Chicken problem AGAIN

[TBRS1]

I've been having an ongoing conflict with my neighbor about his apparent inability to control his livestock. Specifically, this time, chickens, again.

For people who don't know, chickens are fine - as long as they aren't where they're not wanted. If they are, they are very destructive.

I had hoped that after the last time, when he insisted that he has a right to pasture his fowl on my land - insistence delivered with enough yelling and cursing to scare both my S.O. and myself - we would be done.

That was about 6 months ago, and the chickens are back.

I'm getting really sick of this Oliver Wendell*.



*explanation: an "Oliver Wendell" is a person who knows everything there is to know about farming EXCEPT how do do it.

The name comes from an old tv comedy called "Green Acres," where the main character is named "Oliver Wendell Douglas."

 

[Rodafina]

This neighbor sounds dreadful and tiresome.

 

[Judge]

Maybe it's time to go "Colonel Sanders" on the offending trespassers.

No more harm, no more fowl.

 

[TBRS1]

Oy.

Last time I called animal control (about his dog wandering around on my back deck and up & down the road) they told me to take photos. I'll take pics for a few days, then call animal control. That way, they can see it's a chronic problem, and not just a "one of" event.

His problem seems to be that he imagines farming is a "set and forget" thing. But fences have to be regularly checked and maintained.

Dude used to be a Marine. I hope he was never assigned to maintain a perimeter.

 

[Ronald Zeeman]

If they are free range eventually the local predators will catch on take them out foxes birds of prey. lived on farm as teen ager lost my geese this way at night. No coop dead over time.

 

[TBRS1]

If they are free range eventually the local predators will catch on take them out foxes birds of prey.

Seems like, but not really.

Most predators (exception is hawks) come at night. If chickens are cooped at night, they are fairly safe.

The hawks do take a few (I've found chicken feather gobs in trees), but, since he doesn't pay much attention to his flock, I doubt that he notices the missing ones.

 

[Judge]

Dude used to be a Marine. I hope he was never assigned to maintain a perimeter.

Point taken. So put it to a test.

Get some claymores and see if he notices the cordial wording on their front plate. If you hear a loud noise, you're probably right. Oops.

 

[Outdated]

Maybe it's time to go "Colonel Sanders" on the offending trespassers.

I had a similar idea but not quite so drastic.

In rural hardware stores you can buy a plastic egg for a few pennies. These are used to let the chooks know where they're supposed to lay, they'll lay where ever they see another egg. So make a little box in the corner of your yard for them to lay in with an "egg" already in it and the bastards can start paying rent.