Dealing with Opossums and chickens

[Ascholten]

Sooner or later it will probably go after your chickens.
Good Luck with them.
Aaron

 

[MorningGlory16]

You are not being rude at all Yes I have good fencing and am actually building a new enclosure for the new chicks so I definitely will be reinforcing even that. I have supplies to last for a very very very long time as I vacuum pack alll the extra and freeze it because sometimes I have to much. I completely understand your concerns and appreciate it. I actually learned this from my grandmother and so far so good (I’m 51) not saying it can’t happen and I definitely protect my babies with proper pens, urin and now I will use peppers and garlic as suggested by another member her. I just try my best to live in harmony with the other animals around to me they are just trying to survive as well

That's good! I might be a little paranoid because I lost 3 Silkie hens and 7 chicks in one darn night to a mink! We didn't even know he/she was hanging around until I made the mistake of leaving the pop doors open one night... My husband found the nest under the back part of the coop, the mink didn't even eat most of them. Now I'm very careful to put up feed and lock everyone up so he's not tempted to come back. Can't blame him for looking for a meal, but 10 chickens in one night? He was killing for sport.

 

[deek248]

shoot, shovel, and shut up. Its not a matter of if it will get your birds, its WHEN it will.

 

[Uwish]

Sooner or later it will probably go after your chickens.
Good Luck with them.
Aaron

Well 2 losses in a total of 22years of me having birds 1 because of a rattlesnake and the other was the neighbors dog. Not sure about my grandmothers count as she has passed.
What is funny but sad is I have to defend my way of doing things because so many I guess would just prefer to kill everything. I don’t believe I ever comment on all the post saying kill this kill that but so many of you have something to say to me about my way yet my way has yielded great results. I guess many only have a one track mind and are not willing to respectfully ignore my comment or maybe just maybe think there in some cases might be more then just 1 way. Smh
Have a great day

 

[Uwish]

That's good! I might be a little paranoid because I lost 3 Silkie hens and 7 chicks in one darn night to a mink! We didn't even know he/she was hanging around until I made the mistake of leaving the pop doors open one night... My husband found the nest under the back part of the coop, the mink didn't even eat most of them. Now I'm very careful to put up feed and lock everyone up so he's not tempted to come back. Can't blame him for looking for a meal, but 10 chickens in one night? He was killing for sport.

Awe I’m so sorry to hear that. It’s heart breaking to lose a pet. I don’t have minks here so I don’t know if I would have to change my way or alter it.
I thought it was sweet of you to have concerns for my birds and you were respectful about it. I’m always willing to listen and learn. And I do love new ideas someone posted some great info about possums stuff I didn’t know about like peppers and garlic So def will be those two things into my protection. Also planning on now planting those as well around the pen. For the most part this is an amazing group here and I love hearing all the stories seeing pics and learning from others. Thank you for caring and being respectful with your concerns

 

[EIEIO Funny Farm]

Yesterday night I saw a possum making his way toward the coop. Luckily I stopped him by flashing my flashlight at him and he retreated.
Today, I saw him in the run, next to the coop opening, and he began to play dead. All the chickens are safe and sound.

He is playing dead, not moving, and not reacting to loud noises or anything like that.

How did I get him out of the run so that both he and I are safe?
He won’t budge.

How do I prevent opossums from coming back? I know they generally do not harm chickens, but I do not want to risk it.


When I first saw him, he had a bone in his mouth, probably from the chickens’ leftovers. He was going for the meat and bone left in the run, so luckily that distracted him a little bit so he didn’t get into the coop at all.

And advice and suggestions are greatly appreciated.
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@aart @azygous @U_Stormcrow

Yesterday night I saw a possum making his way toward the coop. Luckily I stopped him by flashing my flashlight at him and he retreated.
Today, I saw him in the run, next to the coop opening, and he began to play dead. All the chickens are safe and sound.

He is playing dead, not moving, and not reacting to loud noises or anything like that.

How did I get him out of the run so that both he and I are safe?
He won’t budge.

How do I prevent opossums from coming back? I know they generally do not harm chickens, but I do not want to risk it.


When I first saw him, he had a bone in his mouth, probably from the chickens’ leftovers. He was going for the meat and bone left in the run, so luckily that distracted him a little bit so he didn’t get into the coop at all.

And advice and suggestions are greatly appreciated.
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@aart @azygous @U_Stormcrow

Possums WILL hurt and kill chickens! Possums killled two of my neighbors hens.

I have a chain link kennel for a run and saw a possum squeeze right through one link. It can’t get in the coop at night, but since seeing that I’ve double wrapped the chain link in chicken wire. I have also seen possums in the back pasture during daylight hours!

 

[AmyVoigt]

Last November we discovered we had a FAMILY of possoms on our farm. Luckily, our dog can sniff them out. Because we were usually in the barn milking cows at the time and they were young, a pitch fork did the trick. We then buried them in our manure pile. We ended up killing five in two weeks. Even caught them inside our milking barn. Didn't see any again until last week when our dog found one hiding in our shed among the straw pile. Husband used a pipe to take care of that one. This one was much larger. I am hoping it was the female as we haven't seen any others. Our dog keeps sniffing around an old silo so there could be another one there but we can't get to it due to the snow. Our coop is very secure but did see someone was trying to dig by the run door when this all started. Farming is our livelihood so we do what is needed to protect our livestock.

 

[Bobby Gray]

Yesterday night I saw a possum making his way toward the coop. Luckily I stopped him by flashing my flashlight at him and he retreated.
Today, I saw him in the run, next to the coop opening, and he began to play dead. All the chickens are safe and sound.

He is playing dead, not moving, and not reacting to loud noises or anything like that.

How did I get him out of the run so that both he and I are safe?
He won’t budge.

How do I prevent opossums from coming back? I know they generally do not harm chickens, but I do not want to risk it.


When I first saw him, he had a bone in his mouth, probably from the chickens’ leftovers. He was going for the meat and bone left in the run, so luckily that distracted him a little bit so he didn’t get into the coop at all.

And advice and suggestions are greatly appreciated.
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@aart @azygous @U_Stormcrow

You have got to have good livestock guardians, I don't loose anything since I've had theses on my yard.

 

[Ascholten]

One Track Minds go Two Ways

Just Saying

Aaron

 

[I Love Feather Babies]

Yesterday night I saw a possum making his way toward the coop. Luckily I stopped him by flashing my flashlight at him and he retreated.
Today, I saw him in the run, next to the coop opening, and he began to play dead. All the chickens are safe and sound.

He is playing dead, not moving, and not reacting to loud noises or anything like that.

How did I get him out of the run so that both he and I are safe?
He won’t budge.

How do I prevent opossums from coming back? I know they generally do not harm chickens, but I do not want to risk it.


When I first saw him, he had a bone in his mouth, probably from the chickens’ leftovers. He was going for the meat and bone left in the run, so luckily that distracted him a little bit so he didn’t get into the coop at all.

And advice and suggestions are greatly appreciated.
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@aart @azygous @U_Stormcrow

Trap it and kill it. It will kill your chickens. Had one kill 4 of mine before I figured out it was a possum on game camera I set up.