RadiantJay
In the Brooder
- Mar 19, 2019
- 29
- 42
- 31
Hi BYC fans!
I have beaten coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, hawks, rats, irresponsible domestic cat owners who let their cats roam, and now struggle with ground squirrels.
I have a serious ground squirrel invasion. I have lots of predators and after losing my last 2 flocks, I have built a fortress for my chickens. The coop and run are connected and completely wrapped in 1/4" wire fabric, INCLUDING THE RUN FLOOR! On top of the wire mesh floor, i laid about 2" of sand and gravel.
My girls have a huge run, about 6'6" tall inside, 5' wide, 30' long. essentially a big long rectangle run with a connected coop for egging and sleeping.
In the coop, there are two feeders that hold about 30# of food each and two 5gallon water tanks. I know having food in the run all the time is not ideal and not having a treedle feeder is less than ideal too BUT its the best set up I can afford to manage currently given work, life, kids, etc.
The ground squirrels have tunneled under my coop making the ground unstable and have eaten through the wire mesh floor. Previously, they were just tunneling under to gain access to areas where food was on the floor under the feeders (i.e. catching food falling through the mesh floor)
As mentioned earlier, my latest issue is that now the squirrels have chewed through the floor in 3-4 diff locations in the run and, in my state, I am allowed to kill, catch, trap, and erradicate these monsters as they are deemed a non-game species per the Dept of Fish and Wildlife .... Though it would be fun to go on a ground squirrel archery hunt, I just don't have the time or interest right now... My Hav-A-Hart traps are filling up and it is illegal to relocate a squirrel in my state SO it is lights out for the squirrels once caught.
WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?
I was thinking about pouring a cement floor in my coop and then covering it with sand and rocks.... any other crafty coop/run solutions? Tall tales of Squirrel Kills welcome!
Also, does anyone like a trap other than hav-a-hart? In my region, i catch a lot of "things" so live traps are best to avoid "bycatch"
Thanks BYC Team, J
I have beaten coyotes, bobcats, raccoons, hawks, rats, irresponsible domestic cat owners who let their cats roam, and now struggle with ground squirrels.
I have a serious ground squirrel invasion. I have lots of predators and after losing my last 2 flocks, I have built a fortress for my chickens. The coop and run are connected and completely wrapped in 1/4" wire fabric, INCLUDING THE RUN FLOOR! On top of the wire mesh floor, i laid about 2" of sand and gravel.
My girls have a huge run, about 6'6" tall inside, 5' wide, 30' long. essentially a big long rectangle run with a connected coop for egging and sleeping.
In the coop, there are two feeders that hold about 30# of food each and two 5gallon water tanks. I know having food in the run all the time is not ideal and not having a treedle feeder is less than ideal too BUT its the best set up I can afford to manage currently given work, life, kids, etc.
The ground squirrels have tunneled under my coop making the ground unstable and have eaten through the wire mesh floor. Previously, they were just tunneling under to gain access to areas where food was on the floor under the feeders (i.e. catching food falling through the mesh floor)
As mentioned earlier, my latest issue is that now the squirrels have chewed through the floor in 3-4 diff locations in the run and, in my state, I am allowed to kill, catch, trap, and erradicate these monsters as they are deemed a non-game species per the Dept of Fish and Wildlife .... Though it would be fun to go on a ground squirrel archery hunt, I just don't have the time or interest right now... My Hav-A-Hart traps are filling up and it is illegal to relocate a squirrel in my state SO it is lights out for the squirrels once caught.
WHAT ARE MY OPTIONS?
I was thinking about pouring a cement floor in my coop and then covering it with sand and rocks.... any other crafty coop/run solutions? Tall tales of Squirrel Kills welcome!
Also, does anyone like a trap other than hav-a-hart? In my region, i catch a lot of "things" so live traps are best to avoid "bycatch"
Thanks BYC Team, J
In all seriousness a concrete floor will stop them coming up from under the coop, but if they are that determined to get to the chicken food they just might chew a hole thru the walls. Actually now I am curious to know what kinda ground squirrels you got the chew thru wire!
