Stolen bird(s)

So I raised a turkey poult and saved her life by splinting a broken leg when she was a baby. I then traded her to my mom who had two males (I had two females). The very first day in her new yard, my mom saw her staying very close to her other birds. An hour or so later she was gone. We assumed that a predator saw her limping on and off (from the previously broken leg) and picked her off. Well today my mom saw her in a fence at her neighbors yard all the way down the road! 🤬 what is the protocol with a stolen bird? Mom suspects they may have some of her other birds that randomly went missing. They plan to go talk to the neighbors tomorrow.. but what happens when they deny stealing my poor Tiny (so named because I believe her growth was stunted by her broken leg) and refuse to give her back??

Thoughts......
1- Is the bird truly stolen? I had a case of where one day a Muscovy duck just showed up at my farm. I didn't know where it came from and wasn't aware that anyone near by had muscovy ducks. The duck lived on my farm for a year then one day it was gone. Months later I learned in passing conversation that one of the neighbors had a Muscovy duck suddenly show up at her place and take up residency. The duck lived there a year before once again moving on. So.......did I steal someone's duck? Did my neighbor steal it from me?

2- Can you identify the bird? Do you have photos that show that it's unique from other birds? To a judge, one bird looks like another, so it would have to be sone very unique marking or color. The best identification is a microchip. Second would be a registered tattoo or brand. Third would be a embedded ID tag.

3- Are you certain that the bird is really yours?
   Another true life story.......50 years ago I had a neighbor sternly warn us to keep our Irish Setter dog home. We profusely apologized, assuming that Shiloh had sneaked off our place and invaded her yard. A couple days went by and the angry neighbor showed up at our door, Irish Setter in hand on a rope, and yelled at us for not keeping our dog at home. The problem was that our own dog was in the house with us at the time and answered the door with us. The chagrinned neighbor slunk away, apologetic, since obviously there was a case of mistaken identity.

might go to neighbor and explain you have missing bird see what they say, you may gain a new friend and get your bird back or find that your neighbors are no good lying thieves. go without contempt and with positive attitude and see what happens. is it possible your bird found way out of enclosure and wandered off?

The bird is most definitely mine.. I realize she’s not the only bourbon red turkey around but I recognize her on sight. She has a limp and some of her feathers are torn up a bit from where she relearned how to use that leg. She’s also smaller than most turkeys her age by far. And I’m absolutely positive she didn’t roam as far out as that. She was not one to stray. She seemed to realize she was not up to par with the other animals and was always inclined to stay near the house. I suppose it’s possible some mistake was made, but truth be told I sincerely doubt it. I raised that bird myself and know her and her habits like I know my own

Also I have no intention of going up and being impolite or anything until I know for sure what the case is gonna be... honest mistakes do happen and can seem off when really all it was was an honest mistake. I do have pictures of her thankfully. Hopefully tomorrow the issue can be resolved peacefully and I can get my dear Tiny back home where she belongs

hope you get your beloved bird back, I once had similar problem but it involved a chainsaw, I've had my problems with dishonest people and realize in the overall scheme of things karma is real.

Good luck, Erica, hope you get your little turkey back!

Things have been stolen from my neighbors but we've never had anything stolen. I'm guessing our four big arse dogs have a lot to do with that.

Couple ways it can go.  You can try to politely talk to the neighbor.  If they saw a turkey just show up they might be wondering who's it is and be happy to return it.  And if they did jack it from your mom's yard they might be suitably embarrassed to be asked for it back to not fight over it, especially if you start off with the assumption that it wasn't straight up theft.

If they're unwilling to talk about it, or peaceably hand it over, you have a couple options.  One is to just let it go.  Getting into a feud with a neighbor is sometimes not worth it.  E.g. the Hatfield and McCoy feud started over an allegedly stolen pig.  Granted that is an extreme case, but even petty "revenge" can spiral into costly lawsuits.  I dislike drama, and would do quite a bit to minimize the amount of drama over something like this.  However, if you have credible information that this neighbor has engaged in animal theft as a pattern of behavior then you may want to push the issue to get it to stop.  In that case filing a theft report may be required to get anything to happen.

I would recommend that you help your mom install game trail cameras or something equivalent to that if you think this neighbor is stealing birds.  Keep them reasonably hidden so the neighbor doesn't notice them, and if you get a photo of them purloining poultry then you have a strong case and can get them arrested if it comes down to that.

Andrew Mayflower wrote:Couple ways it can go.  You can try to politely talk to the neighbor.  If they saw a turkey just show up they might be wondering who's it is and be happy to return it.  And if they did jack it from your mom's yard they might be suitably embarrassed to be asked for it back to not fight over it, especially if you start off with the assumption that it wasn't straight up theft.

If they're unwilling to talk about it, or peaceably hand it over, you have a couple options.  One is to just let it go.  Getting into a feud with a neighbor is sometimes not worth it.  E.g. the Hatfield and McCoy feud started over an allegedly stolen pig.  Granted that is an extreme case, but even petty "revenge" can spiral into costly lawsuits.  I dislike drama, and would do quite a bit to minimize the amount of drama over something like this.  However, if you have credible information that this neighbor has engaged in animal theft as a pattern of behavior then you may want to push the issue to get it to stop.  In that case filing a theft report may be required to get anything to happen.

I would recommend that you help your mom install game trail cameras or something equivalent to that if you think this neighbor is stealing birds.  Keep them reasonably hidden so the neighbor doesn't notice them, and if you get a photo of them purloining poultry then you have a strong case and can get them arrested if it comes down to that.

Agreed with game cams!!!

Any resolution?  Get your turkey back?

Tiny was returned home 😁 the man says she was in front of his fence and he was worried a dog would get her 🤷‍♀️ Not sure if that true or not and it seems unlikely but not impossible. I don’t care anymore now that she’s back and safe. Thanks all!! (She’s the tiny red one)

Fantastic news.  Especially that it didn't involve drama.