Possum

[Triple Willow]

It’s obviously a fairly deep bucket. I use a cat litter bucket. Put a couple of inches of water in it so they can’t reach the bottom with their feet and jump out. You’d be surprised at how high they can jump. The water also helps kill them pretty fast. It’s more humane than letting a mouse starve to death in a dry bucket, especially since the bait falls in and they can eat it.

I use thin lightweight pieces of wood to balance between something the mice can run on and the top of the bucket. Hard plastic strips might actually be better. It takes a bit of practice to get the balance right. You don’t want it too delicately balanced but delicate enough. Then just put some bait on it. I use chicken feed but peanut butter would work well too. Put it where the chickens cannot get to it.

I use water so after they drown I can feed the mice to the chickens. That will freeze in the winter for a lot of us, so be careful. Some people use antifreeze or something like that but antifreeze is poisonous. I would not feed those mice to chickens.

You might prefer the Adirondack mousetrap. That’s actually the one the possum destroyed for me. You can look it up on the internet but the Adirondack one is just a rod through the top of a bucket, put a soft drink can on the rod so it spins real easily, then bait the can, usually a strip of peanut butter all the way around the can. Then position a ramp or something so the mouse can climb up there and reach over to the peanut butter. When they put some weight on the can, it spins and they fall in. It takes a bit of work to get the ramp or pathway up there positioned right, but the advantage of the Adirondack is that it does not need to be reset all the time. It will work until the peanut butter wears off or totally dries up.

The Adirondack is often used in a week-end cabin where you don’t visit a lot. The antifreeze not only stays thawed but it preserves the mice so they don’t rot and you don’t return to a really stinky cabin.

Thank you so much! I will check that out for sure.

 

[Coop Deville]

Possums are one of my biggest problems. I have taken out three with an air rifle, but I shot each one at least 10 times. Hard to take down, but often they freeze when you confront them quickly, so you can get a lot of shots in! I have never seen one during the day.

 

[lmerklein]

My hen that was attacked by the possum has been doing well except she stopped laying three days after the incident. She wasn't bit and she seems very normal acting with the other hens but doesn't seem to eat much. She eats but not a great appetite. When the girls go to roost for the night in their house I check their craws to see how full they are. Her pouch is not full. All of my hens are usually stuffed full by bed time. I am not sure what to think. I watched her all day!! Yep, all day cleaning my yard with tons of leafs. I watched her and she was normal acting, took her normal dust bath and I feed treats and she ate but not like she was really interested. I don't know if I should pull her in and she if she will eat more for me or just wait and see. She lost a lot of feathers during the attack but could not find a puncture mark except where the possum grabbed her on the leg. I got to her before that nasty beast could do harm. What should I do ???

 

[farmtotable]

I wouldn't worry too much for now, a possum attack is quite stressful and it will take her a bit to bounce back from it. I would, however, worry about reinforcing your coop. It's great to trap the offending predator and kill it, but if one possum got in, then there's a flaw somewhere in your design - and it's still open to attack for more possums, coons, etc. Although this is a controversial subject that will stir up lots (and LOTS) of opinions, I advocate reinforcing your animal enclosures over trapping to deter predation. Even in the city it's impossible to kill every predator. As one poster already pointed out, just because you killed one possum doesn't mean your property isn't within the hunting grounds of another. And regardless, another predator will move in to fill the vacancy. It's so much more efficient to make sure predators can't reach your chickens, rather than spend time and money on traps and deterrents. We live in a rural area that backs up to a greenbelt - tons of eagles, hawks, coons, weasels, minks, coyotes, etc. There's no way to kill them all. Our chickens free range from dawn to dusk, but at night they're impossible to reach inside their coop/fortress. I would rather free range my girls than lock them up in a tractor all day, but that's just my opinion/choice, and unfortunately I do lose a few to the occasional daytime predator. I like to think they died happy and free, though.

 

[lmerklein]

Thanks for responding. I realize everyone talks about how special their chickens are but my girls are all super sweet and exceptional. I raised them from baby chicks.
I had a super sized Tuff shed build for them this summer, planning for winter. The night of the attack was the night we turned our clocks back, I was thinking it was their last night in the summer coop. Little did i know a possum was going to hit.

The next night the possum returned but my girls were safe and I had a trap in their old coop ready. I even put a fake chicken in it for looks...He took the bait and I had his ***!!

My girls are now in their house, very, very, safe from a mouse!!!! Oh, yes, I have it tight as a drum. I have several air vents with special steel grates that a possum with teeth cant eat! I have to build a new summer coop for the summer night roosting. This house is only for winter. I have to do a better job of securing them at night in the summer time. Your right about possums and other intruders.

I read some other blogs regarding hens that stop laying. The days and nights are much cooler and day light is short. My other girls are not laying as much. I call them my dogs., because when I open the back door slider to the yard they come a running, barreling for the goodies. Thank you!

 

[farmtotable]

Congrats on a successful trap!!!! There's nothing better than getting even with something that hurt your babies. The last weasel that attacked our ducks is now stuffed and sitting on top of our neighbors TV, so I can visit it and gloat whenever I want.

 

[lmerklein]

That is funny!!! I liked that...Stuffed. Good for you. Keep safe and your loved ones!

 

[Vamvakas]

Why are people giving possums such bad reviews? I think they are the least of all trouble to worry about since they're more of a scavenger and are lazy animals when breaking into a coop. Of course when you don't have a good secure coop and your birds die then that's your fault.

Try imaging a fox or a raccoon or a coyote in your coop and see how that goes. Possum may kill 1 bird, but the 3 other predictors will try to kill your whole flock.

 

[Kyzmette]

There's one in every thread.

 

[Triple Willow]

There's one in every thread.

Ditto