Minnesota!

[holm25]

Tell  the dogs owner his dog killed your chickens,  Do not say you are going to shoot it. You open yourself up for huge long lawsuits.


Neighbors dogs are best taken care of in the dead of night with no witnesses.


Shoot, shovel, shut-up.

I know the law says you can kill any animal harassing, harming , do damage or about to do damage. BUT lawyers can make anyone seem guilty no matter how innocent.

People sue knowing they have no chance of winning but also knowing you have to hire and attorney and spend thousands defending yourself. Then they offer you a settlement for half what it costs you to defend yourself and force you to settle or go broke. The attorney and plaintiff do not care as the only costs they have are the attorneys time, and he does not get paid unless he gets money from you..

Nice guys finish last is a saying for a reason.  When dealing with a neighbors dog and you are serious about sending it to doggy heaven do not try to be the nice guy. There is no way you will be considered a NICE guy once you threaten to or kill their little loving Fifi.

Now I have to disagree with Minnie, I do not use a 22. I keep a loaded 17 by my door. way better faster longer range rifle.

X2

 

[holm25]

Question for you expert chicken folks. I live in suburbia and because of how the streets run in our neighborhood, three of us homeowners have backyards that are triangle shape and therefore they meet in one corner. Of the three of us, we used to have the nicest landscaped backyard but then I went and purchased chickens. I've fenced them off to the back half of the backyard which is where my yard meets the backyard of my two neighbors. Over the past week, both neighbors have begun nice landscaping projects near that corner whereas my corner of the lawn is barren and ugly as the chickens have killed all grass and vegetation in that area. I would really like to do some sort of landscaping back there as it looks really, well too be frank, it's an eyesore. Looking to see what some of you have done with the area of your lawn where the chickens spend much of their time. 

My first though was to put a colored mulch down but as we know, chickens love to scratch so it wouldn't be long before all of the mulch was in a pile 10 feet high and I would be back to a dirt barren lawn except now I would have a pile of mulch. A large area of their run is shaded but 1/3 of the run is in the sun. Along with something to cover the lawn of dirt, I was also thinking of flowers and plants the chickens wouldn't eat and dig up. 

Any ideas on how to 'beautify' our run? Although our neighbors, of whom we're friends with, say they don't care, I would still like to make it a little more pleasing to their eyes when they spend time in their backyard. 

If you have pictures of what you have time, I would really like to see them. 

Any ideas? Thank you!

The wood chips is a good idea. I cant think of anything right now. I'll look and see what I can find on the internet

 

[Scott16475]

The wood chips is a good idea. I cant think of anything right now. I'll look and see what I can find on the internet

Thank you! I've been 'googling' for ideas as well but nothing has jumped out at me just yet.

 

[duluthralphie]

Scott maybe some kind of rock garden or decorative stones would work in that area.


I live in the country and I consider my chickens my lawn ornaments.

 

[Dandelioness]

Question for you expert chicken folks. I live in suburbia and because of how the streets run in our neighborhood, three of us homeowners have backyards that are triangle shape and therefore they meet in one corner. Of the three of us, we used to have the nicest landscaped backyard but then I went and purchased chickens. I've fenced them off to the back half of the backyard which is where my yard meets the backyard of my two neighbors. Over the past week, both neighbors have begun nice landscaping projects near that corner whereas my corner of the lawn is barren and ugly as the chickens have killed all grass and vegetation in that area. I would really like to do some sort of landscaping back there as it looks really, well too be frank, it's an eyesore. Looking to see what some of you have done with the area of your lawn where the chickens spend much of their time. 

My first though was to put a colored mulch down but as we know, chickens love to scratch so it wouldn't be long before all of the mulch was in a pile 10 feet high and I would be back to a dirt barren lawn except now I would have a pile of mulch. A large area of their run is shaded but 1/3 of the run is in the sun. Along with something to cover the lawn of dirt, I was also thinking of flowers and plants the chickens wouldn't eat and dig up. 

Any ideas on how to 'beautify' our run? Although our neighbors, of whom we're friends with, say they don't care, I would still like to make it a little more pleasing to their eyes when they spend time in their backyard. 

If you have pictures of what you have time, I would really like to see them. 

Any ideas? Thank you!

Why not plant some kind of shrub like azalea or lilac, maple shrub, etc? It will give cover to the hens and be kind of like a screen for your neighbors.

As far as keeping it pretty on your own side, others may have better ideas. If I had a limited area, I would control their "grazing" by using portable fencing or paddocks of some kind. Reliming & reseeding after they leave an area & not letting them denude the area before moving them.

It would be interesting to see a list of "chicken proof" plants!

 

[nordicacres]

My chickens shred any perennials they come across so skip the flowers . We have a bed along our gravel drive that is all bushes with mulch on the ground. They do scratch in the mulch, but they don't go crazy. They really like to hide and nap under the bushes, though! And they don't bother the foliage. It was planted here before we moved in so I don't know what they are exactly.

 

[scandiafowl]

Somewhat of a happy ending..

Called McMurray this morning and explained what happened with the eggs. They were very cool about it and gave me 50% credit, which I immediately used to buy Jersey Giant chicks..

Faith restored.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Somewhat of a happy ending..

Called McMurray this morning and explained what happened with the eggs. They were very cool about it and gave me 50% credit, which I immediately used to buy Jersey Giant chicks..

Faith restored.

I have always had good dealing with McMurray. Even though I don't buy birds from them any more, I still buy a lot of supplies through them. They have always been easy to work with every time.

 

[Minniechickmama]

Thank you! I've been 'googling' for ideas as well but nothing has jumped out at me just yet.

If you were to plant perennials or shrubs or trees, you will need to put wire down all around the plants to stop them from scratching the roots to heck. Laying down hardware cloth, then mulching over that might protect plants. Honestly, I think the easiest thing would be to make raised beds 1-foot or more high, and use large planters to fill in areas and cover the naked areas the chickens go in. Put down mulch or even compost or grass clippings to let them scratch through in the paths between the beds and planters, it will attract goodies for them to eat and you don't have to worry about mowing as much between. You could also put some veggie in those raised beds that they would enjoy eating from later in the season, if you like that idea. Raised beds can have chicken wire mini-fences put around the top to keep the birds out too. I think that is the safest approach to having plants and chickens together.

 

[nordicacres]

My DH sent me a text on his way to work. He saw a mink/weasel (???) just down the gravel drive near some CRP land that attracts a lot of animals (which is great, but don't care so much for the predators it draws). Ugh! I promptly put the dog outside for protection.