Squirrels gone bad.... Some graphic details

[chick rookie]

Squirrels HATE chili powder, jalapeño powder and the like. We had a horrid squirrel invasion into the run ( which is essentially a large fenced free range area). We don’t like to kill anything. I looked online to see what squirrels wont eat! Chickens are NOT bothered by the chili powder. For a tester, Mix enough in their dry food to turn it a little pink and watch what happens. You may need to experiment with the amount. The powder isn’t cheap. We buy it at an Eastern Indian grocery in bulk for best price.

Wow good to know.... That's something I can do fast like after work today... Thank you

 

[Nyhillbillies]

Also, i read that certain pests don’t like garlic powder, but chickens do. We added garlic powder and the chickens won’t eat it at all.

 

[NatJ]

Didn't know squirrels came out at night? Is that a city squirrel thing?

I don't know for sure, but it seems likely. I never heard of them NOT being active at night.

I think NatJ means so that it will be there first thing in the morning before you let the chickens out.

I actually hadn't thought of that, but good point

 

[Geena]

We don’t like to kill anything

I generally prefer not to kill the wildlife either, but if you think about it we are the ones responsible for the unnatural population explosion by allowing them to feed on things that would otherwise not be available to them. Therefore putting the population back into check where it belongs is actually the right and often even humane thing to do, same as with rats and mice.

 

[Nyhillbillies]

This is what we purchased. You might find other options at your local Indian Bizarre!

 

[Magnumchicken]

Also what is all this talk about chili and garlic? Are you cooking dinner for the squirrels?

Your choices are simple. Kill squirrels or deal with them destroying everything and eating everything.

 

[SourRoses]

Wow, our Grey Squirrels here in FL are such timid things! They've shown interest in feeders in the past but the hens easily run them off just for looking.
We have a forest behind us and the live oak tree canopies are all interconnected over our house and chicken yard. We get lots of acorn fragments pelted down at us but zero breaking and entering squirrels
A few weeks ago I watched a standoff between a chittering squirrel on a tree trunk a few feet off the ground and a 4 month old leghorn pullet. The squirrel wanted to come down, likely to dig in it's stash, but the leggie was chasing it around the trunk in circles. Leggie won.
Maybe you need a guard chicken?

 

[NatJ]

Also what is all this talk about chili and garlic? Are you cooking dinner for the squirrels?

Your choices are simple. Kill squirrels or deal with them destroying everything and eating everything.

If the squirrels will not eat chicken food with chili powder in it, that would be one way to make the feed unavailable to the squirrels. Without the good source of food, the squirrels will be more inclined to go somewhere else.

Of course, that only works if the squirrels dislike chili powder and the chickens don't care. It's no good if the chicken's won't eat the feed, or if the squirrels like it too.

(I'm not saying this is the best fix, the only fix, or a quick fix; but in some cases it might be one possible fix for the situation.)

Killing squirrels is also one possible fix, but again not the only one.
Building a squirrel-proof chicken run could also be a possibility, although not one I would care to try.

 

[Beaker99]

I had a squirrel problem at a previous residence. My BB gun took care of the problem.

 

[NorthwoodsChick]

I think I'm going to try both ideas. I never had to deal with this on the farm. These city squirrels are brave.....
Thanks.

How frustrating. City squirrels are bold. I had squirrels in the city that would intentionally tease my dogs. I trapped and “dispatched” a couple and the neighbors flipped out. The squirrels we neighborhood pets to them and were being fed so they have no human fear.
I like the peanut butter and seed bait ambush station. Camp out with the bb gun and plink em off. The internet is full of squirrels recipes.