I think a squirrel killed one of my chickens last night.

[Running Ramon]

sounds like a snake darling. the others probably pecked him off. snake can squezze down really small. sorry for your lose. Snakes will not cross moth balls, but you have to be carefull your chicks don't get them.

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[horsejody]

With a wet neck, it could have been a weasle or a snake. Weasels are nasty, and snakes are evil.

 

[Nancyphillips]

I caught my pet black squirrel biting my beautiful black hen on the top of her head behind her comb. I broke them up, brought the hen in the house to recover. Her head was covered in blood. I thought it was a fluke moment since the squirrels and chickens have been happily cohabiting for about 5 years now...then tonight I found another hen dead, killed by the same squirrel the same method. I separated that squirrel for tonight and tomorrow will be moving all 4 squirrels out of that beautiful huge coop they've been living in all these years. I never would have believed this if I hadn't seen it for myself. I will ask my vet on Monday if perhaps the squirrels need iron or something else they find in blood. In the meantime, tough lesson. So sad here!

 

[jjthink]

I caught my pet black squirrel biting my beautiful black hen on the top of her head behind her comb. I broke them up, brought the hen in the house to recover. Her head was covered in blood. I thought it was a fluke moment since the squirrels and chickens have been happily cohabiting for about 5 years now...then tonight I found another hen dead, killed by the same squirrel the same method. I separated that squirrel for tonight and tomorrow will be moving all 4 squirrels out of that beautiful huge coop they've been living in all these years. I never would have believed this if I hadn't seen it for myself. I will ask my vet on Monday if perhaps the squirrels need iron or something else they find in blood. In the meantime, tough lesson. So sad here!

So strange, and so sad. I've never heard of or seen a problem with squirrels and chickens. JJ

 

[speckledhen]

I've never heard of anyone with a pet squirrel living with chickens. Rodents shouldn't be living with chickens at all, in my opinion. Seems pretty odd to me. Of course, I have no experience with squirrels other than the wild ones in the woods and when they start getting too familiar with the coops, they are shot to keep them from going in and eating out of the feeders.

ETA: this is a VERY old thread dredged up from 2009, so the new member should probably post her own thread.

 

[Suzierd]

Hmmm I wonder if they figured out it was the snake that killed that poor chicken and got rid of it.
Sounds like the squirrels are going nuts from being caged with chickens, have mercy on both of them and turn the squirrels loose.

 

[Nancyphillips]

I have a rescue foundation here. These squirrels came to me newborn, bald, eyes still closed...mostly blown out of nests in storms, some had broken limbs, one is blind in one eye. They think I'm their mum because I raised them. There's no way I could turn them loose; the only way they know how to eat is out of my hands! They've had a 20' x 20' x 12' high cage to live in with just a few select chickens, so it's been fine (up until this point) having them together. I moved them to different quarters. I spend a lot of time with them, they are extremely friendly.

Thanks for your comment!