A squirrel is

[llnmaw]

Running up and down the privacy fence to the chicken yard (girls are in the fenced side yard, no roof on their 'run')....does he want my chickens or their food? The chickens seem to be running him off, so I think he wants the food. He gets on the ground and the chickens advance, he takes off to find another plan of attack.

~L.

 

[BarefootMom]

Squirrels will not hurt your chickens. They are vegetarians.

 

[columbiacritter]

They will steal huge amounts of food and stash it near enough to your coop they will attract rats!

 

[HLAC]

Squirrels will eat eggs and baby birds but it would be a really weird squirrel to be a threat to grown chickens. I toss sunflower seeds out for a treat for my hens and the squirrels try to get in on that action, but I have one hen who makes it a point to run them off. She lowers her head, raises her hackles and holds out her wings and charges. It's worth the price of the seeds.

 

[llnmaw]

Quote:
Seriously??!! the things I learn. I didn't really think it was 'after' my chickens, and know I know it is not.

Rotten squirrels! They steal everything.....

Thanks for the info.

~L.

 

[BarefootMom]

Quote:
They would have to be VERY hungry to eat an egg or a baby bird. They prefer corn and nuts. Have you ever watched a squirrel work on a hedge apple ALL DAY long just to get the one seed from the middle? We feed our squirrels and love them. They have never been a threat to us or anything for that matter. And you say they attract rats? Don't your chickens eat the rats? My chickens eat our mice. The only rats we have are field mice which really aren't rats. And they only appear during haying season. We treat our squirrels just like pets- pets that occasionally feed us- We feed them and they feed us.

 

[HLAC]

Squirrels regularly eat the baby birds out of nests here and they're a long way from starving. If only I could train them to eat the baby rabbits.

I used to have a pet squirrel and it loved to snack on meat. (chicken, beef and even fried squirrel) I would say he liked nuts better than he did meat, but he also liked chocolate chip cookies more than he liked nuts.

BTW, there are lots of seeds in a hedgeball.

 

[brownegger]

Excellent pictures HLAC! I was just about to chime in on this one! I have squirrels that take my bantam eggs because I have a few nutty hens that prefer to lay in the woods behind the coop! I have seen them take the eggs, they're about as manageable as a walnut for size comparison! I have also seen squirrels raiding nests on a few occasions myself. It is not their first preferences obviously but, protein is protein in nature!!

 

[Two Creeks Farm]

All Squirells are is Tree Rats!

 

[florida lee]

I also have seen squirrels eat birds and eggs. I have also seen them go after ,catch and eat grass hoppers and crickets. Squirrels are omnivorous and will eat most anything. However , full grown chickens are too much for them too handle. I think that once the chicks are 6 or 7 weeks old they are safe from squirrels.