Hi.
Got me a lil skunk living under my coop. I know I need to block off the area under my coop. The issue is how. The coop isn't raised, per se, but it's on a slight slope, so the front side is elevated and the back side is actually partially buried (I would not have installed it this way, but it was here when we bought the property). Before I moved the chickens in, I did add hardware cloth around the elevated side, thinking it wouldn't be totally necessary for the buried side.
Obviously, I was wrong.
Now, putting hardware cloth around the back means digging out the half of the coop that is underground. Before I go doing that in this ridiculous heat, I have a couple of questions.
1) Do you think it would be enough to put large pavers around the perimeter of the shed?
2) How do I do this without potentially trapping the skunk under the coop?
3) Are there any effective deterrents to keep critters away until I can get the work done? I've read moth balls, ammonia soaked rags. Anything like that effective?
I use electric netting, so the skunk must've moved in before we moved the netting to enlarge the chicken yard.
Got me a lil skunk living under my coop. I know I need to block off the area under my coop. The issue is how. The coop isn't raised, per se, but it's on a slight slope, so the front side is elevated and the back side is actually partially buried (I would not have installed it this way, but it was here when we bought the property). Before I moved the chickens in, I did add hardware cloth around the elevated side, thinking it wouldn't be totally necessary for the buried side.
Obviously, I was wrong.
Now, putting hardware cloth around the back means digging out the half of the coop that is underground. Before I go doing that in this ridiculous heat, I have a couple of questions.
1) Do you think it would be enough to put large pavers around the perimeter of the shed?
2) How do I do this without potentially trapping the skunk under the coop?
3) Are there any effective deterrents to keep critters away until I can get the work done? I've read moth balls, ammonia soaked rags. Anything like that effective?
I use electric netting, so the skunk must've moved in before we moved the netting to enlarge the chicken yard.