Possum daytime risk?

[HereForTheChicks]

I always put chicken food away at night. Last night I saw a possum eating crumbs off the ground.

Now this morning an hour after sunrise, there are two possums snuggling and grooming 100 feet from my free-ranging chickens. The possums look pretty big, about 10 pounds each.

I don't have any baby chicks but I have a couple that are small, 2 pounds.

There's no risk of a night-time attack, and I hang around the coop a couple hours before sunset. But today I'm going out in the middle of the day. Should I scare them away, leave them alone, or "take them out"?

 

[paddock36]

I would keep they away. Eventually they will cause an issue.

 

[Growley Monster]

Every possum you eat is an alternative to a chicken dinner and a reprieve for a chicken. A chicken in the bank, so to say. This, beside the fact that a fully grown possum CAN go medieval on a small chicken, i.e. a adult from a smaller breed or a juvenile. They can be very sneaky. Possums look so slow, harmless, and innocent, but they can bumble along and then suddenly pounce very quickly once they have approached closely.

 

[Folly's place]

We feed our birds in their coop and roofed run, never outside of their safe spaces. When we eliminated food outside, visiting raccoons and opossums became much less of an issue.
Silkies and young birds who can't fly out of the way are at risk any time, otherwise many (not all) chickens are pretty safe during the day from those predators, unless cornered, or trapped in their coop.
Here we have zero tolerance for any at the coop or barn!
Mary

 

[Al Gerhart]

Take them out asap. A ten pound possum can and will kill a five pound chicken.

 

[McChooky]

They carry their young in pouches like kangaroos so its hard to say how many possums you really have. Your chickens are easy prey if they manage to trap one in a corner. They eat eggs too.Possums are bad news during the day.Run them off.

 

[Ridgerunner]

Should I scare them away, leave them alone, or "take them out"?

What are your local laws and how much do you care about that? In some places you might have serious legal issues if you do anything to them. Some methods may be fine where others are a problem. I at least like to know what my legal options are when faced with something like this. It could save a big fine. If you "take them out", how you do it could be important from a legal aspect.

Possum can and do eat eggs and can kill and eat chickens. As you have seen they are out during the day, not just at night. As others mentioned, they are not a huge risk during the day but that risk is not zero.

Personally I am not opposed to permanently removing a predator actively hunting my property. It is not a permanent solution since if you have one there will be others. New ones are born and weaned every year. But if does reduce predator pressure as you remove one that is actively hunting your area.

You saw two. No surprise there. One time I thought I had a raccoon visiting so I set a trap. That night I got a possum. After permanently disposing of it I reset the trap and got another possum. On the third night after disposing of the possum I finally got the targeted raccoon. Lesson from that: if you have one you have more.

I do not depend on a trapping program to protect the flock, though I think it helps. Permanent barriers are what will keep them safe. It sounds like you trust yours at night so it is up to you if you want to permanently remove those possum.

I will mention that smaller baby possum (if there are any in her pouch) make a great high protein treat for my chickens.

 

[HereForTheChicks]

What are your local laws and how much do you care about that? In some places you might have serious legal issues if you do anything to them. Some methods may be fine where others are a problem. I at least like to know what my legal options are when faced with something like this. It could save a big fine. If you "take them out", how you do it could be important from a legal aspect.

Possum can and do eat eggs and can kill and eat chickens. As you have seen they are out during the day, not just at night. As others mentioned, they are not a huge risk during the day but that risk is not zero.

Personally I am not opposed to permanently removing a predator actively hunting my property. It is not a permanent solution since if you have one there will be others. New ones are born and weaned every year. But if does reduce predator pressure as you remove one that is actively hunting your area.

You saw two. No surprise there. One time I thought I had a raccoon visiting so I set a trap. That night I got a possum. After permanently disposing of it I reset the trap and got another possum. On the third night after disposing of the possum I finally got the targeted raccoon. Lesson from that: if you have one you have more.

I do not depend on a trapping program to protect the flock, though I think it helps. Permanent barriers are what will keep them safe. It sounds like you trust yours at night so it is up to you if you want to permanently remove those possum.

I will mention that smaller baby possum (if there are any in her pouch) make a great high protein treat for my chickens.

Thanks for such a comprehensive explanation. Out here there aren't really any laws. I'm leaning toward hunting them quick and painlessly, if in my sights. Something about trapping, even in the traps that don't hurt them, feels wrong to me in this situation for some reason, but maybe I should reconsider.

They haven't appeared in the daytime since, though they are out at night, eating my asparagus.

 

[HereForTheChicks]

Take them out asap. A ten pound possum can and will kill a five pound chicken.

OK....I really don't want to, but I guess I have to

 

[Al Gerhart]

Carbon monoxide from a car's exhaust pipe will do the trick with little trauma. Better than drowning. Put the trap in a feed sack, tape it to the tailpipe, start the car. Might have to poke a few holes in the end of the bag to prevent stalling out the motor. At least ten to fifteen minutes to be sure. Then bury the carcass at least a foot deep.