My horse is killing the yard chickens

[Amirah]

Bless you, what a horrible situation to be in. I have an unopened litre of regumate that is yours if you want it, just pm me x

 

[Sandstone1]

I understand you are in a difficult situation, You are doing something about it which is the main thing. I hope you find a solution.

 

[LaurenBay]

What a stressful situation.

First of all, I would contact rescue charities' to see if they can take some of the chickens on. Including the cockerel. Less mouths to feed. If he doesn't bother with them, I doubt he will notice if the numbers reduce.

I would then speak to the land owner and say you cannot feed them anymore due to financial reasons. It it not your responsibility to feed them. Advise you are happy to get the feed in and lock them up at nights, but he needs to contribute to the feed or knock money off your grazing cost to covert the feed bill.

Fence off the field for your mare and speak to the vet.

Good luck

 

[Mudfukkle]

She’s not a vile horse. She’s vile to the hens. They are not even mine. They belong to the land owner. They were here when I rented the yard 9 years ago. There are loads of them. I feed them. I shut them up at night. If a fox gets one because I missed one .. then I’m really upset. I’ll
Look into some form of fencing around her field. But it’s an acre ! They will fly over it as well. I’m racking my brains out. And I don’t have spare Monet as I earn chicken feed as a cleaner that all goes up look after the horses.

Go on Facebook pages for your area, and advertise for some chicken wire. There are free cycle pages for areas as well, either on Facebook or the internet. Someone may have some chicken wire laying around they don't want and may even gift it to you, or sell it to you cheaply. I've got loads of fencing doing that

 

[cremedemonthe]

If there's more than 50 he has to have them registered with defra, that's the law.
Does he pay for worming, de lousing/mites etc?
And when we had the bird flu scare a year or so ago, were they all contained in covered runs, again if not, it was breaking the law. We had to have all of ours penned in under cover for 6 months nearly before we were allowed to let them out.
He MUST take responsibility for his livestock and anyone who is involved with it also has a duty of care to stop his neglect as that is what it is, you are making it worse by feeding them. All the time you do it will continue, if that sounds harsh it's because it's the truth.
If it were me in that situation I would catch the birds, de louse/mite them, worm them, if none of this is done regularly and by the sounds of it, it isn't and re home what I could and cull the ones I couldn't. Kindest thing to do for all concerned.

 

[Auslander]

As I see it, there is a clear choice to be made. If the YO is not prepared or indeed able to fence-back her poultry (and TBH why should she? It is her place and these are her birds), then OP should do the decent thing and remove her horse forthwith to a yard where there are no poultry on-site. But people SHOULD be warned that this horse has aggressive tendencies and MAY possibly also attack dogs and other small mammals.

If someone was on my yard and their horse was killing my stock then they'd be getting marching orders. End of!! Simples. They might be the best livery in the world but the safety of my stock would win the day.

The OP rents the entire space- shes not a livery. The owner of the yard has no involvement with the chickens, which are essentially wild birds, and has abandoned them to be looked after and paid for by the OP, which she did not agree to as part of the deal. Why should she bear all the costs, and the stress of trying to keep them safe, when the owner appears to have forgotten they exist.

 

[monkeymad]

Is there anything you could 'spray' around the outside of your mares paddock that would make the chickens want to stay away? I know nothing about chickens, but if there is a substance they dislike could you lay a trail of it around her field , or a chicken scarecrow?? Hope you can find a solution x

 

[Stressymummy]

Anyone else find this thread faintly amusing ?

 

[twiggy2]

Wouldn’t clipping wings make the chickens more vulnerable to being killed by a fox? Maybe that’s more acceptable than being killed by a horse?

You only clip one side so they can get off the ground and flap about but not fly properly. If you clip both wings it grou do the birds and puts them at risk from fox etc.

 

[twiggy2]

What happens to all the eggs, do you collect and sell them to pay for their food etc?

 

[brighteyes]

Poor OP - I only read the first few posts but even I can see this is a new (and not at all unique) problem. My friend's gelding would have ducks, pigeons, hens, pretty much anything with feathers. He was otherwise a perfectly normal pony. Some pretty harsh comments directed at the OP, too. I'm now going to catch up on the next pages, see if she's had the mare pts on forum sayso ?

