how bad are possums

[foxmfan1]

hello, all, posting this because, my bf found a possum in our ladies run a few hours ago, and he was obsessing about his "ladies", he is my "rooster", so I understand and love his obsessiveness.


quick background, we have three ladies, two rir, and one leghorn, we have a tractor coop, live in suburbs, never really had to many predators, which i believe the fact that we have two big dogs, helps to keep them away.

so anyway, he let wyatt, our lab out, and as told to me, "wyatt went straight for the coop, he called him inside, got a flashlight and saw that a possum was in the run, running back and forth,he yelled for wyatt to get inside, which wyatt did , and then pulled the run out and hosed down that possum, didn't kill it, but let the dogs back
out, so odds are they killed it
, he said it was small and he was pretty sure it was just looking for food.

he said it was probably a baby, but where there is one there are more, so now my question is

should i worry about possums, and what should i do to keep them out!!!when i asked what the ladies did, he said the ladies didnt' even notice the thing was in the run,

and to be honest, i have seen my ladies go barbaric on a small bird that got caught in the coop, they kill small snakes on the daily, and they stand up to my other dog, NOT wyatt, lol, when he goes totally JERK and barks at them. so i'm not to worried, if my ladies felt threatened they would have made it known, my girls got a voice, and it is called ye who squacks loudest gets heard!!!

we will be , or should i say, he will be fortifying the coop asap, in the mean time, should i worry about possums, if i should i will, trust me, I am good at that !!

thank you for taking the time to read my mumblings, and thank you for taking the time to respond : )

 

[sunflour]

Possums are a serious threat to poultry. Here's an article about them: https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/...ors-how-to-protect-your-chickens-from-possums

If you google poultry predators there are quite a number of sites that also warn about the dangers.

IMO if your flock did not react to the presence, likely they are around more than you suspect and they have been lucky thus far. You should take action to prevent them from being able to access your flock.

 

[SemperChicken]

We just dispatched one last one night that has eaten several of our younger pullets the last month. Dang thing was really getting on my nerves.

They will eat young chicks, so I would get rid of them. Check before you "catch and release" cause most states it is illegal to release elsewhere. I say just kill it. Problem solved.

 

[gclark94560]

Killed one today. He discovered one of my "Dog-proof" traps. A .22 revolver finished the job.

 

[SemperChicken]

Killed one today.  He discovered one of my "Dog-proof" traps.  A .22 revolver finished the job.

Nicely done!

 

[Tumbling K]

rule of thumb for urban predator problems, the three S's

Shoot it.
Shovel it.
Shut up about it.

as the other folks have stated, possums are some of the worst, even in the city. Heck probably more so in the city.