As some of you know I have a neighbor from HELL,well i think she has struck again. Please convince me I am wrong,here it goes....We have a hen house inside an outbuilding,there is a front door and a hen door both have latches not locks.Behind the hens are the goats they also have a door with a latch.I closed everyone up last night all was fine,all doors latched,this am I went to feed and ALL my poultry is gone! 45 cornish x's,15 misc.laying hens and 3 ducks all the birds were 3-4 weeks old.There was no opened doors,no feathers,no blood and the waterer and feed dishes were all up right....can anyone think what might have happened besides some one stole them?I am sick,I cant believe my birds are gone there goes lots of hard work and lots of meals for my family.I have tried to think of anything to explain this but come up blank,she knows me dogs are in at night{long story} and she would be able to come up the field way but how could you remove over 50 birds ? HELP

-- Anonymous, April 19, 2001

Answers

renee, What a shock! You poor darling! Well I don't think that I could move all those hens, even in the dark without losing a few feathers! Your gonna have to play detective Renee, there has to be some kind of clues, tire tracks, Where the doors latched back up again? Renee after this I think I would get me a big grumpy to strangers dog and tie him up at night by my coop. What would your neighbor do with ALL those birds, Oh dear, I'm no help, but I feel for you. Let us know if you discover any clues. All Love Tren

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2001

Sounds like theft to me. Even if the door was left open the birds would not all disappear. If they were taken by a predator, you'd see evidence. I would call the cops, tell them what you suspect and file a report. They can ask questions easier than you can.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2001

Renee I have a neighbor from hell too.He's our local Sneak Thief.Every neighborhood needs one,I guess.

Him and Town Drunk would go out prowling every night. Town Drunk finally got kicked out when he helped Sneak Thief steal plows from his own landlord. I said they're sneaky,not bright.

No chance of getting rid of Sneak Thief tho, as he's related to everyone back here. So,we keep everything locked up, including cars and gas caps.Even the outside panelbox 'cause he was playing games turning off the power. So,yeah,I believe you when you think it was your pain in the butt neighbor.

So all I can tell you is report as theft and lock up the place like Fort Knox.This lady sounds,frankly,disturbed. My neighbor isn't,he's just lazy and mean.

This email address is no longer valid.I will no longer post my operational one. Let me know if you want my new one.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2001

It sounds like theft to me. Do you know this neighbor's connections? I mean like where would she be likely to take them? Wasn't there an incident with a stolen dog that turned up? Would that give you an indication of how she would handle them after she took them? I'm just throwing out some ideas.

I wonder since she would be the obvious culprit if maybe it might be someone else that knew what you had? Can you think of anyone else? I'm sort of at a loss! I've never heard of such a thing! It's so bold.

I'm sorry this happened. It has to be so disappointing.

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2001

How completely bizarre! I've done a lot of chicken-catchin in my day,and can't figure out how it could be done without lots of feathers around. Even in the dark seems they'd put up a fuss. And there would be noise. And they wouldn't be likely to walk out the door, especially not at night, no matter how tempting a lure. Chickens can't see diddly in the dark so they stay put.

Check for UFO tracks.

Sorry about this, Renee, how awful for you to lose em. It's still early enough in the season to start over, and put locks on your building?

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2001

Renee: You know those surveillance cameras are gettin pretty cheap. That would do it on those folks if they are caught in the act...Kirk

-- Anonymous, April 20, 2001

I think all of you are missing the obvious. Was that a bright light hovering over your location on the night in question? Was there a kind of humming noise accompanying the light? Did the earth look kind of scorched? Nah! But I did have you going there for a second--well maybe.

-- Anonymous, April 21, 2001