I have FREE LOADING CHICKENS! UPDATE!!! POST 1

[joebryant]

Quote:
Yes, you are. Ain't it fun!

 

[dsqard]

I don't think you are an evil egg thief for putting out a nesting box for the neighbor's chickens. That is how our whole chicken experience started. We just moved to Utah about seven months ago and the neighbors have chickens. They have white leghorns. Now I know that they feed them but they were free range all of the time. We put up a barn for our horses and when the chickens next door discovered the horse "piles" they started visiting every day. The neighbors would come over every now and again to round them up but usually they would just roam around and go home when it was getting dark. The mom would apologize for the chickens coming over and I told her it was no problem. She said we could keep any eggs we found. Well for about a month we were getting an egg a day, sometimes two so I did set up a "nest" for them in a big horse feeder so that they wouldn't lay the eggs in my feed buckets.

Well I guess the neighbors got tired of losing those eggs to us so they built a pen to keep the chickens in and we loved the fresh eggs so much we went and got our own chickens. Since your neighbor's chickens are eating some of your feed, I think it is only fair that you get to keep any eggs they lay on your property.

 

[Ed62]

Quote:
I say you keep the eggs, and you don't need an excuse. But if you do need one, just tell them some crazy yankee made you do it.

Ed

 

[mom2to]

this is a funny post. i say make a nest box put out a little extra feed and see what happens. lol will you take some pics? good luck

 

[Judy]

If they already go in your coop to eat they may go in there to lay eggs as well. Obviously you wouldn't be able to tell your eggs from theirs.... If they don't ask, and I'll bet they won't, I certainly wouldn't bring it up. And they might not need a nest outside, just a casual pile of straw in a sheltered corner or something -- after all, chickens lay where they want in the end, there's not really a lot we can do to encourage --

 

[GoodKids]

Wow, your story is nearly identical to mine! Our neighbor had a free-roaming rooster which was actually there before he moved in (left by a previous neighbor). He decided to get it a hen but didn't provide them any shelter or confine them so she would know that was "home." When she heard our chickens in my backyard, she slowly and cautiously came a little closer each day until she was mingling with my little flock. I lock mine up at night, too, and I wasn't really surprised when one night she was in the coop when I went to do a head count. I'm like you in that I know she's eating my food, etc, and so the next day when there was a rosey-brown egg in the nesting box I put it in the fridge

My chickens are just now hitting laying age, so I know it was hers. She hangs with my flock all the time now and goes to the coop to roost at night with the rest of them. He told me to "just keep her," so I did!

Said neighbor also has a couple pekin ducks who waddle over early in the morning and wait patiently for me to let my pekin duck and drake out in the morning. They have been so kind to leave me a random egg in the grass next to the coop, and once I found one left by my ducks' pool, in exchange for a little scratch and lovin from Jax!

They won't go in at night as they have never been locked up before and I think it scares them to go through the door, ya know? So I am afraid a fox might get one if winter gets bad this year. The beautiful rooster has already disappeared.

 

[math ace]

SERIOUSLY, here is the deal - - - if they want eggs in their yard then they will need to keep the chickens in their yard.

Since they have already loss a few to predators, then they should understand the importance of keeping the chickens safe and put up at night !

So, enjoy your eggs from your new birds ! If your friends WAKE UP one day and realize their chickens are missing - - - they should know right where to come and get them.

My guess is they are so over the chicken experience.

 

[Judy]

Quote:
X2. Or they choose not to put time/effort/money into them.

 

[MareeZoCool]

I'd set out the extra nest boxes - the more the merrier. At least you'd know where to look for some extra eggs.