Should chickens be added to state laws for trespassing livestock?

Free range chickens in New Hampshire may not be free to range as far as their owners might like if a proposed bill becomes law.

Bill would add chickens to trespassing livestock rules

State Rep. Michael Moffet, R-Loudon, has filed a legislative service request-- a placeholder for upcoming legislation in the 2018 session -- that adds the word “fowl” to an existing law that deals with trespassing stock.

That current law (RSA 635:3) makes it a violation for the owner of “any sheep, goats, cattle, horses, or swine” to let them wander onto other people’s property if it “thereby injures his crops or property.”

Moffet’s proposal would add fowl to that list, with fowl encompassing ducks and chickens.

The problem of free-ranging foul

Fowl can foul up someone’s yard with their poop.

“A constituent showed me some video of some ducks – I think they were ducks – coming onto their property. He was looking for some relief,” said Moffet “I’d like to think that neighbors can solve these sorts of issues, but if not, it’s helpful to have something to back you up.”

Downsides of stricter regulation

One issue opponents have with this proposal is how it affects the growing number of people who are now keeping chickens on their property. To keep the chickens from ranging into someone else’s yard would require fencing, defeating, they say, the whole notion of raising free range chickens.

What do you think: Does New Hampshire need a statewide law that restricts chickens from wandering into someone else’s property?