Beware Of Tunneling Skunks!!! (Graphic Pictures)

[pyaresquared]

Just wanted to post, to warn you all about skunks being able to tunnel into your chicken runs.
View attachment 2412145I lost my New Hampshire pullet today due to it. I have a trap set with the carcass.
View attachment 2412148View attachment 2412149

I put my coop on a 12” deep concrete footing to prevent this. It also allowed me to anchor the coop, which has very wide overhangs, against our sometimes strong winds. I built my daughters coop on 6x6 sleepers, without a footing, but I stretched galvanized hardware cloth across the bottom of the sleepers to prevent subterranean intruders.

 

[Dottie the Chicken]

Oh, I'm sorry @MysteryChicken ! Hopefully you can catch it!

 

[Veterang]

Just wanted to post, to warn you all about skunks being able to tunnel into your chicken runs.
View attachment 2412145I lost my New Hampshire pullet today due to it. I have a trap set with the carcass.
View attachment 2412148View attachment 2412149

I am so very sorry for your loss.

 

[birddog456]

We are sorry for your loss, never easy to lose one any way, but especially to a free loading predator. Just baffled by a few that question the fact that
A - You caught the perpetrator
B - It left olfactory evidence
C - You caught a second one...
...I agree with the way you disposed of the issue, even though others may not. Perhaps they would think different if they walked in you shoes. Had you relocated them, they could have become someone else’s same problem...unless you have someone you would wish that problem upon.

 

[MysteryChicken]

We are sorry for your loss, never easy to lose one any way, but especially to a free loading predator. Just baffled by a few that question the fact that
A - You caught the perpetrator
B - It left olfactory evidence
C - You caught a second one...
...I agree with the way you disposed of the issue, even though others may not. Perhaps they would think different if they walked in you shoes. Had you relocated them, they could have become someone else’s same problem...unless you have someone you would wish that problem upon.

I haven't caught the second one yet. I think it left to find a different food source. No new digging around the coop.

 

[lightspeed]

We lost one to a skunk this year too. Another tidbit of info... they can also fit through a chain link fence. Went right through like a kitten - we had to wrap our kennel with chicken wire.
sorry for your loss. You might get some hate, but I agree kill it. It will keep coming back for more.

I know welded wire is harder to work with than chicken wire, but it will definitely keep predators out. I have no carpentry experience whatsoever, but I built a sturdy coop and two Priefert Dog kennels (10X10) and placed the coop inside one of the kennels....leaving the other kennel for foraging for my chickens. I coveredthe top, sides, and perimeter with welded wire. It is hard but it works.

 

[schmedlap]

Near the other side in the chicken run. I never found the beginning of the tunnel, so I have no idea where it begins.

drop a smoke candle in the next tunnel you find and quickly cover the hole with a large flat rock or a paver. if the other end is nearby you should see it. read the directions first.

 

[MysteryChicken]

drop a smoke candle in the next tunnel you find and quickly cover the hole with a large flat rock or a paver. if the other end is nearby you should see it. read the directions first.

I already filled the tunnel with large rocks.

 

[Angelique123456]

Just wanted to post, to warn you all about skunks being able to tunnel into your chicken runs.
View attachment 2412145I lost my New Hampshire pullet today due to it. I have a trap set with the carcass.
View attachment 2412148View attachment 2412149

Are you sure it’s a skunk that holds looks small- maybe a small fox

 

[Angelique123456]

Yes, it was. I knew there was something digging around the area, & found poop everywhere so I originally thought raccoons. Then yesterday I found the dead chicken, & a tunnel in the chicken yard. We then thought about the possibility of a badger. But then we started smelling skunk, & located the smell. It was coming from the shed half of the coop.
Glad we caught that stinker.

Oh sorry to hear that kill the skunk...