POSSUM ATTACK!!

[partysummer07]

We had our two nearly grown pullets for about five days. I'm a late sleeper and we have a dog who is friendly to them but often out in the yard, so I left the door from the coop to the run open at night, thinking they might want to go down into the run when they wake up with the sun. I was a darn fool! Tonight a possum dug under the run wall and went up into the coop. My girlfriend heard the chickens wailing and she yelled through my window and I ran outside with another one of our roommates. The three of us found one chicken lying wounded on the ground and the other was in the small coop with the possum! Once we were there the possum played dead and the chicken was so scared that her and the possum actually layed right next to eachother totally still! Both creatures were too afraid to move, and we were all terrified of getting bit by the possum, so we could hardly pick up our poor chicken who was right next to it touching it! We used a shovel and wedged it between them and I picked the chicken up and moved her into the run while the possum was being held back that way. It took us another five minutes to pick the possum up on the shovel and move it out of the coop. A terrifying experience altogether.


Now the chicken who seemed OK is back in her coop with a cinder block on top of the door down into the run, and our other poor girl who we thought for sure was dead is inside in a cardboard box with a warm light on her. She has some feathers pulled out on her wing and she is terrified but in total we could only spot one drop of blood. Does anybody know if she is in danger of contracting some disease from the bites? They don't seem too horrible or deep we are just worried about disease, or any other problems youmore experienced folks might know about. We really hope she can recover.

 

[cwc362]

She'll probaly be okay if theres not much damage like you said- But I hope you took the possum out - He might come back!! Glad you all got there in time.
When I was young , When the possum played dead or sulled up , like we say here, people used to put them in cages and fatten them up on corn. They said the corn cleaned out all the nasty stuff they ate . And then they would eat the possum!! But not me!!!!

 

[erik520]

ya this happens more than you know buy a small electric fence and run a wire about 3" 6" and 9" above the ground all the way round the pen. this will keep the dogs and fuzzy animals away from them. sorry to here about your chickens.
keep us up to date with her health.