My Squirrel Problem....

[Egg Puppies]

I tripped over the Peafowl thread while trying to find out what people do about Squirrels and other little fur thieves.
I live in the CA high desert and raise assorted chickens including Silkies, which are so sweet and docile and way too trusting. The wild ground squirrels began stealing feed on the ground which wasn't all that big of a deal, but then they began going after eggs, literally grabbing eggs as they get laid and running up the fence and out. They can fit through a 1 x 2 inch opening with ease. Last summer the squirrels attacked a setting broody hen, bloodied her face, and stole her about to hatch eggs. Then they went after some 5 week old chicks and killed them. I have dogs, but they don't go inside the pens. The squirrels get more and more brazen, especially when wild food is scarce and don't seem to fear the dogs at all. We installed those electronic/ultrasonic pest repellents .......don't waste your money. Hubby bought a pellet gun and dispatched 4 of the little monsters, and 5 more showed up to take their place. Now I am reading on this thread about Peafowl owners suggesting their birds will run off Squirrels.....?
So, Peafowl folks, if I raise some Peafowl chicks with a hatch of Silkie chicks, can I run them together ( my pens are 10 x 10 x 6' high) and will the Pea chicks grow up and naturally go after the plague of wild Squirrels? Or will they be more concerned about sparring with the little Roos?

 

[new 2 pfowl]

Hello!
I don't know about anyone else's experience, but our freeranging peas just ignore squirrels...

 

[zazouse]

My peas chase them back up in the trees

Guineas gather around them and scream in their ears till they run back up the tree

 

[SunBaked]

Mine ignore the squirrels that go in their pen. I have a large family that set up shop right next to my pens and they are always in there. They haven't messed with any of my pea eggs though and they do a great job cleaning up the pen of stuff the peas leave like corn cobs the last part of the melon rinds, orange peels etc so I haven't tried to get rid of them. I do think the darn things have been eating my pheasant eggs though. I found a broken one outside their pen the other day.

 

[MinxFox]

I get around 10 or so squirrels in my peafowl pen sometimes. I even get a white squirrel that comes to bum food off of the birds. My peafowl rarely chase them off. They only chase the squirrels off when they want the food the squirrels are eating up. Normally what happens is the peafowl eat a little, they go off and lay down somewhere in the pen, then the squirrels come in and eat some of the food. All of the squirrels here have gotten very bold. I can walk around the pen without them running off. The only time I really saw a very interesting battle between a peacock and a squirrel was when one of my peacocks was lying next to a pile of sunflower seeds. A squirrel walked up and started eating the seeds. My peacock shifted to where he was covering most of the seeds and the squirrel was so bold that he started trying to get under the peacock to get at the seed. My peacock kept pecking the squirrel on the head, and at first the squirrel jumped back a bit, but it took several pecks until my peacock got one good peck that made the squirrel run off. Other than that the squirrels are hardly deterred. I have even watched one make fussing noises at my white peacock because he wanted to eat some food that the squirrel was already eating on. Here is a photo of a squirrel in my pen on a stump eating sunflower seeds. I have come to just accept the squirrels. I like watching them. A good way to get rid of squirrels is using smaller fencing.

 

[discerning]

I tripped over the Peafowl thread while trying to find out what people do about Squirrels and other little fur thieves.
I live in the CA high desert and raise assorted chickens including Silkies, which are so sweet and docile and way too trusting. The wild ground squirrels began stealing feed on the ground which wasn't all that big of a deal, but then they began going after eggs, literally grabbing eggs as they get laid and running up the fence and out. They can fit through a 1 x 2 inch opening with ease. Last summer the squirrels attacked a setting broody hen, bloodied her face, and stole her about to hatch eggs. Then they went after some 5 week old chicks and killed them. I have dogs, but they don't go inside the pens. The squirrels get more and more brazen, especially when wild food is scarce and don't seem to fear the dogs at all. We installed those electronic/ultrasonic pest repellents .......don't waste your money. Hubby bought a pellet gun and dispatched 4 of the little monsters, and 5 more showed up to take their place. Now I am reading on this thread about Peafowl owners suggesting their birds will run off Squirrels.....?
So, Peafowl folks, if I raise some Peafowl chicks with a hatch of Silkie chicks, can I run them together ( my pens are 10 x 10 x 6' high) and will the Pea chicks grow up and naturally go after the plague of wild Squirrels? Or will they be more concerned about sparring with the little Roos?

The Peafowl coexist with the squirrels who eat all the feed

 

[Lulu-Dixon]

Honestly, you need to reduce the squirrel population. Not only will they begin to attack your birds more often now that they have already gotten away with it once, but squirrels are basically like rats and carry diseases also. You can trap them but we have so many that we just dispatch as many a possible. There are poisons and also co2 traps that work well if you aren't able to stand out there and shoot them cleanly.

 

[discerning]

I tripped over the Peafowl thread while trying to find out what people do about Squirrels and other little fur thieves.
I live in the CA high desert and raise assorted chickens including Silkies, which are so sweet and docile and way too trusting. The wild ground squirrels began stealing feed on the ground which wasn't all that big of a deal, but then they began going after eggs, literally grabbing eggs as they get laid and running up the fence and out. They can fit through a 1 x 2 inch opening with ease. Last summer the squirrels attacked a setting broody hen, bloodied her face, and stole her about to hatch eggs. Then they went after some 5 week old chicks and killed them. I have dogs, but they don't go inside the pens. The squirrels get more and more brazen, especially when wild food is scarce and don't seem to fear the dogs at all. We installed those electronic/ultrasonic pest repellents .......don't waste your money. Hubby bought a pellet gun and dispatched 4 of the little monsters, and 5 more showed up to take their place. Now I am reading on this thread about Peafowl owners suggesting their birds will run off Squirrels.....?
So, Peafowl folks, if I raise some Peafowl chicks with a hatch of Silkie chicks, can I run them together ( my pens are 10 x 10 x 6' high) and will the Pea chicks grow up and naturally go after the plague of wild Squirrels? Or will they be more concerned about sparring with the little Roos?

The ground squirrels eat from the pans with the Peafowl. I am wasting so much feed!