Problems with chickens!!

[whattacowgirl]

Hello everyone.

I need some serious help!
I've been going threw this since 2014 with my neighbors n there
Chickens! I'm literally fed up
With chickens...there doing damage
Scratching in my flower beds throwing my mulch out..on my picnic tables pooping up on my canopy...there hear everyday in my yard!
Like 10 or more.Ive called the
Law several times made reports
Nothing is being done...so how or what or who can I contact to find out what to do.
Can you tell me...
About an ohio law ...where it says you can't just let your dang chickens roam.
Please help!
We will greatly appreciated any and all help.

 

[bobbi-j]

Sounds like it's time to put up a fence,

 

[Monguire]

It is unfortunate that you are having to deal with this issue. The older and wiser I get (fatter & crabbier are suitable substitutes for older & wiser!) the more I'm convinced that there are simply two camps of people in the world....those that take their trash with them when they leave a movie theater and those that leave their crap for other people to deal with.

The former group represents everything that is good and proper in society...lawfulness, adherence to common-decency, respect for others, pride and responsibility. The latter group...well, if anyone reading this isn't picking up on the contempt bleeding through then chances are they're in said latter group!

At any rate, it reads very much like you've got a 'latter group' neighbor. Good options are limited. Talking with and finding peaceable resolution with the neighbor in question is obviously the best option. The largest obstacle will be overcoming the 'latter group' mindset. From all I read on BYC, involving law enforcement usually isn't worthwhile unless the laws in your locale are VERY explicitly worded. Nuisance-complaints are the worst for LE to resolve as the very nature of a nuisance is that there isn't a specific law to enforce/adhere to.

Making your property unattractive to the chickens would be another option. Perimeter fencing (does not have to be permanent or expensive), a dog that patrols your yard, strategic fences around prize gardens/flower-beds, etc.

The least savory, though no no less useful, option is SSS (Shoot/Shovel/Shut-up). When all else fails, this is a VERY effective way to deal with nuisance-animals so long as one adheres to ALL of the S's.

Me personally? As a chicken-lover, I'd build a secure coop & run and re-home these trespassing/wayward chooks. That way you'd at least get the eggs. Let the neighbor call LE and explain to them how the chooks came to be in your possession. It would be VERY humorous to hear the neighbor admit to LE that they came to be in your possession because he/she didn't maintain control of them.

At any rate, best of luck resolving this issue. Try to be as polite as possible as long as possible. Civility and decency are always worth the effort just as SSS is always a great ace to have up your sleeve when civility, decency and responsibility invariably fall on deaf ears.

 

[sawilliams]

And here i worry when just one or 2 of my birds jump the fence and get in the neighbors yard (he gets free eggs for the hassle).

I love the prior comment about removing them to your own yard in a better secured set up. Though if you don't want to keep them yourself maybe you can find another chicken raiser willing to take in the strays after you catch them. I would talk with LE about what rights you have to deal with animals on your property. I imagine that LE doesn't want to deal with it because besides being a nuisance chickens aren't necessarily dangerous, making it more of a civil issue then a legal one. Just make sure you are within your rights so if it does turn into a legal issue you have the higher ground.

I would like to assume that you have tried to talk to the neighbor, and perhaps they don't care. But take the time and talk to them again make it very clear that it is an issue and keep a record of your contact with them and their birds.

Worst case they try to sue you for taking or killing their birds you could always counter sue for cost of modification and damage you have experienced. So keep a record of costs too

 

[marktoo]

Talk to the owners about your concerns. Should it continue, butcher a few & invite the neighbors for dinner.

 

[centrarchid]

Law suite time. This is likely not the best venue to find support nor advice on such an effort. Look into you state, county and possibly municipal statutes concerning trespassing livestock and possibly explicitly poultry. If you are in a rural setting you will not be able to simply treat the birds like pest so you may need to be able to house confine birds properly as part of your efforts. Killing and eating birds outright I do not think is legal in most instances.