Squirrels eating chicken eggs

[Pet Duck Boy]

If an animal has gotten into a bad habit dispatching would be the best choice if you don't plan to secure the coop. Otherwise sitting in a chair with a silent air rifle taking out half a dozen squirrels in 1 1/2 hours is fun too. Not to mention they taste pretty good. But I agree that it would be easier to simply buy some wire mesh or keep the coop very secure.

 

[schellie69]

Quote:
I can't put wire mesh up over all of my yard since i free range my girls and they go in and out to lay eggs, I am going to get an air gun and we shall see who wins me or the squirrels, do you have any recipes for squirrel my son said he will skin and gut I just have to cook so need some recipes thanks very much.

 

[Pet Duck Boy]

Google is useful for finding recipes. Type in "recipes for squirrels" or "squirrel recipes" and you'll get dozens of good results. Keeping everything secure is a good idea but it takes the fun out of shooting and eating them little furry vemin.

 

[AnnetteinCA]

"Squirrels are just rats dressed in cute costumes." -- Carrie from Sex and the City.

I have been suspecting that squirrels are getting into the coop and stealing eggs. Um, when I trap them, they are going South for the Winter, or being brought to their new home in an open field 5 miles from home. My Dad just shoots them, which I am tempted to do next. They eat all the fruits off my trees before the fruit even has chance to ripen. Little bastards.

 

[AnnetteinCA]

Quote:
This is a slightly annoying post to me. yes, you feel that in your yard you want to commune with your nature. But don’t attempt to make others feel as if they are less then or should feel badly about themselves for reducing the vermin situation. As others have posted the squirrel pop and several other local preds are wildly out of control. They are simply rats with fuzzy tails. If there is a bad year food wise for the squirrels in my yard they go nuts and eat anything they can find, even plastic. We have totally redone all the lovely woodwork and covered it with metal on the house because during bad years the squirrels even eat wood and paint. That tells me there is a massive overpopulation problem. The hawks and owls cant keep up with them, even with at least 2 hawk nests and several owl nests on the property. Then I will get into your exclusion ideal. Not everyone can afford the fort knox of coops and give their chickens enough space for a decent life. For some familys a few hens may make the difference between their kids going hungry or not. For those families shooting a pred is the very simplest and cheapest way to protect their food supply.

Amen!!

 

[AnnetteinCA]

Quote:
Again, shoot the jerk pets. I used to have so many of them, I started trapping them and driving them off to a very far place. I'm thinking of just shpooting them, but I don't have a gun for that.

OK, I AM NOT EATING A SQUIRREL FROM DINNER! I live in Los Angeles, and I am too snobby to eat squirrel. YUCK!!!!!!!

 

[schellie69]

I had to move my coop due to it not being 50 feet from someone's house (another story) I am wondering that I am going to make a "walkway" it will not be that tall do you think this will make the squirrels less likely to go down it will be about 40 feet long and just tall enough for the chickens to walk down using a small wire does anyone think this will make the squirrels less likely to go down such a long small space with only one way in one way out. just wondering if this will help.

 

[PineappleMama]

Squirrel -n- Dumplins

 

[Ozark Chicken]

Quote:
All it will do is make it amusing to watch their acrobatics. I don't think it will even slow them down. You should watch some of the squirrel maze videos on U-tube. I've seen them fall 30+ feet from tree tops and hit the ground running. For fuzzy tailed rats they are amusing. We shoot enough of them around the house to keep them honest. We do lose some eggs but not many (we free range) For us it's all part of the process.

 

[schellie69]

Quote:
All it will do is make it amusing to watch their acrobatics. I don't think it will even slow them down. You should watch some of the squirrel maze videos on U-tube. I've seen them fall 30+ feet from tree tops and hit the ground running. For fuzzy tailed rats they are amusing. We shoot enough of them around the house to keep them honest. We do lose some eggs but not many (we free range) For us it's all part of the process.

I just wish someone would post pictures of a squirrel stealing eggs so I could show my family that I am not crazy because I know they are stealing them just haven't caught any and I need to get a BB gun so I can shot the ones that are. they are the only predator that I have around here.