Chicken Cruelty

[lazy gardener]

You can't enter someone's property and take their animals. Nor can you kill those animals. Contact the appropriate authority. Animals are often seized by animal control or humane societies for neglect or abuse.

 

[redranger209]

You can't enter someone's property and take their animals. Nor can you kill those animals. Contact the appropriate authority. Animals are often seized by animal control or humane societies for neglect or abuse.

As @JedJackson said, it’s unlikely anyone’s gonna help. I know I’m grasping at this point, but maybe some kind of lawsuit to legally take the birds? I have no clue.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

As others have mentioned,call animal control, and if they want chickens tell your neighbors to get a book or something and read.

 

[TheTwoRoos]

You cannot walk into someone else’s property and steal and maybe even kill the birds,that would probably causeworse issues then the current issue now.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Hey, they’re not all bad. My chickens have an extended run past the one included one. My birds are all healthy and happy.

What size is your coop? What size is your run?
I notice you said you have an extended run past the original run. Was that because the original one was to small in your opinion?

 

[redranger209]

What size is your coop? What size is your run?
I notice you said you have an extended run past the original run. Was that because the original one was to small in your opinion?

Yeah, it was for 3-4 birds, I have seven. They all fit comfortabley in the extended run, I don’t know exact dimensions.

 

[The Moonshiner]

Yeah, it was for 3-4 birds, I have seven. They all fit comfortabley in the extended run, I don’t know exact dimensions.

Without knowing dimensions or seeing it myself I can't really say about your set up.
Out of the box with all the ones I've seen I would say more then probably 2 LF birds is too small and cruel.
But I have a lot of mine free range on 3 1/2 acres. I actually don't have a coop just various shelters and out buildings. Mine free range 24/7. With my set up and no fort knox to keep predators 100% from taking a bird many would say my setup is cruel.
That's the problem with OPs post. We all have different opinions about what is cruel or not and right or wrong and not enough info to even make any call even if just our own opinion.
I mean locked up 24/7 in a well ventilated 8 X 10 coop for 6 birds wouldn't sound like something id be so bent out of shape about that I'd be talking about trespassing and stealing for.

 

[gb77]

Welcome to backyard chickens! We are glad you joined us, sorry it had to be on an unfortunate situation.
I really don't know if the city will do anything, it can be worth a try to attempt and save the chicken's lives.
Would your neighbor accept friendly advice on how to better keep the chickens cool in hot coop? Such as frozen fruits and veggies, constant fresh water, and frozen water bottles they can lay against.

Hi. I've done this already, talk to them about the stress this has on the hens and what that does to their immune system and mental state, as well as some blocks of ice to peck at and a little watermelon. Last year I saved a couple of his hens from neighboring cats, as they crept into his yard, heading right for the hens. The shanty of an outdoor pen was ridiculous and the hens were always escaping. I told him about the times I chased off cats and placed the hens back in the pen. I also left a note for them the first time that happened, as the hens were out till way past 11 PM and they weren't home. They never seemed concerned when I spoke to them, and never did anything to fix the problem. I've even offered to go and buy the materials for an outdoor run or coop, they refused. Our animal control officer is the scum of the earth and there's actually a pending suit filed against him for cruelty. The neighbors said the hens don't need blocks of ice as the ice will melt too quickly, nor do they need fruit as their grains are all they need. Saturday in front of the police, the wife said that, those hens do not need to be outside. I had chickens years ago, my former father on law has had them for at least 30 years as did my dad, friends and former farmer neighbors. I've never seen a poor chicken be confined 24/7 and denied the ability to even be a chicken and do what chickens do, peck , take dirt baths, and spend their days looking for seeds and bugs.
I can't take seeing that coop every single day knowing that those hens are only being kept alive and not having any quality of life I am going to City Hall this morning, but if I go complaining about the mental health of the birds, I know I'll be turned away. So I have to find a code violation, hopefully. I don't want to do all of this, but I can't let these hens suffer. Four have died and he said he plans to replace them, as he can have 6. If anyone else has ever had this problem, and been able to fix it, please let me know what you did. Thank you.

 

[gb77]

Call your local humane society. How do you know that 4 have died already?

He told me 4 have died and he plans to replace them. The Humane Society will come take them, but the police have to ask them to and because they had water and food, they couldn't.

 

[gb77]

You're not giving enough information to know.
So I assume you're saying they have 6 hens? How big is this coop exactly? How well is it ventilated? Etc, etc.
Sounds bad but they've been in there for months on end and aren't dead yet so hard to say.
In my opinion its cruel to keep chickens in any of the prefab coops that come in a box from TSC and such but tons of people do it.
Really had to make a call with info we have.

The coop is 80 in tall by 70 inches wide and roughly 40 inches deep. There's 2 windows in the front but there's no circulation. The breeze blows against the side of the coop. I know all of this as the coop is literally a few feet form by backyard fence. We have very small yards here. It drive my dogs nuts, as they smell the hens and hear them. But that's not what my biggest problem is. It is a prefab, I think it's from Amazon. 4 of this 6 hens have died. I know this happens. But it's not helping them by living the way they do.