WIBU to let my chickens in next doors garden?

[ChickenlessHead]

Seeing as their 3 fucking cats spend their days shitting in my dc’s sandpit and digging up my plants?

I’ve tried everything - squirting with water pistol, sonic cat repellant, covering up sandpit (they just shit on the cover then). I had a little nest of robins in my tree earlier this year and one of the cats knocked the nest over then put a baby bird on dc’s slide.

We have a low wall at the end of our garden that extends along the bottom of next doors garden too. My chickens are free range during the day and have recently been hopping up on this wall. Dh mentioned we should probably put up some kind of fencing to stop them walking along it and going into next doors garden. But next door have no problem with their pets shitting all over my garden and I’m inclined to feel the same about them tbh.

Cats are no threat to the chickens btw, the chickens have seen off the cats many a time (one of the reasons I’m quite fond of them). Next door don’t have a dog either so chickens would be quite safe there.

Foxes on the other hand seem to get pleasure out of shitting on kids' toys, animal hutches and on concrete...

@roundaboutthetown so do cats. Twatcat would take great pleasure in taking a nap on the DCs trampoline. Getting up. Spraying all over the fucking thing and then walking over to take a shit in my flowerbed before sauntereing off.

I know it was twatcat because I am an early riser and NDN never lets it in. It saw my DCs toys and garden as a half way house before the owner could be arsed to get up.

We have a family of foxes that visit. Yet to see them use the DCs garden toys as a loo.

It's annoying and I'd be all for it if they were dogs tbh. But outdoor cars are harder to control! I see the temptation.

Cat owner here. It is possible to minimise the damage that cats do to neighbours gardens and wildlife if you are a responsible cat owner. Most cats want to toilet somewhere safe and secluded (as do we all), so they can be encouraged to use their owners' garden , if their owner provides a nice secluded area with loose soil, or indeed an indoor litter tray (which is what I do). You can also keep cats inside from dusk to dawn, which are peak times for catching wildlife (and also peak times for cats being run over), which is what is advised by the RSPB. I really would urge another conversation with your neighbour to talk about some of this. If you get nowhere, I'd escalate to a sonic thing (as described above), or something which pushes out a LOT of water - a totally drenched cat will certainly think twice. And I do know what you're dealing with - My cats are only allowed out at the front of the house, and my veg garden is at the back of the house and is regularly covered in cat shit, which is definitely not from my cats. It is also visited by neighbouring chickens, and it is a toss up whether the cat shit or the stripping of some of my plants is more irritating!

I had a thread about 6 weeks ago about a fox or cat pooing in my garden. I am a childminder so don't want poo on my lawn because of the children also because I don't want to pick up after other people's pets.

The one thing that has worked for me was to put chilli or curry powder down. It has to be redone but does work.

The problem with deterrents is our garden is nearly an acre - so scattering chillis and things would be a bit of an industrial job. I got a sonic thingy that I put near the back door, near where dc’s toys are but it didnt seem to do much. If I built a special cat toilet do you think that would work? Like a bush with some loose soil around it?

Stupid chickens are still sat on the wall and not going next door.

Cats are bastards. That's why we love them. sorry not at all helpful

Cats are indeed bastards. And no, not everybody loves them. Especially not other people's.

Well chickens are now in bed having not ventured next door all day. I’m not going to fence it off though. If they do end up straying and next door says anything then hopefully she will realise the irony of me having done the same to her.

Sounds like a war is ready to be escalated.

To be honest I think that's..........great 😄😀😄😀😉

Get some drones. Get some geese to hiss and chase the cats. Push back and fight your little old fat neighbours.

If the chickens do stray and cause damage to the garden next door under Animal Act 1971 (which covers poultry but not cats) I believe you are liable for any damage caused.

They’ve only got grass and a table in their garden next door. I can’t see them doing much damage.

