squirrels eating feed?

[gel2727]

Uuugh I knew it, thanks! I'm going to go look for holes.... some of the run is chain link fence, can squirrels fit through those holes?

 

[foreverlearning]

Yes they can. Pick up a cheap roll of poultry netting. The black plastic 7'X100' is about $17 at Lowe's and Home Depot in the garden dept. You can barley see it when it is on and it keeps out small critters. They also call it deer netting, it is strong but doesn't look strong.

 

[sepaditty1]

gel, In addition to patching obvious holes, can you remove your feeders when you lock up the coop for the night? I've been doing that to avoid attracting nocturnal rodents...I don't even want field mice getting fat on my dime. I put the two feeders into a Rubbermaid type container with a locking lid each night. I've got 11 chickens of similar age and I think my 50 lb bag will last 3-4 weeks.

That is a great idea! I'm definitely going to start doing this! Once my girls go to sleep, they don't care where the food is. Then I can be the hero in the morning when I "find" it for them.

 

[NewBostonChick]

Yes, those squirrels can squeeze through places your think they could not. I had a few pesty squirrels that got into my run and feed bin after the sunflower seeds. One scared me half to death when I opened the bin one day and he jumped out, almost got me in the face and did scratch my arm. I had to stop feeding the sunflower seeds for awhile. However when I did put some out again, Mr. Squirrel and his friends were back.. I set a have a heart trap, but he eluded that.. So, extra netting as mentioned and feed inside at night may help.. They are very pesty things!! Good luck!

 

[MoreHens]

We've been having a terrible time with squirrels this year. We have trees in and around the run and they were just climbing down the tress. We kept finding them camped out in the feeder every day, and I even found them in the coop in the morning. They would go in the automatic door in the morning to get at the feeders (put away at night to avoid possums and raccoons getting to it at night). I was worried about them scaring the chickens away from the feeder, not to mention they were really going through the feed.

The only solution we found was a gun. We used a moderately powerful pellet gun. 6 squirrels later and our feeder is finally squirrel free. Good luck!