Neighbor Took My Chickens

[LizzzyJo]

Kind of think we all need to start asking the "adult/living with parents/child" question with every post; not age. As helpful as this community is, we are or could be giving a young adult a VERY ADULT response that could lead to some very ADULT reactions if the maturity level isn't there. As this seems to be happening a lot.

I know if an 19 year old vs a 50 year old attitude/wisdom/demeanor came at me with a couple of these responses given, my response would be much much different.

I fully agree with this. I’ve had to back peddle a couple of posts with advice for this reason. Something like a ‘junior member’ tag would be helpful. It would also prompt more supportive kindness in responses.

 

[Kusanar]

I fully agree with this. I’ve had to back peddle a couple of posts with advice for this reason. Something like a ‘junior member’ tag would be helpful. It would also prompt more supportive kindness in responses.

The problem is that BYC doesn't want anyone to know if someone is a minor or not, so, they obviously wouldn't tag them that way.

 

[thepick4uchicks]

Call the police, have third party witness to the whole thing, if need be file a police report for future records of misconduct. Then talk to a lawyer for advice on what can be done to mediate the situation to getting your property back. Chickens are your property.

The chickens are your property. I am on your side. Please be sure of that. I want to be clear on that but I want to make this clear also. You really need to be prepared for a fight on your hands. She or he could come back with a list of damages that said your chickens did to her property if indeed she decides to let them go back to you and let you have them with the police. She may press charges and expect payment or restitution to be made then and there for any “damages” they might have been regularly doing in their free ranging off of your property into hers. She has that right especially if their are county or city ordinances stating so. That is my point. I am definitely for you getting your chickens back. What she is doing is underhanded and down right sneaky and crappy. If she had a real problem with your chickens doing damages onto her property she or he should have come to you and said so giving you the chance to correct the problem. You don’t just take someone’s dog or shoot it if it’s caused a problem on your property these days. Although many people in rural areas still do this underhandedly. Chickens too but it is not right. I have preached this on here in a couple of other places recently and I will say it to you now. As it gets closer to winter time- even as it is close to 100 degrees on the heat index at my house in MS. The closer it gets to Thanksgiving and Christmastime the more desperate people become and the more concerned they become with what is or what is not in their wallet. So lock up your flock if you want to keep it because four legged and two legged predators are just as dangerous alike if you want to keep them. I am not kidding people. Heed my words said many a prophet. My girls are four houses down from the police station and they are Inside a locked chain link fence inside a locked metal and wood solidly build run and at night the coop is very solid and locked with a master key lock also. I have nicely bred hens that I paid a nice penny for and I don’t want to be stupid about that and have them end up in a pot. They are too good for that unless they become feather pickers or something and that will be my table they are on not anyone else’s. Watch out for your birds I tell ya.

 

[LizzzyJo]

The problem is that BYC doesn't want anyone to know if someone is a minor or not, so, they obviously wouldn't tag them that way.

Oh I didn’t know that. Is that because only adults can sign up? I can’t remember if that’s true or not it’s been too long!

 

[aart]

The problem is that BYC doesn't want anyone to know if someone is a minor or not, so, they obviously wouldn't tag them that way.

Exactly....it's to protect them from pedophiles, but is a catch-22 when trying to communicate.

Oh I didn’t know that. Is that because only adults can sign up? I can’t remember if that’s true or not it’s been too long!

No, that would be impossible to administer

 

[ChocolateMouse]

Oh I didn’t know that. Is that because only adults can sign up? I can’t remember if that’s true or not it’s been too long!

No it's because minors are easy targets for predators and scammers of all kinds.

 

[LizzzyJo]

Exactly....it's to protect them from pedophiles, but is a catch-22 when trying to communicate.

No, that would be impossible to administer

omg. We are a terrible species. I would have never thought of that. Thanks for letting me know.

 

[-Kiwi-]

I fully agree with this. I’ve had to back peddle a couple of posts with advice for this reason. Something like a ‘junior member’ tag would be helpful. It would also prompt more supportive kindness in responses.

I agree with that too. It can make things very complicated and there can be a lot more misunderstandings, yet I agree its not a good idea for those things to be out there.

