possum last night, help!

[wilsonmago]

My chicken coop uses two inch wire for run and there are small opens to the door of chicken's bedroom. Last night, I heard my chickens scream. I ran to the coop and find a possum inside the "bedroom". it is about 20% bigger than an adult squirrel. I chased away him. The problem is that with its size, it can squease itself into my chicken coop any time. I am deeply worried and don't know what to do. Is there some non-chemical spray, or traps I can do?

Please help!

Thanks!

wilson

 

[SilkieBantams]

Just shoot those possums.

 

[willowbranchfarm]

It would take a lot of work but get different wire! I dont think you would want to do that so you could shoot it, trap it in a trap, or hope that he doesn't come back.

 

[heatherindeskies]

He will be back. you have to maybe put more wire around existing wire to get the openings smaller and seal up any other area that is large enough for it to get through. Nail wood or wire or whatever you have to do to protect your birds.

 

[Mattemma]

Get a trap as well and set it 24/7

 

[Achickenwrangler#1]

Just eliminating that possum won't keep your chickens safe...consider this an early warning, you have to make your coop predator proof, since even the nicest neighborhoods have predators,,,this possum has friends too, then there are coons, rats, snakes, dogs, cats, coyotes...all living comfortably in suburbia...Hope you get that coop fortified. You can try moth balls but that won't stop a hungry critter

 

[christineavatar]

There is also something called Nite-Guard
http://www.niteguard.com/pages/Order/
Since I have put them (I use four, one for each direction) up I haven't had the predator problem.

 

[leonphelps]

I was catching a possum a week for several weeks and an odd raccoon. The nitegard product pretty much stopped it all.

 

[All-American-Chick]

I had one of those pests at our place not to long ago.I set a trap with an egg in it and caught it that very night.We since have since purchased a pellet gun for such encounters.Really they wont stop unless you stop them

 

[welasharon]

Your chickens are not safe unless you predator proof their pen. Use hardware cloth. Even with traps set you cannot guarantee they will go in the trap and not in an unprotected pen. Unless you want to sit up at night and watch for them, shooting is not very effective at protecting them.
sharon