Squirrel invasion!

[Three Little Bunnies]

Hi!

Someone I know has a squirrel problem. The local squirrels walk right into the chicken coop and take the food. They used to take the lids off of the food storage containers and eat that, but when I locked those, they started taking it straight out of the feeders.

My family wants to shoot the squirrels (with BB guns). I don't have that great of aim. Is there a way to either keep them away, remove them, or eliminate them that won't cause harm to the chickens?

Thanks!

 

[Lady Clucks-a-Lot]

How do they get in your coop?

 

[Lady Clucks-a-Lot]

I know there are some feeders that for feeding wild birds and they're specially designed to be squirrels-proof. Maybe there's chicken feeders that do that, too? I'll look it up.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Oh, well.... squirrel proof is different than squirrels proof. Pardon the poor grammar.

Reviewers have reported success with our feeder and others were inundated with squirrels and had no luck. You have weight and distance differences between a full grown hen and the critters you are trying to prevent from stealing feed. You get enough critters that equal the weight of a hen, open goes the door. They will rush forward, the door closes, sometime trapping a tree rat, sometimes they learn to cooperate, some hold open the treadle while the others eat.

For sure you have to have mostly full sized birds and keep the spring tension set as tight as possible and still let your hens eat. In that our feeder is way ahead of any other on the market.

 

[tigger19687]

Put Red Pepper Flakes in the feed........ they will stop taking it Chickens don't care but may try to eat just the flakes for a bit when you first do it.

Try it, it's cheap and works... for chipmunks too

 

[Three Little Bunnies]

How do they get in your coop?

Through the open door. It has to stay open so the layers can get to the nest box.

 

[Three Little Bunnies]

For sure you have to have mostly full sized birds and keep the spring tension set as tight as possible and still let your hens eat. In that our feeder is way ahead of any other on the market.

I thought about the treadle feeder, but fourteen of the eighteen birds aren't fully grown, and I expect there will be more chicks in the future. Thanks, though!

 

[Lady Clucks-a-Lot]

Do you have an automatic coop door? I am not sure if that can open and close up every time a hen came, but maybe.

 

[Geena]

Hi!

Someone I know has a squirrel problem. The local squirrels walk right into the chicken coop and take the food. They used to take the lids off of the food storage containers and eat that, but when I locked those, they started taking it straight out of the feeders.

My family wants to shoot the squirrels (with BB guns). I don't have that great of aim. Is there a way to either keep them away, remove them, or eliminate them that won't cause harm to the chickens?

Thanks!

Trap and shoot. Squirrels are VERY easy to trap. Set the trap up just outside your run/coop, they love sunflower seeds. If you trap when you are home to remove and reset, you can catch a dozen a day.

 

[cmom]

I shoot them. We have fox squirrels which don't bother anything and gray squirrels that are into everything. They chewed the windshield wiper tubing in my DH's truck and what a pain that was to replace and also the cable TV wires. I started putting out a bait pile and when they go to the bait pile I shoot them. We have 4 resident fox squirrels. I have eliminated 30 gray squirrels recently and still have seen more. A friend of ours used to have fox squirrels where they live, but over the years the fox squirrels have moved out and the grays have taken over.
This was the wire they chewed on the pole next to the house. They also chewed the other end at the pole on the street.