A couple years ago, I had a problem with rats holing up under my shed. My shed is connected to my henhouse, and the chicken run winds around it. I set out poison after trying everything else, and it quickly took care of the problem.
Recently, I noticed the holes re-appearing under the edge of the shed and thought the rats were back. I set out poison, and it eventually disappeared, but the "rat" holes kept re-appearing.
A couple nights ago, I went to tuck in my chickens and close the run and discovered a skunk happily eating an egg in the henhouse. If you're on the unofficial backyard chickens fb page, there's a pretty hilarious drunken accounting of it.
I filled in the holes and hoped that would be the end of it. My neighbor called me at 4:30 am yesterday to tell me that he saw a skunk burrow under the fence between our yards and into my henhouse.
Lightbulb moment. Maybe it's NOT rats under the shed.
So. Obviously I need to bury hardware cloth under that last bit of fence. But, I don't want to make the chicken pen skunk proof if the skunk is sleeping under the shed during the day. So, I need to get rid of him first.
I'm going to bait a humane trap tomorrow, but any ideas as to what to do in the meantime?
So far, I haven't lost any chickens, which is pretty shocking considering I have a tiny frizzle that is broody on the floor in the henhouse.
Recently, I noticed the holes re-appearing under the edge of the shed and thought the rats were back. I set out poison, and it eventually disappeared, but the "rat" holes kept re-appearing.
A couple nights ago, I went to tuck in my chickens and close the run and discovered a skunk happily eating an egg in the henhouse. If you're on the unofficial backyard chickens fb page, there's a pretty hilarious drunken accounting of it.
I filled in the holes and hoped that would be the end of it. My neighbor called me at 4:30 am yesterday to tell me that he saw a skunk burrow under the fence between our yards and into my henhouse.
Lightbulb moment. Maybe it's NOT rats under the shed.
So. Obviously I need to bury hardware cloth under that last bit of fence. But, I don't want to make the chicken pen skunk proof if the skunk is sleeping under the shed during the day. So, I need to get rid of him first.
I'm going to bait a humane trap tomorrow, but any ideas as to what to do in the meantime?
So far, I haven't lost any chickens, which is pretty shocking considering I have a tiny frizzle that is broody on the floor in the henhouse.