Different kinds of Skunks?

[TheEggCollecter]

This is very true not all skunks are marked with a stripe. Actually a lot of them are born with dots and spots. This is normal, find the entry point where the skunk is getting in and fill it up.

 

[Searsmom]

It's not a break in. It's a me leaving the door open after dusk.

 

[Searsmom]

Extended area under the house. Feed gets kept in the metal trash can lower right.


Ramp that pulls up from the inside and latches.


Door leading out from under house.


Better look at the latches.


My husband built the house, I did the cobbling. Odds and ends got added on where I found weak spots. The old horse fence panels have dog panel fencing wired onto them and can be closed if there are dogs in the neighborhood. I have the paint to finish up and trim the edges. Should be cute when it's completely finished. Had an old truck camper top and used those for windows on the windy side to keep out the rain. Welded wire screwed into the wall all around the inside of the windows. Has a total of 5 windows, all secure and a glass panel camper door for human access.

Not so pretty - yet, but it keeps them happy, safe and warm. They've got roosts made from tree limbs 2-3 inches round inside to cut down on foot injuries/freezing toes. The pool is for the duck. The neighbors watching my every move is a little disconcerting, need to grow more trees.

 

[centrarchid]

Remove ramp. Birds now imprinted should be able to fly up into henhouse.

 

[Searsmom]

There's one duck from my husbands desire to make pasta with duck noodles. She definitely can't fly and has difficulty with the ramp. We're working on designing a separate house, split to house chickens on one side and ducks on the other to be built this spring/summer. Keep in mind these are Buff Orpingtons. I've got two nest boxes set at around 3' high and they have difficulty flying up to it. There's another one closer to the floor for the really heavy hens.

I just need to be vigilant at closing them up at dusk so none of the night visitors have easy access.

 

[TheEggCollecter]

I love your coop, it is simple but very cool.

 

[AbbyWD]

Rent a U Haul or Home Depot pickup truck to transport a skunk caught in a live trap. That way, if the skunk sprays, it's not in your vehicle. It costs about $30-40 to rent the truck. Cover the cage with a sheet before transporting so that the skunk doesn't feel threatened. We have done this 3 times with no spraying.

 

[Folly's place]

If you trap it, throw a tarp over the trap, and move it to a better location on your property, and shoot it. There's usually not much spraying; wear the tarp or a couple of garbage bags to protect your clothes just in case. It is illegal, and bad for the critter, to move it far from it's home. In Michigan you can move it on your property, or to another property within the same county, with permission of the landowner only. Not just anywhere, and not to public lands either. Nobody else wants a trap-wise chicken loving predator! Skunks, raccoons, and foxes are high-risk species for rabies, which is why it's illegal to move them around. Mary