Can skunks harm chickens

[Citychicken12]

Speaking of hawk, a giant just flew over my home. So I put the girls back in their covered run. The hawk was gorgeous though, glad I was able to see the beauty

 

[LarissaSlates98]

The are beautiful creatures, we ahve alot out here. Just got to make sure they can't get to your critters

 

[Citychicken12]

The girls have a coop and run that is covered. The hawk would not be able to get in if it wanted too.

 

[LarissaSlates98]

That's good! I lost birds to Raccoons this year I lost a pair of Mille Fleur Duccles, 3 RIR show quality hens, 11 baby turkens, and a Brahma. They ripped them through the cages ( Idk hwo though. The wholes were tiny

 

[Citychicken12]

No raccoon problem here yet. I have the coop surrounded by stones on the bottom and wire cloth to prevent digging. They also are locked in their coop for the night. I have a door that closes the entry to the coop and the window is made of wire cloth. I hope nothing tries to reach in there for them. Although, the roost is located away from that window.We also have dogs and all the neighbors around us have dogs. I think this has been a deterrent for many 4 legged predators.

 

[Citychicken12]

That is sad though. Raccoons can be nasty little buggers from what I hear. My mother in law had some grabbing the big coy fish in her ponds. Covering with a net worked for her.

 

[LarissaSlates98]

They ar enasty, and they are smart as much as i hate to give them that. We had trapped 5 coons this summer already

 

[LR Gamefarm]

skunks will go after chickens and will tend to bite the heads off and drink the blood the hawk will also go after chickens no matter what size they will even go after small dogs try shooting the hawk with a bb gun as a fair warning but if that doesn't work try shooting it in the chest with a pellet gun or a rifle or shotgun same with the skunk but the skunk id just kill

 

[bigoledude]

Botulism, e-coli and anthrax have been part of the ecosystem for many years also. But, I don't want them intruding into my life either. Not being mean spirited but, when people use terminology like ecosystem or, live-and-let-live, we should remember that the survival-of-the-fittest doctrine is purely THE WAY of nature or, the ecosystem if you will. I believe in taking any legal means to a prevent a killer from killing your stock.

No one hardly ever quotes some "humane" doctrine when referring to ants, rats or moles. We tend to take the "righteous route" when it comes to an animal as stately and beautiful as a hawk or, as cute-n-cuddly as a raccoon or fox. Once a person witnesses how absolutely horrible the death of a chicken is by fox, raccoon or by hawk, they usually overcome any sentimental feelings about these killers. These three literally tear their victims apart piece-by-piece. It takes a while for them to finally die, screaming the whole while. Neighbors show up at my house all the time looking for trapping or killing advice, with a new-found disdain for predators, after seeing their lovely chickens, littering the yard, killed just for the joy of killing.

I have made some small pavilion-like shelters, open on all 4 sides, about 24-inches off the ground, made of netting for my chickens to run under when under aerial attack. I pull palm fronds into strips and weave it through the webbing to hide the chickens from view and to give the chickens a sense of being concealed. I stake them down ridiculously strong because of their kite-like design. At the first alarm call from the rooster, the others make a beeline for the shelters! My wife wants to plant some small shrubs/vegetable greens around the shelters to help soften the effect. The shrubs should also help keep the hawks from walking into the shelters on foot.

I don't have skunks here but, did have them where I grew up. Skunks were one of those animals that would kill dozens of birds and eat only the heads of maybe 2 or 3 of them.

 

[MsBagawkbagawk]

Actually hawks will usually just break the chickens neck, so they die immediately, but other than that I agree bigoledude.