ok groundhogs-woodchucks wont hurt the chickens? just saw one at coop

[rancher hicks]

Now don't get me wrong, I like wood chucks just fine. In fact we used to have one when we lived in the city. I would see him in our yard. When the end of the season came or the lettuce bolted I would take down the fencing and let him have it all.

I use those little white plastic fence things around the tops of my raised beds and they seem to work just fine at preventing rabbits and chucks from eating my greens. Chickens of course will jump it but the grdhgs and rbts don't .

 

[they'reHISchickens]

DH and I had quite a row about the ground hog when he (DH) first moved in with the country gal. He thought I wanted to destroy every living groundhog in the world. I kept telling him it could never happen.
It didn't take long in country life for him to realize that instead of heading to extinction because of evil groundhog-hating farmers, the rascals are multiplying exponentially. Our old Cleo would at least keep them at bay on the property. Since Bess is a city dog, I expect it will be years before she realizes they are prey, not playmates.

 

[josephnlauren]

YES THEY DO EAT CHICKENS. I watched it with my own eyes.

I set up a temporary pen for my young ladies(around 6 weeks old), as we were in process of building their permanent one. We walked off for half an hour figuring "it was mid-day it will be okay", lo and behold! One was dead, with her side ripped open and the others traumatized, feathers everywhere. We thought, it was a hawk, swooped in and caught it. So we kept an eye out for hawks and dogs (the only predators we knew that ate chickens).
We knew they lived around our girls... but we never thought...
Again, we decided to let them out in their pen two days later, I was perhaps 20 yards away, ironically working on their pen. It was hot midday. I had covered the top of the pen, to avoid hawks. I heard the chicken "distressed" clucking- and I RAN up to it with my shovel. THERE IT WAS. GUILTY. A groundhog, caught red-pawed, EATING another chick!!! Side pulled open, feathers everywhere. As far as I know, it isn't rabid. It looks like it did eat some of her.

Maybe the jerk was hungry, because I didn't let him into my garden anymore. ARGH. My poor girls.

My husband is setting up a trap and burying the hole, and we're working on replacing the hole in our flock.

Don't underestimate them...they destroy gardens and your flock!

 

[tndan]

On Sunday morning 2/17/2013. I went out to feed my hens. Only to find them all dead and blood and feathers every where. I built a coop that has a nesting area inside the barn. And a 12x6x10' run all enclosed with chicken wire and 1/4 inch wood latice over the chicken wire. They would free range during the day outside in a large fenced in enclosure. At night they would.go inside the coop and I'd let them out when I collected eggs in the morning.
I couldnt figure out how or what had killed them all. The lattice work had busted places in it that looked like someone had kicked holes thru it from the inside of the coop. There was no sign of anything digging into the coop from the outside. A friend came over to help me clean up the mess and he noticed a burrow that had been dug out behind outside door to the coop.
Last summer there had been a female ground hog who had pups under a near by shed. I thought I had gotten rid of them all. But unless theres a badger living under the concrete pad of the barn. Then the culprit must have been a ground hog.

 

[angelus5370]

A week ago a ground hog killed two of my brother's baby chickens and was eating it when they got to the coop.

 

[deesat]

I believe they DO eat chickens. I've had one that has been digging into my coop every night. He ate my bantams but left the big hens and turkey. I just caught him in a trap which I baited with...chicken meat. The eggs were always left so it wasn't a raccoon or a skunk . That leaves a fox , which would have eaten the bigger hens or the woodchuck.

 

[Mickey Lou 04]

How much wood would a woodchuck chuck?

How many chickens would a woodchuck eat just doesnt work right.

Nice! That is the funniest thing I have heard today! You just made my day!