UPDATE: Davidson County court records show Ankney's case was retired without further prosecution on March 4.

NASHVILLE, Tenn.— A Whites Creek man has been charged with assault after Nashville police said he attacked his neighbor with an ax over a dispute about chickens on Tuesday.

Garret Ankney, 54, has been charged with two counts of assault, a misdemeanor, and one of aggravated assault with a deadly weapon, a felony. In total, court records show his bond was set at $6,000 for the three charges.

Witness testimony showed Ankney and a neighbor had been in engaged in a verbal argument for most of the evening Tuesday, with Ankney shouting from his own home in the 5000 block of Clarksville Pike.

The fight started, police report, because Ankney believed the neighbor's dogs had eaten or killed his chickens, and was angry about it.

The suspect, police say, grabbed an ax and made his way to the neighbor's house where the argument escalated into a physical altercation.

Ankney, police say, swung the ax at the neighbor, who threw up his arms to defend himself and was cut on the forearms.

Two witnesses helped pin Ankney to the ground, police report. One of those men told police that while holding Ankney down, the suspect was pulling his hair and striking his head, leaving him with a headache.

No further indication as to the condition of the injured man was not immediately available. In his booking photo, Ankney sported a bandaged, bloodied nose. The condition of any chickens is also unknown.

Reach Mariah Timms at mtimms@tennessean.com or 615-259-8344 and on Twitter @MariahTimms.