Beware Of Polecats

[MayTheChickenLover]

I did not know that polecats lived in South Devon until recently, when 2 of my relatively new chickens (Enid and Saucepan , named by my younger sister) got killed by one when sleeping in the coop. We know it was polecat as one had been sighted the previous night in our village and also a fox couldn't have got them (the polecat we think got through a small hole in the coop, too small for a fox). Now each night, we let our chickens roost high in the trees: they're much happier there and safer we think, as they climb about three meters up trees. Since the incident, they've completely abandoned the coop, which is open to them at any time and now very secure.

RIP ENID AND SAUCEPAN

 

[casportpony]

Oh no, so sorry for your loss.

 

[hayley3]

Sadly without an eyewitness, you really don't know what killed them, a previous sighting does not mean it was the killer of your chickens.
I'm assuming you are in England. Surely you have other predators that makes it unsafe for your chickens to be roosting overnight in a tree.

 

[TwistedSteel]

They will probably be ok until the owls show up for dinner.

 

[Sequel]

I’m so sorry!

 

[MayTheChickenLover]

They will probably be ok until the owls show up for dinner.

We don't have large chicken eating owls in England! In fact, no birds of prey have ever been known to harm any chickens in my local area.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

So sorry for your loss. Now that your coop is secure, I hope you try again.

 

[MayTheChickenLover]

Sadly without an eyewitness, you really don't know what killed them, a previous sighting does not mean it was the killer of your chickens.
I'm assuming you are in England. Surely you have other predators that makes it unsafe for your chickens to be roosting overnight in a tree.

We don't actually suffer from many tree-climbing predators here. Most of the chickens that have died were killed by dogs. We've never suffered from foxes, as the two farms on the outskirts of the shoot them, which I think is cruel, but at least then they don't harm my chickens!

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Is a polecat the same thing we call a skunk here in the States?

 

[MayTheChickenLover]

According to Wiki, they're slightly different.