chicken_neighbour Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Dear All, I like hens! Please be assured of that! If I was at home every day, I'd be on this forum enquiring about keeping a few. But I travel away from home too much. But I've got a problem. A neighbour who lives 3 streets away owns a field next to my house. She keeps ducks and hens and they are all free range. She doesn't clip their wings. The ducks are fine but the hens live in my garden and dig up EVERYTHING, scratch the grass to shreds, scatter stones from the dug areas onto the grass (so I have to rake it before I try to mow it to save my lawnmower blades, they dig up my bulbs and eat the windfall apples before I get out to collect them! I put wire mesh and bamboo trellis along all my boundary fences but they just fly over the top - the last one I chased flew straight over the garage so even a higher fence won't help. So.... Do you know of any plants that hens hate the smell of - or any objects that frighten them enough for them not to want to enter? I'd really like to reclaim a bit of my garden and I don't know how! I have one vegetable bed completely boxed in with chicken wire which will keep my onions safe until the spring - but makes weeding the bed almost impossible. I can't put all of my garden in a cage! (And before you ask, no, the owner doesn't give me any eggs in return for feeding her hens 365 days of the year!) Can anyone help me - please? Chicken-Neighbour Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 That's a bit cheeky of the owner! I'd suggest helping them to clip the chickens' wings to stop them flying over. Nothing they really hate, so they'll just decimate everything Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 I think you are amazingly tolerant! Now, if I can keep my chickens IN my garden, I don't see why she can't keep her chickens IN the field. If necessary, she could invest in electric fencing which would also keep out foxes. Because if they are in your garden that means they are also vulnerable to predator attack. So, like DM, I think it's HER problem not yours. Of course, you could always be naughty, get your own coop and adopt them! Or at least send her the bill for the plants, extra fencing etc Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulad Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 oh dear me thats not good - gives us responsible chicken owners a bad name I would be mortified if my chucks dug up my neighbours garden. I really think you need to have a word with them and get their wings clipped. Good luck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicken_neighbour Posted November 27, 2013 Author Share Posted November 27, 2013 I think you are amazingly tolerant! Now, if I can keep my chickens IN my garden, I don't see why she can't keep her chickens IN the field. If necessary, she could invest in electric fencing which would also keep out foxes. Because if they are in your garden that means they are also vulnerable to predator attack. So, like DM, I think it's HER problem not yours. Of course, you could always be naughty, get your own coop and adopt them! Not so much tolerant as pretty helpless! She shuts them up at night to keep them safe from foxes. Beyond that I guess she knows there isn't any legal requirement to keep them on her own land! I did think of getting a coop and at least hoping they'd lay me a few eggs! That or building a shed and hoping a fox would come and live under it and scare them without eating them! She's a really nice person but seems oblivious to the damage they do and that it is upsetting. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Do they venture into anyone else's garden? If so, perhaps a quiet word with your neighbourhood police officer will send them off discreetly to have a word with her; if other neighbours are affected then she won't know who to blame! Personally I think she's taking the biscuit. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 I'd be inclined to invite her round one day to see the damage they are causing. And ask her what she proposes to do about it. If she's so nice, she'll be mortified. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Dogmother Posted November 27, 2013 Share Posted November 27, 2013 Great idea Patricia, and offer her some eggs (from her hens!) too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicken_neighbour Posted November 29, 2013 Author Share Posted November 29, 2013 Thank you all! I'll try the offering to help clip approach! And thanks for reassuring me that she is not the norm among hen keepers! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patricia W Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 We're all too worried about foxes and upsetting the neighbours to let our hens roam like she does! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
paulad Posted November 29, 2013 Share Posted November 29, 2013 I agree with the others - you really are being very tolerant - if you show her the damage and maybe give her a list of the costs to replace plants etc she might realise what she is allowing to happen. Plants arent cheap and its not fair you have to replace and repair because of her lack of responsibilty - Shame on her Good luck xx Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
chicken_neighbour Posted November 30, 2013 Author Share Posted November 30, 2013 (edited) Well our garden was never a showcase affair - just grass, old shrubs and side beds. But as I tried to start to cultivate bits of it properly so the hens enjoyed it more and undid what I was trying to do. It's not so much that they have destroyed something visibly - more that they perpetually prevent any progress! Interestingly, the last time I did a Google search (a couple of years ago) it turned up nothing useful but I've just done another and found this 10-year old article. So if offering to help clip wings doesn't work I may see if Environmental Health are willing to write to her - the hens are certainly 'interfering with my enjoyment' of my garden! Edited November 30, 2013 by Guest Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sandychick Posted December 1, 2013 Share Posted December 1, 2013 That is completely unacceptable I don't let my own chickens on my lawn or in the veg area! They have their own area of the garden to trash as they wish - and they do! Free range is all good, but take the concept too far and the chickens are not being kept safe in my opinion The majority of us are paranoid about not upsetting the neighbours and keeping our hens safe. It would be perfectly reasonable to insist that she either clips their wings or invests in some fencing to keep them where they should be. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lavenders_Blue Posted December 2, 2013 Share Posted December 2, 2013 Oh good grief, I can't believe this! One of my hens once (ONCE!) escaped into the neighbour's garden. She was there probably less than 5 minutes before I spotted her and went round to collect her. I was completely mortified! She had her wing clipped straight away and I made the fencing higher so she couldn't do it again. I think you need to have a word with your neighbour! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
