- Jun 16, 2014
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Last night we were woken by a neighbor who heard our chickens screaming. A skunk had gotten into the coop and was trying to kill all our chickens! It was acting crazy, didn't stop even with 4 adults yelling and banging at the coop. I ended up opening the coop door, getting the hose, and chasing the thing away by spraying it while my husband got the 3 remaining live chickens out the other door and set them on the roof of the coop for safety. We had 6 originally, 2 weeks ago 1 had died but we thought a punk neighborhood kid had just let it out since the coop wasn't locked. Now we are sure that the skunk got it too. So we're down to 3, half our original number We are horrified, it was so traumatic.
So DH is obviously fixing the coop today, we know which crack it got through now and I think we'll also add some concrete blocks around the edge to discourage any new attempts at digging.
We also suspect rabies...I have never ever seen a skunk act the way this one, totally evil and unafraid of people. We're calling animal control to tell them about the rabid skunk and alerting all the neighbors. One of the neighbors is also setting a trap and has said they're willing to use their pellet gun if they see the skunk again. Do we need to be concerned about the remaining chickens and possible rabies exposure? We have kids so this is a big concern of mine.
Also, now we're down to just 3 white leghorns now. They're about 14 weeks old. Is it possible to introduce new hens in a week or two once things settle down? I'm not keen on raising a new small batch (2 maybe?) of day old chicks but we can if we need to and then introduce them when they're older. Is there any place to find 3-4 month old chickens? And if it is possible to introduce new chickens, any tips for doing so?
So DH is obviously fixing the coop today, we know which crack it got through now and I think we'll also add some concrete blocks around the edge to discourage any new attempts at digging.
We also suspect rabies...I have never ever seen a skunk act the way this one, totally evil and unafraid of people. We're calling animal control to tell them about the rabid skunk and alerting all the neighbors. One of the neighbors is also setting a trap and has said they're willing to use their pellet gun if they see the skunk again. Do we need to be concerned about the remaining chickens and possible rabies exposure? We have kids so this is a big concern of mine.
Also, now we're down to just 3 white leghorns now. They're about 14 weeks old. Is it possible to introduce new hens in a week or two once things settle down? I'm not keen on raising a new small batch (2 maybe?) of day old chicks but we can if we need to and then introduce them when they're older. Is there any place to find 3-4 month old chickens? And if it is possible to introduce new chickens, any tips for doing so?