Opossum Playing Dead

[Susan Dye]

I did have a possum kill one of my hens. Caught it in a hav-a-heart. I've caught 2 more since then and I live in the city. All three were caught in the last 2 yrs. I also have a little 6 lb yorkie who killed 3 juvenile possums at my last city home. Was surprised to learn possums, in the wild, only live 3 to 4 yrs. Interesting animals with very short life spans. Don't know why I seem to attract so many. Last house didn't even have chickens!

 

[fawnda]

Possums rarely actually kill a chicken or duck, but often get the blame after something else already has killed whatever because they eat carrion. Predator proof your pen rather than try to kill all the predators in your area, which is always a losing battle.
https://www.cwrescue.org/predatorproofhousing

 

[Susan Dye]

Possums rarely actually kill a chicken or duck, but often get the blame after something else already has killed whatever because they eat carrion. Predator proof your pen rather than try to kill all the predators in your area, which is always a losing battle.
https://www.cwrescue.org/predatorproofhousing

I have since secured the coop and have not lost another hen. But, I do believe it was a possum b/c it was caught the next night right next to the run.

 

[RLynch]

A possum is a threat, I have no problem when they scrounge around our 5 acres for grubs and such, but once they approach our feral cats' food or enter the chickens protected area they are delt with quickly. I have run up on them at twlight and they have either run off or 'play dead'. When they play dead I grab their tail and give them a full 360 degree swing and throw them back into the woods where they belong.

 

[MyLittleBarnyard]

Dog and I went to close up barn shortly after dark. We were also to get eggs left in basket. Opossum about 2/3 grown was walking about in a pen. It was likely already stuff on most of the eggs in the basket. It was the fattest and furriest opossum I have ever seen. Dog walked over to it in no big hurry and sniffed from the side. The opossum fell over as if pushed over by the dogs nose. Opossum then played dead and dog walked off to check rest of barn. When the opossums growl or run the dog attacks.

I dispatched opossum. Chickens could see opossum the whole time but made not alarm calls. They were used to it. One hen was a little fluffed up like when an owl visits, but only her.

I found an opossum in my coop last spring just munching away at the chicken feed. My two hens and two ducks just acted like he was invited in for lunch. When I opened the gate, my birds happily exited, however, Mr. Opossum just looked at me when I told him to leave. Finally, I pulled him out of the coop in the dirt bath box he was lounging in while snacking. Once out of the coop, I still had to persuade him to be on his way. He finally scooted off never to be seen again

 

[centrarchid]

I am into watching wildlife a lot. Opossums do not repel raccoons by any measure I have. Virginia Opossums are omnivores with decided carnivorous tendencies. Most of their effort during the summer appears directed at insects, amphibians and reptiles where they will actively chase the latter two groups. They run faster after a snake or large bullfrog than they run from me. The will eat a lot of feed and get eggs not in secure locations. The opossum can be a particular problem with broody hens covering either eggs or chicks. Bites from the opossums are directed as legs or abdomen of sleeping chickens where bites are prone to life threatening infections. The opossums are almost always alone when foraging even if more than one working a given area at night; no male groups out hunting as a team. Opossums are not as easily detoured by hotwire as are raccoons. Opossums do not provide a stimulus that promotes dog dispatching them like a raccoon or other mammals.

At this time the white (near sunlight spectrum LED's) do impact circadian rhythm of exposed chickens but they are sleeping on roost at same time as birds well away from lights. The fuller spectrum was used to attract insects for chicks that were operating much of the night feeding on beetles and small moths that were attracted to the lights in droves. Shortly I will switch back to red LED's that do not appear to impact activity yet allow chickens to see.

I have tried to repel opossums several times by handling. In my experience it does not work. Such handled opossums will then do what I think is experimenting to find ways to get me to stop messing with them. I have even had a couple stand their ground and even charge me snarling in there feeble way in an effort to get me to leave them alone. When they have a reliable quality food source they will go to some length to use that resource.


Until recently, my thought was that opossums will not carry a food item, but that changed when observing a juvenile carry off bait such as a did chicken. Observations made with game camera.

I like opossums, but recognize they can be a persistent problem even when bribed with easy access to feed left out over night. They do not provide any discernible benefits around my chickens and they do cause measurable damage.

I may need to link the numerous threads showing where opossums do create issues, my threads and not random stuff the internet.

 

[Cryss]

Possums rarely actually kill a chicken or duck, but often get the blame after something else already has killed whatever because they eat carrion. Predator proof your pen rather than try to kill all the predators in your area, which is always a losing battle.
https://www.cwrescue.org/predatorproofhousing

I can't like this link enough! It almost needs to be a permenantly added link at the top of the coop construction section of this forum. I'm going to post it as a thread there.

 

[centrarchid]

I can't like this link enough! It almost needs to be a permenantly added link at the top of the coop construction section of this forum. I'm going to post it as a thread there.

Not everyone benefits from housing all birds in a single hardened location. There are issues of balance.

 

[Cryss]

Not everyone benefits from housing all birds in a single hardened location. There are issues of balance.

True dat! Nevertheless this link would benefit probably every new chicken owner. So many (me especially!) have/had no idea of how to protect their new feathered family members. If I knew these simple starts it wouldn't have taken me so long to get it [close to] right! The link can help avoid some seriously overlooked (and probably previously unknown) predator dangers. Does it address every example of coop/run/FR aspects? No, but it addresses basics that newbies can incorporate into their setup. My love of this link stands.

 

[illinoishiker]

I think you need a pen that will keep the possums out of the chook run/house. They kill and eat snakes and they eat ticks. They are good to have around if can keep them away from your chickens. They will also kill domestic rabbits. Get in the cage and pull them out. They are immune to snake venom and aren't likely to carry rabies. Super interesting animals.