Neighbor's Chickens Trying to Join My Flock

[MildlyOffensiveChicken]

You could eat the chickens...........

 

[mtoews]

Get one to a vet and have the vet tell them they are starving. A vet can line out how much food they need a day with free range and in the coup. Science is a good teacher, and it's not you being the "I know more than you" person.

 

[AngBantamLuv]

I had the same experience... decided to talk nicely to the neighbors about the endlessly barking dog.. 24X7, attack barking at that. I got a big F U from them... so once i did call animal control, they knew it was me. That was fine with me at that point, because i was done with them (animal control refused to give them my name, but they figured it out, mostly because i said ill call animal control).

Talking to animal neglecting people doesn't work. They have a brain and have made the decision not to use it. If you want to maintain cordial relations, DON'T talk to them first.. just call and feign shock that animal control ever arrived.

If there is any food, water, and shelter, that will be sufficient as far as animal control goes. They need to look bad when they get there, so stop sharing your feed, unfortunately.

 

[Shahnaz13]

Thank you. That's the plan. I just hope they don't take it as an assault on their pride. I'd tried the whole "believe me, I've learned this the hard way" humble approach (which is an honest one--i've learned what I have through others and my own mistakes) and the one where I send detailed articles from BYC, like on ventilation, and they kinda smile and nod and ignore it. But I will give it a go. If this doesn't work I will likely be a sucker buying double my feed so I can help them, because I don't know that I could call animal control. Beyond this, we have a great relationship and I care about them. They just have "toughen up" (or lackadaisical) attitude about their birds.

 

[Shahnaz13]

A woman after my own heart ❤ - I wouldn't let the poor chicken suffer because they got the "wrong" home.
Happy to hear that you care so much and hopefully your neighbours will take your advice to heart- there is always hope .

 

[Weeg]

I think in this situation it would be obvious who made the call. They have seen OP feed their birds, they know OP knows what their birds' living conditions are.
I only say this based on experience...

I totally agree, there going to know, but, your still allowed to make an anonymous call.

 

[amyduck]

After reading the entire thread, I’d keep it simple and tell them that as they saw the other day, their chickens are coming over to your place, and you thought they’d want to know that that’s become a daily occurrence, which is fine with you - except that they are also starting to eat a lot of your feed and it’s getting to be too expensive for you. Ask if they could either put out more food for them, pick up an extra bag of feed for you, or reimburse you? You can add that you didn’t mind a couple of them foraging in your coop, but the word is now out and you’re just spending too much on feed. In addition if their feed is organic and yours isn’t- they may want to know that....Then, once the conversation starts it is likely that the question of how much food is enough will come up, and you could tell them how much you feed (based on your vets recommendation or what you learned here) and how you check your chicken’s keel to make sure the chickens lower on the pecking order are getting enough food. As for the water, maybe you can just put some extra out for them... tackle one problem at a time.... good luck!

 

[Bill752]

Maybe I'm a bit more easier going, if it's rooster(s) I'd clip their wings & throw him/them across the fence, if he/they returned then I'd pinion some wings. If that didn't stop him/them then I'd invite him/them into the kitchen to meet my wife but then they'd never see the sun again. You mentioned an egg & I can think of several things to do with an egg. For 3 years my wife didn't want me to sell eggs so we gave them away. This year she finally said that we would & she found someone that she works with that will buy as many as we can provide for her. Last year I increased our flock by 25 more chickens & my wife asked me if I had known about the pandemic if I would've bought the chick & I admitted that I should've bought them the year before. We free range & have self feeders & self-waterers & for more small scale we have minimal work. My advice would be to either sell the eggs or give them away, you save money for not having to buy & raise the chicks or buy them grown, but there's somebody that would appreciate any egg that you don't want/need & even willing to buy them.

 

[Chickenclaude]

I dont know how many chickens your neighbor has but I feed my chickens 1/2–3/4 cup food per chicken, per day. They are pretty ravenous when the food comes out even though they love to free range too. Free ranging is not an excuse to save on food. Animals need fresh water daily. And sometimes they need to be wormed. They need min. 1/2 cup feed everyday. Maybe they dont have a clue.? Ask them to leave enough/more food for when you’re watching them. Film them eating. Tell them that they are hungry..especially the runts...film yours eating. So they can see the difference. They are laying their eggs in your chickens nesting boxes because they are comfortable ..keep the eggs..
If they don’t take a hint, then call animal control. But try talking first.
Good luck, good neighbors are priceless.

 

[SkipperDoo]

Two cups of feed for 11 chickens is not enough daily even with free ranging and you're having to deal with their ignorance as a result. Each chicken depending on size should eat an average 1/2 cup daily of feed. Perhaps start taking their eggs, when they see none in nests they'll think they quit laying and ask for your advice on why. Then mention that if a hen is not getting enough nutrition, they will stop laying and suggest giving them a bit more feed because they're not getting enough free ranging currently. Then you can offer "their" eggs to them saying your girls laid plenty that week.

Also, you hadn't mentioned about ever seeing predators especially overhead but it's quite clear they really don't care about the health and welfare of their animals. Perhaps if you contacted a rescue and arranged for the ones frequenting your coop to be taken, the neighbor's might think something flew off with them. Meet the rescuers a few miles away from your property if necessary. The chickens will get a good home and plenty of feed.

I have 1 coop (10x18) of 50 chickens that is shared with 14 ducks (they only eat and lay eggs in there, sleep outside). They have free access within a 40x54 fenced pen instead of an unfenced yard that borders woods on 2 sides and a neighbor on the other. Neighbor wouldn't mind but we're only a few miles from an area hawks are routinely released and nest. It's nothing to see 4-5 circling over other nearby farms. I've learned how to mostly keep them at bay using large umbrellas with eyes painted on them. I have a smaller coop for my younger ones with 10 chickens and 4 guinearethat are within same pen but are separated by a fully enclosed smaller pen. I use it as an introduction coop/pen before integrating all together. Between all of them, I go through a 50# bag about every 3-4 days depending on weather. I also buy manager special fresh foods as a treat and get cracked corn seasonally. I also have baby monitors in my coops as an added safeguard - caught a racoon and possum trying to gain entry to my old coop years ago. I raise chicks or other babies several times a year in my built in nursery/storage area so I have to have power installed. I tried adding smoke detectors but they got clogged with dust from straw or pine shavings to easily so I just use baby monitors.

Good luck, it's never easy deciding the "right" approach. I've been there but over a neighbor's dog a few years back. I too fed her after seeing her getting skinnier and skinnier to point I was sneaking food over to her especially after having had puppies. They fed a large breed dog 1 cup of dry food daily and complained she was going through a 20# bag of food a month, that their small breed dog (some one stole a year prior) only ate a cup or less a day. I did speak up. We also put them up a kennel, built a dog house because they wouldn't bring them all inside in -20 temperatures. Yes, it was winter. So I was cooking a warm meal for momma dog and 7 puppies every night and sneaking it over at midnight, I had no dog myself. We assisted in finding homes for most for them. I sadly found 1 dead from exposure after momma escaped taking the rest with her. Don't know fate of other puppies. With the dogs health getting noticeably worse and she was here more than there, we told them since she was constantly visiting us just to let us take her. They did and she's almost 9 now, no longer outside or hungry. Best dog ever.

Thank you for doing that. I have a similar situation with my neighbor, 1 chicken and 1 dog. Both are neglected. Very difficult to read my neighbor other than very strange