do skunks hurt chickens?

[smallfarmnorth]

one thing that does work for getting rid of skunks is perfume. we had a family of skunks in our barn when we moved in and after talking to an older gentleman he recommended it. we bought a bottle of cheap perfume and soaked rags with it and placed them around the inside of the barn and within a day the skunks had moved on. not sure if this would work in any of your situations but worth a shot.

 

[htownmike]

Just found a skunk in one of the nesting boxes while doing a head count before closing the girls up for the night. I guess we'll set a live trap tomorrow. I guess this explains the missing eggs. Can they take eggs? Or do they just eat them on the spot.

 

[htownmike]

Just found a skunk in one of the nesting boxes while doing a head count before closing the girls up for the night. I guess we'll set a live trap tomorrow. I guess this explains the missing eggs. Can they take eggs? Or do they just eat them on the spot.

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

I'm not sure if a skunk would take an egg or eat it on the spot. I know they are opportunistic eaters. When we had an invasion of skunks last Spring, the trapper used peanut butter and jelly sandwiches in the trap and we were catching a skunk a day for a week. So they're easy to catch. It's the dispatching that is tricky, which is why we paid the trapper to do it.

 

[htownmike]

PB & J worked great thanks.

 

[turkey lover]

the really lrg marshmallows work great in a trap the skunk thinks they are eggs an go in an then there trapped,vinegar douche works on a sprayed dog it takes a lot of it but works,

 

[kgdubois]

Just curious ...after they get in the live trap then what?

i throw an old tarp over the trap, move slowly & with as little bouncing as possible to keep the skunk calmer. i have a big galvanized steel tub that my livetrap fits into, and I fill it up with water & just lower the trap, skunk tarp & all, into the water. skunk drowns without spraying, tarp & trap are ready to be used again, and it's an easy disposal of the problem varmint.

 

[kgdubois]

i can hardly believe a skunk would kill a rooster. was he roosting on the ground? i have never known a skunk to kill an adult bird. first off it would have trouble catching one. and they don't climb, they will dig under fences but will not climb over.

i've watched a skunk catch & kill a full grown and fighting RIR rooster, at dusk and with our two labs going NUTS barking at it.

I had been losing birds during the early light/dusk hours, but couldn't figure out what was getting them...turned out, it was the skunk that killed my rooster. i free range my flock during the day, but they are closed up in a coop at night.

my birds were going to roost in their coop, and the skunk was waiting at the door to the coop. as Scrappy the Roo walked in, it reared up on it's back legs and "grabbed" Scrappy around the neck, sinking it's teeth into the back of his neck. Scrappy blasted off, fighting for all he was worth, but in literally about 45 seconds he was dead, neck broken & almost bitten through. I grabbed the shovel we keep at the door for snakes, etc. and ran over, and was so mad that I killed the skunk with one whack, before it could spray. it didn't even see me coming, it was so busy with eating Scrappy's croup out.

so they can definitely kill roosters, and big strong ones at that!