The chickens are your property. I am on your side. Please be sure of that. I want to be clear on that but I want to make this clear also. You really need to be prepared for a fight on your hands. She or he could come back with a list of damages that said your chickens did to her property if indeed she decides to let them go back to you and let you have them with the police. She may press charges and expect payment or restitution to be made then and there for any “damages” they might have been regularly doing in their free ranging off of your property into hers. She has that right especially if their are county or city ordinances stating so. That is my point. I am definitely for you getting your chickens back. What she is doing is underhanded and down right sneaky and crappy. If she had a real problem with your chickens doing damages onto her property she or he should have come to you and said so giving you the chance to correct the problem. You don’t just take someone’s dog or shoot it if it’s caused a problem on your property these days. Although many people in rural areas still do this underhandedly. Chickens too but it is not right. I have preached this on here in a couple of other places recently and I will say it to you now. As it gets closer to winter time- even as it is close to 100 degrees on the heat index at my house in MS. The closer it gets to Thanksgiving and Christmastime the more desperate people become and the more concerned they become with what is or what is not in their wallet. So lock up your flock if you want to keep it because four legged and two legged predators are just as dangerous alike if you want to keep them. I am not kidding people. Heed my words said many a prophet. My girls are four houses down from the police station and they are Inside a locked chain link fence inside a locked metal and wood solidly build run and at night the coop is very solid and locked with a master key lock also. I have nicely bred hens that I paid a nice penny for and I don’t want to be stupid about that and have them end up in a pot. They are too good for that unless they become feather pickers or something and that will be my table they are on not anyone else’s. Watch out for your birds I tell ya.

Thanks!

 

[thepick4uchicks]

my parents know about this and they are the ones handling it but they asked me to get advice on here too. I'm not planning on letting her keep them by any means. These were my first incubator hatched chicks and they are all my personal pets. I'm currently working on fixing the fence and it certainly wont happen again. We're going to try to talk to her and if that fails, then we'll get the police. I had no right letting my chickens on her property so she has the right to be annoyed but that dosn't mean she can capture and keep my chickens.

OMG! She needs to be horsewhipped! For a grownup to take property from a child is absolutely wrong! I did not realize that you were not an adult either. I am so sorry! She absolutely needs charges brought against her for certain baby. This is absolutely uncalled for. She is a thief and a trouble maker. She is not a neighbor. Do not call her that. It is too nice of a term for her. I am glad your parents are getting involved. I am fuming. My ears are burning. I bet your parents heads are about to come off. I know mine would be because mine really is from here. If I was there I would handle her for you. It wouldn’t take me but just a second to have this problem rectified for you in just a Heartbeat. Please keep us posted. This is just wrong and she knows that she can take advantage of you because you are young and she thinks she can get away with this. That has no bearing on the matter. You still have rights and more so. Do not let her get away with it. You call the police yourself if you have to. They are yours. Good luck baby and you stand up for yourself. They are after all chickens and they could not have done that much damage.

 

[Acre4Me]

If she had a real problem with your chickens doing damages onto her property she or he should have come to you and said so giving you the chance to correct the problem.

<scratches head>

So, not following usual "keep your animals on your property" type rules, not to mention common curtesy of not letting your animals repeatedly go onto other's property and poop and cause destruction (mild or not), means that the person with the problem has to go out of their way to tell the offender that they are not following laws?

hmmm...

most people do not like confrontation, and would not say anything for awhile or at all, but be irritated with the situation. It is not right to put the responsibility on the non-owner neighbor. So, NO the neighbor is not required to tell her that her free-ranging chickens are pooping all over her yard bc as the chicken owner, she should be aware of where her chickens are and to keep them on her property.

The neighbor should give the chickens back, I agree with that.

I also agree that chicken owner may need to pay restitution of some kind....even if that is just elbow grease of cleaning off the patio of the neighbor or whatever.

She needs to be horsewhipped! For a grownup to take property from a child is absolutely wrong!

LOL. horsewhipping - rather violent don't you think? settle down.

Also, the parents are the property owners and the ones ultimately responsible for the chickens. I think that the chicken owners in this case just got careless and weren't really paying attention - not meaning any harm, but also were not paying attention to their livestock and where they were going.