Protection against crazy neighbor?

[jentralala]

In the process of building our 8x8 chicken coop (for 8 chickens, using the frame from an old playhouse) and while I know it (theoretically) should be safe from all kinds of wildlife, my main concern is the absolute crazy drunk neighbor who lives behind me. I'm going to put a few panels of privacy fence up (to shield the run from view) and cover the back of the run in muscadine grapevine to make it as hard as possible to see the chickens while they're in their run.

The run is going to be inside our fenced 1/8 of an acre back yard. I'm going to put padlocks on the two fence gates, and padlocks on the coop and run doors. The run is going to be made out of chainlink (the whole thing, even covered in chain link) and the coop will have large areas of hardware mesh for ventilation (I live in central florida).

Anyways, does anyone have any other ideas to keep my coop protected from a crazy drunk neighbor? I'm looking into a game cam and a spotlight, and thinking about maybe putting a sign on the fence, something like 'yard under camera surveillance' (even w/o a camera up).

This neighbor is legitimately off his rocker. Last week, while we were sleeping, in the early hours of the morning he dismantled the back of the wooden fence around our side yard property and burned it. He was disgustingly drunk. Police were called and a report was made, of course, but it's made me even more worried. Especially since I'm pretty sure he suspects it was me (and I did, but I didn't tell him) who called animal control on him a few months ago for abusing his dog (no food/water for 9 hours a day, no shelter, staked on an 8ft lead, barked like crazy, got loose at least once a week, and the dog was often hit by the owner)

Does anyone have any other ideas? I'm contemplating electric wire, but I'm not sure how legal it is where I live since I'm in a suburban area.

 

[Trefoil]

How about motion sensor lights aimed at where he would be coming from? Has he been required to replace the fence he burned? Because of that incident you may be able to get a personal protection order against him coming on your property, then get a trail camera for proof.

 

[iwiw60]

X2 for SURE!!

 

[4 the Birds]

In the process of building our 8x8 chicken coop (for 8 chickens, using the frame from an old playhouse) and while I know it (theoretically) should be safe from all kinds of wildlife, my main concern is the absolute crazy drunk neighbor who lives behind me. I'm going to put a few panels of privacy fence up (to shield the run from view) and cover the back of the run in muscadine grapevine to make it as hard as possible to see the chickens while they're in their run.

The run is going to be inside our fenced 1/8 of an acre back yard. I'm going to put padlocks on the two fence gates, and padlocks on the coop and run doors. The run is going to be made out of chainlink (the whole thing, even covered in chain link) and the coop will have large areas of hardware mesh for ventilation (I live in central florida).

Anyways, does anyone have any other ideas to keep my coop protected from a crazy drunk neighbor? I'm looking into a game cam and a spotlight, and thinking about maybe putting a sign on the fence, something like 'yard under camera surveillance' (even w/o a camera up).

This neighbor is legitimately off his rocker. Last week, while we were sleeping, in the early hours of the morning he dismantled the back of the wooden fence around our side yard property and burned it. He was disgustingly drunk. Police were called and a report was made, of course, but it's made me even more worried. Especially since I'm pretty sure he suspects it was me (and I did, but I didn't tell him) who called animal control on him a few months ago for abusing his dog (no food/water for 9 hours a day, no shelter, staked on an 8ft lead, barked like crazy, got loose at least once a week, and the dog was often hit by the owner)

Does anyone have any other ideas? I'm contemplating electric wire, but I'm not sure how legal it is where I live since I'm in a suburban area.

To me it sounds like their is a conflict going on between you and the neighbor if he is messing with your fencing.

Not sure if you are more concerned about your safety or your chickens safety. Anything that you build can be burned or opened with wire cutters or bolt cutters. I would probably add a 6 ft. high privacy fence between your yard and the neighbor's yard as a visual block to try and avoid any escalating conflicts. If he continues with damaging your property then legal action and video proof may be your only recourse.

 

[jentralala]

I'm going to ask my dad if he would be willing to install motion sensor lights, as it's part of what he does for his job. There will be electricity in the coop (and there will be lights on the front of the coop, but they're just standard switch lights.) Does that give me any more options?

The police came and after discussion it was decided the neighbor would be required to fix the fence within a 30 day period. We had the option to press charges but we decided against it as we really didn't want to create animosity. This is one of very few interactions we've ever had with this neighbor, for the most part we just completely ignore each other. If he doesn't replace the fence (and it's been over a week without him making any efforts), I'm unsure the route we will take. It was just an old rotten fence, and he claimed he thought it was his landlords (which is bs, it was 10 foot into our property line and the fence continues all the way around our property). I don't know if it would be worth the trouble to go further.

The police were solidly on our side though and gave us a lot of numbers and paperwork should he be a problem again, and were very quick to defend us and put the neighbor in his place when he got snarky. It also helped that they were both almost 7 foot tall, lol.

I'm not really concerned about my safety, as he's lived there for several years now, and we've only had maybe...4? interactions. Other than that we go our own ways. I don't THINK he would do anything against my chickens, but him being drunk all the time worries me a lot, that he might do something stupid. If something happens to my chickens, I want it to be to the point where it's obvious that a human HAD to have done it. We have a shed near his property, and so far he's never messed with it. But I want to cover all my bases to keep my chickens safe, and that should something happen, I have more than enough evidence to take him to court over it.

We are currently looking into 6 foot privacy panels, although we would have to piece it together over time. $38 per 8 foot panel...ouch.

We have some small trees that give some obscurity between properties, and they're covered in vines, but I want to make it impossible for him to see them. Out of sight out of mind, right?

He just seems to me like the type of person to see a chicken and think, 'ooh, free lunch.'