 

[brighteyes]

The OP rents the entire space- shes not a livery. The owner of the yard has no involvement with the chickens, which are essentially wild birds, and has abandoned them to be looked after and paid for by the OP, which she did not agree to as part of the deal. Why should she bear all the costs, and the stress of trying to keep them safe, when the owner appears to have forgotten they exist.

Hear, hear.

 

[Fjord]

Difficult situation I think. I'd be inclined to consider gradually rehoming a few chickens at a time, and pass it off as natural wastage/escapees/foxes etc.

If you can get any cheap chicken wire or anything that would help deter them getting into your mare's field, then it will help, it's got to be better than nothing.

 

[Christmascinnamoncookie]

I think culling the cocks would be essential or the flock will just keep expanding. I’d quietly re-home as many as possible. Taking on more is not helpful.

 

[Goldenstar]

Firstly you need to get the vet to look at the mare .
Aggression is often a sign of Marey problems is that the case solve that and the issue will go .
Secondly deal with the hen issue you need to get help to reduce the numbers .

 

[brighteyes]

Please don't let some of the replies get you down, you have been given some good ideas, and also some absolutely bitchy rubbish, ignore the latter, you do not deserve that in any way shape or form.

If it helps, I posted on here many years ago about my little Patterdale killing feral cats that came from a neighbours property. I was very, very distressed about it and asked for any ideas how to deal with it as it was impossible to stop the cats coming on our property, and watching my terrier kill them was some of the most distressing incidents I have ever witnessed and been unable to stop. Well!!! Some of the responses I got almost suggested I was throwing my little killer dog into an enclosed space of feral cats just so she could kill them - really it was very, very nasty and really upset me for a long time afterwards. Just an example how one very useful and generally nice forum can turn on people when they ask for genuine help when they are down and struggling to deal with something. Chin up, weed out the good ideas from the bad and hopefully something will get sorted out. Do let us know how you get on.

They like a random bash-up at the most unreasonable opportunities and members' situations. I blame Brexit and covid. I'm with Mrs Jingle and anyone else who has bothered to read the initial post properly. Good luck OP.

 

[Mrs. Jingle]

Anyone else find this thread faintly amusing ?

errr......No actually, not in the least amusing.

 

[teacups]

Once chickens have gone to bed they are more docile and easy to lift out for a wingclip. Even so 50 is a lot of wingclipping. You might want a helper.

I’m with the people who say rehome a few at a time, starting with the cockerel and say three or five of the hens. Then gradually three at a time, here and there.

In battery cages they have an A4 size patch of space, and the rescue charities recommend one square metre (approx 3 ft sq) per hen - how big is the barn they go into at night? Could they live there for a bit until you’ve sorted a solution to separate them from your mare?

 

[MiJodsR2BlinkinTite]

Have re-read above posts and am catching up. Appreciate the OP is in a difficult situation and are doing their best.

One suggestion, and I'm sorry but it is NOT going to be a palatable one; would be to get rid of the chickens, end of, and one way to do that - and IMO the most "humane" way if such a concept exists - would be to get a team of skilled Marksmen in and do the job that way. Job done, end of, no more problem.

Like I said, this ain't gonna be a "nice" suggestion or indeed a palatable one; but at the end of the day if this is a feral flock which has got out of hand, the birds will have inbred by now and this will have compromised their immune systems, plus probably have produced all sorts of physical issues as well; most chooks I know wouldn't ever let themselves be trodden on by a horse - they'd fly up out the way! And the fact that these haven't, indicates they may be in a weakened state and culling the whole flock might well be a welfare job TBH especially as it seems that there is no-one who will "claim" them and ensure they are looked after properly, so to cull the entire flock might be necessary purely on welfare grounds.

Am not expecting my suggestion to be a popular one........ but it is something which might be worthy of consideration for the reasons I have given.

 

[Fransurrey]

If there's more than 50 he has to have them registered with defra, that's the law.
Does he pay for worming, de lousing/mites etc?
And when we had the bird flu scare a year or so ago, were they all contained in covered runs, again if not, it was breaking the law. We had to have all of ours penned in under cover for 6 months nearly before we were allowed to let them out.
He MUST take responsibility for his livestock and anyone who is involved with it also has a duty of care to stop his neglect as that is what it is, you are making it worse by feeding them. All the time you do it will continue, if that sounds harsh it's because it's the truth.
If it were me in that situation I would catch the birds, de louse/mite them, worm them, if none of this is done regularly and by the sounds of it, it isn't and re home what I could and cull the ones I couldn't. Kindest thing to do for all concerned.

