I live in a subdivision in Gwinnett County, GA, Norcross – residential.
My cul-de-sac has a chicken population of about 25. These are livestock by definition. There are roosters that crow literally all day long and wake me up about 2 hours before I am ready. The roosters are aggressive, menacing and a nuisance. The chickens are also reproducing.
I called the county and they can’t do anything if nobody “owns” them. I think (no – I know for sure) they were left over from some Hispanic family that moved away. The livestock migrated to my back yard to search the woods for food. I could trap them or catch them and the county will come pick them up but I would have to rent traps, etc. They basically said there is nothing they can do if nobody claims them.
They will come out and pick up abandoned dogs, and they said if it was a cow, they would do something (I had to ask), but not other smaller livestock like chickens. So I guess it depends on the size of the livestock…
I want to shoot the roosters that are on my property with a pellet gun (air rifle). Eventually, maybe I can get a couple hours extra sleep every day.
I think by definition, a firearm has to use gunpowder which an air rifle does not so I would not be discharging a firearm by that definition.
So am I at risk for some kind of police trouble if I shoot these chickens on my property with an air rifle? Just what are the laws if there are any and where can I read about them? I asked the sheriffs office but no officer ever called me back.
I know all about gun safety, etc. and am not worried about shooting anything but crowing roosters in my back yard.
Thanks.
Oh yeah – I would physically be inside my house for shooting and the pellet might just happen to go out an open window where there is no screen.
Have you ever tried to catch a chicken that does not want to be caught 
? Chickens can fly up to 300 feet (I have done my chicken research).
When I was talking to the county, I told them if they were going to come out and try to catch them, I wanted to know when so I could sell tickets.
As soon as somebody starts to catch them and take them away, somebody is going to claim ownership (which could be a good thing if that happens because they will get a citation), but so far, everybody on my cul-de-sac is annoyed by them as well and wants them gone. How is the operative word.
I am just waiting for one to attack a child that sometimes tries to catch them. They do attach each other (the chickens).
Ohhhh, ask somebody. Why didn’t I think of that?
Even though my address is Norcross, I do not live in the city limits (a mere 4 sq. mi.), so the nice Norcross code enforcement people referred me to the Gwinnett county code people and got their story, so then I called the Gwinnett County PD.
I can’t get a simple yes or no answer out of them on the phone, no “officer” ever calls me back, but have learned that, at least in the GA code, a “firearm” has to involve gunpowder.
I think I will just try to catch a GCPD guy in a parking lot somewhere and see what he has to say. They are all very nice to talk to.
Cats we have – two actually and there are some cats that hang around from time to time.
My cats hunt birds and the occasional rodent (squirrel), but these roosters are bigger than the cats and I don’t think they would win.
One cool thing is I have identified a red shouldered hawk that shows up from time to time and will attack one of the offending fowl and make a meal of it.
He really causes quite a rookus (as Festus would say) and the poultry scatter for an hour or so, but that’s it.