as Property Damage.

You need to keep your chickens from the road to prevent another similar situation. If you can't fence the property at this time, I'd suggest making them a paddock using plastic chicken netting. It comes in rolls, is fairly inexpensive, and can quickly and easily be installed. You use metal fencing rods to secure it. We use zip ties to make sure it's attached securely to the fencing rods. It's not much for keeping predators out but is great for keeping chickens in, which is what you're looking for.

Were it me, I'd get the two estimates and then decide if I could afford to pay it from pocket or if I needed to turn it over to my homeowners liability coverage. I don't know your insurance companies underwriting rules on backyard chickens but I do know that some companies don't like them. Be aware that it could impact your homeowners coverage should your company find that you have backyard chickens and are selling eggs.

 

[Dreyadin]

Wouldn't they still want a police report?

Sorry about your bird.

 

[Blue CopperHen]

you know, you have to be going pretty fast to make a dent in a fender just from hitting a chicken. court will know that.

X2 I agree

 

[Coralietg]

Well, I sure have no clue what to do about it. I guess we will see when they get back with an estimate.

I drove my daughter to school this morning, and maintained 20 the whole of our road. Unless a chicken stayed still and went under the wheel, it would likely survive being hit. Not to mention the range of view we have on our road, you could see the chicken minutes before you hit it. I can avoid frogs on our road with no issue.

 

[Kildare49]

Again, sorry for the loss, livestock on a public road...that's all the court will want to know. Been there done that ( neighbors horse got loose.....I can tell you exactly how that turned out with police report & who was responsible for damages).

 

[Coralietg]

In this State, concerning livestock at large on public highways, ""Livestock" means any animal, hybrid, mixture, or mutation of the species of horses, mules, donkeys, asses, cattle, swine, sheep, goats, domesticated deer, buffalo, bison, and beefalo.". It doesn't include chickens. No police report was filed, the person came back hours later to claim the damage.

 

[Viollettt]

I would not pay these folks anything without some legal advice. What happens if they come back later and say you paid them so you are guilty and then they say they were also hurt and want more money? Let them call the police. Let them take you to court. See if that is what they do. I'm thinking they've not done the correct thing here either way since they didn't call and report it themselves... immediately when it happened. I think they are trying to shake you down to see what they can get. The whole thing sounds ridiculous. Don't fall for it. If it was me I would call the sheriff's dept. or whoever would be in charge. Tell them your story and see what they say. It can't hurt to do that at all. Be safe.

 

[Dreyadin]

So.. did you see the damage? Right now she doesn't have a report filed- and really should. She's really lucky it was a chicken and not a kid. If the chicken was dismembered... that's really hard to accomplish at 20mph. She also left... hopefully she at least gave her insurance info.

Shouldn't she be contacting her insurance company? That's the route she's supposed to take anyways... not go to you and demand payment. That seems... off. Honestly, I'd be calling my agent and asking what to do in this situation. Paying her directly... no way.

 

[Sonoran Silkies]

As others have said, you need to call the police and ask them for information on your local and state laws; many states do not consider fowl to be livestock; they refer to them as poultry or fowl. You need to find out who is responsible for damage caused by animals that get loose, or are allowed to be loose.

Even if the chicken COULD have caused as much damage as is claimed (and I am suspicious), their driving was negligent in that if they were doing the speed limit they would have seen and avoided the chicken. That they came back hours later rather than immediately stopping and either calling the police for a report or coming to your door could indicate any number of things, including time for any substances such as liquor to clear from their body, or for them to come back when something else damaged their car more severely. I am not saying that that IS what occurred, but it COULD be. That your partner did not see evidence of the chicken on their bumper calls into question whether that is what damaged their car, or if it was something else.

Where there is doubt, who is responsible for damages definitely comes into play.

As others have said, let them handle things properly...don't be intimidated, and do not give in to demands to handle things directly. They need to contact their auto insurance, who may well contact your home insurance. Chances are that without a police report their claim will go nowhere.

In the meantime, you do need to prevent your chickens from accessing the road. As was already suggested, corral/pen them using inexpensive plastic or snow fencing. Or even put fencing up only along your roadway frontage to limit their access to the street, and use hte less expensive plastic stuff to go back from there for a good distance. 4'X50' plastic fence with 1" openings costs less than $10. Plastic snow fencing has 2" openings and costs bout $25, but I don't know its length. For your purposes, you are not trying to make a fence strong enough to hold them in; you are blocking their access, so what you need is significantly structurally less than if you were trying to keep in a dog or horse.

 

[Coralietg]

The Sheriff's Department just stopped by and asked some questions. He took pictures of our chickens and of the splat and feathers in the road. He spoke to my partner on the phone.

She stopped by this morning with a $500 estimate. It could be a lot worse. At this point I'm just hoping for 50/50. It was our negligence that let the chicken into the road, but considering the damage to the chicken and our open stretch of road, it's very unlikely the driver was doing the speed limit.