How do I keep my niehgbors chickens out of my yard?

[kdk1101]

We had to do a lot of grading in our yard and with heavy clay soil it is a nightmare to get the grass back. My chickens are kept in a coop and run but my neighbor lets his free range and they prefer my yard. How do I keep them out of my yard to get grass eatablished? I'm talking aobut a half an acre and part of it is fenced. HIs birds are Satndard Old English so a 4 foot fence is nothing to them. Sod is out of the question because enough sod to cover the area is about $13,000 (21,780 square feet of yard, sod is around $300 per pallet, and a pallet covers 500 sq feet.

 

[Chookchicken]

It’s his responsibility to keep his chickens out of your yard, not yours. You could talk to him about his chickens being in your yard. There isn’t much you can do to keep them out yourself, especially since you couldn’t put the chickens in a coop. I would say get a higher fence but that’s pricey. Could you put something on top of the fence to stop them from jumping it? That’s the only idea I have at the moment.

 

[kdk1101]

It’s his responsibility to keep his chickens out of your yard, not yours. You could talk to him about his chickens being in your yard. There isn’t much you can do to keep them out yourself, especially since you couldn’t put the chickens in a coop. I would say get a higher fence but that’s pricey. Could you put something on top of the fence to stop them from jumping it? That’s the only idea I have at the moment.

He will not do that and the front yard isn't fenced. If anything happens like his chickens crapping all over my husband's work vehicles and the carport for them he says "The chickens do what the chickens do." He is also fond of telling us that he leaves his hens out because he wants to know who is smart and fierce enough to survive the dogs, coyote, hawks, a couple of foxes, owls, and the new pair of eagles in the area before he breeds them. When a hen gets eaten he generally responds to that with "Everything eats the chicken." He is not going to do anything to help the situation.

 

[BGcoop]

Can you simply explain to the neighbor that you are trying to establish grass and ask him to keep his birds penned just long enough for that to happen? Other than that I would try maybe doing some type of fence extension, maybe with netting or something similar that is low cost and temporary.

 

[BGcoop]

He will not do that and the front yard isn't fenced. If anything happens like his chickens crapping all over my husband's work vehicles and the carport for them he says "The chickens do what the chickens do." He is also fond of telling us that he leaves his hens out because he wants to know who is smart and fierce enough to survive the dogs, coyote, hawks, a couple of foxes, owls, and the new pair of eagles in the area before he breeds them. When a hen gets eaten he generally responds to that with "Everything eats the chicken." He is not going to do anything to help the situation.

Then I guess the chickens that end up on YOUR property could get eaten....by you! maybe if he loses ENOUGH birds he will rethink his position. I’m sorry it sounds like you have a crappy neighbor. Other than fencing it is difficult to keep the chickens away.

 

[Chookchicken]

He will not do that and the front yard isn't fenced. If anything happens like his chickens crapping all over my husband's work vehicles and the carport for them he says "The chickens do what the chickens do." He is also fond of telling us that he leaves his hens out because he wants to know who is smart and fierce enough to survive the dogs, coyote, hawks, a couple of foxes, owls, and the new pair of eagles in the area before he breeds them. When a hen gets eaten he generally responds to that with "Everything eats the chicken." He is not going to do anything to help the situation.

That is terrible. You could try calling animal control when their in your yard. He just sounds like a nuisance to society.

 

[kdk1101]

The guy that built our coop didn't read our county ordnances well and my coop is about 3 feet too close to the peoperty line due to the total square footage of the coop and covered run. If I call the county on him then they could get on me about my coop. It is a 24x31 metal carport with concrete footers around the run and a 10X24 foot pad for the coop. We can't move it. The ordnance is weird in that is lists setbacks for outbuilding as 5 feet from the property line. Looking at the UDO months later about something else I noticed a chart on a different page that said anything over 650 square feet needed a 20 foot setback. It was not clearly marked and out county is know to not make exceptions

 

[Chookchicken]

The guy that built our coop didn't read our county ordnances well and my coop is about 3 feet too close to the peoperty line due to the total square footage of the coop and covered run. If I call the county on him then they could get on me about my coop. It is a 24x31 metal carport with concrete footers around the run and a 10X24 foot pad for the coop. We can't move it. The ordnance is weird in that is lists setbacks for outbuilding as 5 feet from the property line. Looking at the UDO months later about something else I noticed a chart on a different page that said anything over 650 square feet needed a 20 foot setback. It was not clearly marked and out county is know to not make exceptions

Well then your in a tough situation. You can’t really do anything to his chickens or he might call the county on you. You could just put something spiky and tall on the fence, but apart from that unless you rebuild your coop, there isn’t really anything you could do. Sorry.

 

[Ringcraft]

Sounds like it's time for chicken and dumplings.

 

[KathieMc]

I would go with the idea of placing short stakes/posts in the ground and running bird netting from post to post. I would also make sure it's draped to the ground so the birds can't make their way underneath.