It's a good point, keepon. The very definition of "domestic" animals as opposed to farm or wild animals is that idea of having them tamed and under control. Those allowed to roam free are hardly that.

"Why the heck is it that cats are allowed to roam and are not covered in the above mentioned Animal Act?"

I don't understand this either. And cats are a huge pest, massively detrimental to bird life. We had to get rid of our bird table as cats would just come and stalk and kill the birds.

Bird populations are in serious decline in the UK and cats are a big part of that. But what do you expect when selfish owners shrug their shoulders and just repeat "right to roam".

I prefer a spot of cat poop to having mice in the house.
Chickens are not deterred by cats and are very capable of holding their own, possibly as they don't comprehend fear!

Regarding the right to roam.

My cat "allegedly" had one of my neighbours chickens. I wasn't sure though as she was a bit mad and interchangeably told me how he also dug up her dead gerbil that then became a hamster. Still wouldn't surprise me as he's also had ducks out of the lake. Watch your chickens!
Never mind a water pistol a bucket of water should do it.

1. let the chickens go in their garden. I'd be encouraging them by throwing some grain over the wall (when NDN are out, obvs)
2. what do you do with the catshit? I'd be lobbing it back over the wall.

Dog owners would be fined for letting their pets defecate and be left in a public place, why aren't cats served with the same principle?
Have read the link from nokids, which is what i expected. Also, its not the same as dogs are generally walked in areas with a lot of public traffic ie along footpaths, which I've not seen cats poo on.
As to keeping cats indoors so they can't roam, i suspect you're then going down the route of then not being able to let dogs roam off leads. I've seen plenty of dog poo in open public areas, which im assuming owners didn't see because dogs were out of their sight when they did it, or maybe couldn't be bothered because it wasn't a high traffic area. And if you still have to pick that up, what about horses? They're a pet equivalent, pooing anywhere, owner doesn't pick up. Or does it then go into the type of poo...Ie dog/cat poo is more likely to carry parasites, being from a carnivore? Its not that straightforward when you think about it.
Back to OP - throw the cat poo back over the fence. Put citrus peel in garden. What would you do if the shoe were on the other foot and your chickens got into next doors despite your precautions (by scratching holes under fences, orif they were able, flapping over fences)? Would you be willing to cage them? Because thats what some ppl are saying should happen to the cats (by keeping them indoors). Genuinely curious.

And providing a gravel patch would probably encourage pooing in one area away from kids toys. (Keeping the cover on the sandpit is surely better than poo in the sand, so don't know why you class that as a failure.) In an acre of garden you've got plenty of space for it.

I have had many NDN's of the "its what cats do" brigade, as a once keen gardener it annoyed me that I was spending thousands on the garden just for cats to shit in it.

My final answer was to take the whole lot up, and put 1 inch non rounded pebbles down, what I didn't pebble I changed to a rockery.

The cat owners complained. one to the police and one to the RSPCA for cruelty to cats, both organisations laughed at them.

They should go back in time and not get the cats that they already have?
That's like saying "you want all cats killed then" in answer to "fewer cats should be kept as pets". Just silly.
Besides, nonone has to have a pet, it's a choice, so when someone chooses to own a type of pet reknowned for shitting in other people's gardens, digging up seedlings, and killing our struggling native wildlife I do judge them as rather selfish.

Cats are understood - in law - to have a right to roam. So, like it or not, your neighbour isn't doing anything wrong
Legally, yes. Ethically, well...

They complained that your garden was no longer fit for purpose as a cat latrine, Boney?!

Is gravel best or loose soil fritz. I know it’s a massive garden which is why I don’t understand why they do it on the few bits I’ve got right by the house. Could they like being near the light coming from the house maybe?

I think you’re right, I’ll suck it up and buy a designated shitting bush. I’m still not going to fence chickens into garden though, I’m curious to see what will happen >>evil laugh

OP according to nokidstwocats post you have a legal duty to keep dogs and livestock on your land, would chickens not count as livestock?