Will neighbors flock mingle?

[ErvinFlock]

My neighbors chickens are frequently in my yard and others yards in the area. They even gift me with eggs around my house.
I just got 5 Chicks and plan on free ranging mine too. Will they be mingling with mine? Will they be laying in my hen house? Will there be fighting?
Any other things I should consider being new to chicken keeping?
-thanks in advance

 

[hysop]

If you are going to let them free range then they will be laying wherever they want and not on your nest boxes. I don’t know what it is about chickens but once they know you are collecting their eggs they go and find a new place to lay. Which is easier when they free range vs when they’re penned up. Maybe only let them free range in the afternoon.

 

[NatJ]

Will they be mingling with mine?

Yes

Will they be laying in my hen house?

They might sleep in your hen house, they might lay eggs in your hen house, they might lay eggs anywhere else on your property (as they already do), they might do none of these things. Your chickens might also try to do all of those things at the neighbor's place.

Will there be fighting?

Probably not enough to worry about--depends a bit on chicken breeds, but most will get along OK as long as they're not forced into a small space together (and free ranging gives them plenty of space.)

 

[lomine]

Generally, chickens need to be trained to lay in the nest box. Leaving a couple eggs in the nest is usually all it takes. They can be fake or they can be eggs you're willing to sacrifice. Just mark them so you know which they are.

The neighbor's chickens probably consider your yard part of their territory. Your chicks are going to be seen as interlopers. Some chickens are not aggressive and are fine with new chicks; some are the opposite. If I were you, I would not give the neighbor's chickens access to the chicks. I would fence the yard. Besides the safety issue, you might end up buying a lot more food when the other chickens start eating the feed. There's also the whole issue of diseases the other chickens might bring.

Something else to consider, you might be okay with the visitors to your yard but the other neighbors might not. I wouldn't be okay with it. I certainly wouldn't want bird's messing up my yard if I didn't already have them myself. I don't want to be bothering my neighbors like that so I keep my birds in my yard with a fence.