Durham residents frustrated by abandoned chickens in neighborhood
DURHAM, North Carolina (WTVD) -- A Durham couple is frustrated by abandoned chickens who've been roaming their neighborhood for months.
The Hinton family reached out to Durham Animal Services, and still the chickens are on the loose, so they reached out to ABC11 in search for answers, but it's a problem that might take more time to solve.
"They're all over the place," Leroy Hinton said. "I mean you have cars coming down blowing their horn because chickens are crossing the road.
So why did the chicken cross the road? In this case, it's because the animals where abandoned in a home down the street, near the 700 block of East Maynard Avenue, after the homeowner moved away, according to Durham Animal Services.
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The couple said their dog are tearing up their fence to get at them.
"They go really wild when they see the chickens and roosters running around," Pam Hinton said.
But it's not just the fence -- the Hinton's said the chickens have taken over their neighborhood, and use the tree beside their home to sleep in at night, while their sounds keep them up at all hours.
"They start to crowing at 3:30 in the morning and that can be very aggravating when you have probably four roosters crowing at the same time," Leroy said.
They tell ABC11 they've been dealing with the problem since July and they're frustrated.
Animal Services said they've gone out there nine times already and managed to catch one of the chickens, and removed some eggs.
Captain Anthony Prignano, with Animal Services, said it's difficult to capture multiple birds at a time if they're roosting in trees, because once one of them is caught the others are easily alerted.
The team has nets and a net gun but have to be within 10 feet of the birds for it to work.
Now the division is seeking out an expert to get rid of the chickens without harming them, and they said there are no charges they can press for the abandoned chickens at this time.
In the meantime, the Hintons have a message for the person who left them behind.
"That was a bad thing to do to leave those animals here," Leroy Hinton said, "because you left them there without food or water and for them to fend for themselves."