These are good points. By law he has to register a flock of more than 50 chickens. As far as bird flu goes, they were supposed to be undercover from later last year until sometime in the Spring this year (I forget exact dates). If he's not bothering to do any of that he risks the lot being culled.

 

[Pearlsacarolsinger]

These are good points. By law he has to register a flock of more than 50 chickens. As far as bird flu goes, they were supposed to be undercover from later last year until sometime in the Spring this year (I forget exact dates). If he's not bothering to do any of that he risks the lot being culled.

If the flock came with the yard, I would imagine that the responsibility lies with the OP. I think she should have made clear from the beginning what the arrangements for the flock would be. It sounds as if no-one has really considered welfare, apart from feed until the mare got involved. If OP has day-to-day responsibility for the flock, it won't be any good her telling DEFRA when they come around that 'they are not my hens'.

 

[Kat]

If the flock came with the yard, I would imagine that the responsibility lies with the OP. I think she should have made clear from the beginning what the arrangements for the flock would be. It sounds as if no-one has really considered welfare, apart from feed until the mare got involved. If OP has day-to-day responsibility for the flock, it won't be any good her telling DEFRA when they come around that 'they are not my hens'.

It is a decent point to make to the owner in order to encourage him to allow the flock to be rehomed/PTS as appropriate though. No one wants DEFRA breathing down their neck.

 

[millikins]

What I cannot understand is how they've survived long enough to go feral, and quite frankly a bit envious. I gave away my last 2, I couldn't let them free range even when I was at the yard with my dog, once Mr Fox knew they were there he'd take them in broad daylight.

 

[Ceriza]

The time to worry is when you catch her hunting them down and eating them ?

We had a Tamworth pig once that I saw snap at a chicken nicking her dinner and ended up being the pig’s dinner ?

 

[splashgirl45]

Have re-read above posts and am catching up. Appreciate the OP is in a difficult situation and are doing their best.

One suggestion, and I'm sorry but it is NOT going to be a palatable one; would be to get rid of the chickens, end of, and one way to do that - and IMO the most "humane" way if such a concept exists - would be to get a team of skilled Marksmen in and do the job that way. Job done, end of, no more problem.

Like I said, this ain't gonna be a "nice" suggestion or indeed a palatable one; but at the end of the day if this is a feral flock which has got out of hand, the birds will have inbred by now and this will have compromised their immune systems, plus probably have produced all sorts of physical issues as well; most chooks I know wouldn't ever let themselves be trodden on by a horse - they'd fly up out the way! And the fact that these haven't, indicates they may be in a weakened state and culling the whole flock might well be a welfare job TBH especially as it seems that there is no-one who will "claim" them and ensure they are looked after properly, so to cull the entire flock might be necessary purely on welfare grounds.

Am not expecting my suggestion to be a popular one........ but it is something which might be worthy of consideration for the reasons I have given.

i dont have a problem with the suggestion of culling them all but i question the method, that doesnt sound like a humane way to do it as it would cause a lot of stress. surely it would be more humane to quietly cull them by the method used by chicken keepers when they are in the barn at night

 

[SussexbytheXmasTree]

I do find some of the responses odd. These chickens basically lead a nice free range life supplemented by food given by the OP and may occasionally get killed by a horse or a fox. So the advice is to humanely kill them all? I don’t think any other welfare issues were raised by the OP.

Surely a much better life than the poor sods raised for meat or for battery eggs.

 

[Miss_Millie]

I don't get the suggestions to 'cull' either. If the birds are in good health then OP could re-home the majority of them and just keep a small number, say 5 hens. There are so many people who would love to re-home chickens to keep as beloved pets.

 

[PinkvSantaboots]

Poor op can't believe some of the replies on here I genuinely feel sorry for her she has taken a bit of a bashing.

I think culling them is a bit much ?

 

[adamntitch]

I would leave as is if she kills a few then she does or lock them in and rehome them simple might sound harsh but it is what is it millions of chickens are killed each year for our table am sure chickens running around then a horse kills them is a better life

 

[I'm Dun]

Poor op can't believe some of the replies on here I genuinely feel sorry for her she has taken a bit of a bashing.

I think culling them is a bit much ?

It was the team of trained marksmen that had me howling at the ridiculousness of it all! That is NOT feasible in any shape or form and isnt considered to be a humane way to PTS a chicken.