Lizards as predators?

[eapowell]

We have a couple of skinks outside out house that have recently taken an interest in our newest baby and have tried to attack her on several occasions. Are skinks a predator of baby chicks and do chickens come with a natural instinct to detect predators? My two babies did not seem phased at all by the lizard even though the lizard was big enough to possibly eat one of them. I think I was more scared than my two babies and it puzzled me as to why they wouldn't react. Do chickens have to be taught what is friend and foe in the outside world?

 

[animals1981]

skinks attack out of defense birds are their worst predators even shrikes small kestrals will kill them tiny owls will eat them also so they probably think those chicks are some kind of small tiny owl or shrike and is attacking in defense


your big hens and roosters will probably swallow the skin whole when they find out how to kill it i bet skink will try to bite a chicken and get nothing but a feather i wouldnt worry


if u want u can just grab them in a bucket in bucket and relocate they are good for eating bugs and stuff dont grab them by their tails tho it will fall off just trap them in a bucket and put them anywhere u want

 

[eapowell]

I just worried because the skink is bigger than my babies and I don't have any adult chickens. The skink was not afraid of them at all and I've heard that they are poisonous. I didn't want my babies getting bit so I had my fiance shoo away the lizard. I don't do well with reptiles so catching them is out of the question for me. I always go outside with my babies to keep watch over them because I know raccoons and some birds of prey will take baby chicks. I was just wanting to make sure that skinks weren't going to have to be added to my list of predators to watch out for.

 

[animals1981]

in a few weeks ur chicks will outgrow them and probably start to harass them

 

[eapowell]

That's good to know. I have a hard enough time keeping up with the babies already but I can imagine it's going to be more fun when they start chasing lizards.

 

[centrarchid]

What kind of skink is it? If not known, then look it up on internet. Many different species and some of the larger types might pose a threat to very small chicks.

 

[eapowell]

It's a Broad-headed Skink. I did look online and they only thing I found was that they are carnivorous and will eat anything that walks or flies and will fit into their mouth. So I assume if it's big enough, and the chick looks tasty, it could potentially try to eat it.

 

[centrarchid]

It's a Broad-headed Skink. I did look online and they only thing I found was that they are carnivorous and will eat anything that walks or flies and will fit into their mouth. So I assume if it's big enough, and the chick looks tasty, it could potentially try to eat it.

Broad-headed might go after baby quail or even bantam but larger seems a waste of time.