Help! Animal under the coop

[pinkandrews]

Hi, I am in serious need of help. Some animal that I have never seen, is living under the coop. I know it's there because in the morning I see several tunnels. Some are small, the size of a rat, and some are big, the size of a rabbit. We do have a huge rabbit population. I have not seen any animal poo besides that from my chickens.

So far, I've plugged holes, many holes. Then I added a wall between the coop and the run. Then I added chicken wire. Still the animal digs under. I have added more bricks. It's useless, it keeps digging under everything I put.

Today I removed part of the wall, and I have been raking the stuff from under the coop, trying to flush it out, but nothing.

I'm looking for any advice!!!




Thanks!!

 

[Mr BrahmaRama]

Clearly poison is out of the question since its so close to your chicken's living space. If you can't get at the creature, you might try to trap it. You could pick up a small animal live trap from any farm supply store. Maybe set it out when your chickens are in for the night. Good luck!

 

[Folly's place]

Set live traps, with a variety of baits; you might get lucky! Is this a slightly raised coop, or is it concrete on the ground, with critters under? More digging on your part. Borrow a nasty little Jack Russell terrier, or a dachund, and keep the birds inside that day. I'm guessing rats, and poison is generally the only solution, because they are so very smart. I had a rat visitation last year, and put bait down in the tunnels and closed them up daily, until no more digging, and no more bait eaten. Good luck! Mary

 

[pinkandrews]

Thanks for the advice. I'll try a bait once I clean up more of the dirt under. The coop is slightly raised and it makes it hard to clean under. Also there is chicken wire set 12'' deep on all 3 other sides.
I probably won't try poison because we mulch/use the dirt in the gardens.

Rat seems like a good guess, it really is digging all over the place.

Thanks!

 

[Mr BrahmaRama]

Dealing with a varmint problem myself. Caught a possum in my run last night. I managed to catch the thing in a pet carrier. Still, my feeders were both knocked over this AM so I guess there is more than one. I might be doing some trapping myself.