Skunk!

[bigsky13]

Hi

Has anyone had a problem with skunks bothering their chickens?

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I haven't but we don't have skunks nearby. There's a member in Maine that has big problems with skunks.

In the following thread, 1% (50 members) have said skunks are their worst predator.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/t/261440/the-worst-predator

 

[bigsky13]

I actually don't know what it is. Something burrowed under the fence and ate eggs.

 

[bigsky13]

Thanks Chicken canoe

 

[Free Spirit]

Here is some info about skunks in the BYC Learning Center https://www.backyardchickens.com/a/skunk-chicken-predators-how-to-protect-your-chickens-from-skunks

Have you smelled skunk in the air? I always know when there are skunks in the yard because of the tell tale skunky smell lingering in the air. If I shine the flashlight around the yard I'll eventually spot it or two or three.

But there are different critters that eat eggs and can dig. The only way to know for sure is to catch it in the act or with a game camera.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Hi

Has anyone had a problem with skunks bothering their chickens?

I actually don't know what it is. Something burrowed under the fence and ate eggs.

I am unable to answer your question without more information or clues, but skunks are egg eating and nest robbing machines. The little stinkers are also bad news for sitting hens and clucks with small biddies that are still unable to perch high when they sleep. I really doubt that a possum is: (one) smart enough & (two) motivated enough to actually dig a purpose made hole to get at a meal.

This past Summer I discovered a skunk den with 4 babies less than 20 feet from a busy major 4 lane US highway. Mama had seized a PCV drain pipe in the road bank for her nursery and what tipped me off was the faint scent of wee skunks as they played and crawled in and out of the drain pipe. The drain pipe likely belonged to the home owner whose lot the drain was located on, or else the tire store that was located next door. This alone is good reason to banish ground hogs (woodchucks) from your property. Vacant ground hog holes or dens are prime (and I do mean PRIME) den locations for fox, skunk, coyote, raccoon, mink, possum, badger, as well dens for every other fury or scaly chicken and/or egg eating varmint out there.

 

[slordaz]

our solution to disappearing eggs was letting the dog out to run more often and the farm cat bed down with the girls besides 2 roosters and a drake that still thinks those hens are his babies and haven't convinced him other wise. We collect eggs twice a day though too. haven't lost but a couple of pecked eggs in several months now, if we ever figure out whose doing that they are gonna be processed.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Hi

Has anyone had a problem with skunks bothering their chickens?

Yes, over the years i have lost grown birds, eggs, and chicks to skunks. However skunks just love sticking their feet in a #1&1/2 long spring steel trap. Then a quick shot to the noggin dispatches the villain and my hens extract their just revenge by eating the skunk that only moments before wanted to eat them.

 

[hayley3]

Skunks

Skunks are more of an annoyance than a serious chicken predator. They will go after baby chickens and eggs, but rarely attack an adult bird.

http://www.raising-chickens.org/chicken-predators.html