Squirrels stealing chicken feed

[Nic&Chickies]

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I was going to say something in a similar vein: How tightly protected is your setup? Is your coop predator proof? I'm thinking maybe not. I don't know of squirrels attacking chickens, but now I'm worried for your girls (and guy)-- Some oppossums are not much bigger than squirrels.
We have 2 pop doors from the coop; one to the main run, which I think of as their safe yard. It's fenced-in, with netting over the top, and we're fairly sure it is predator-proof. The other leads to the smallish run, which also has a gate opening out to the big run. Even when our girls free-range, it's not completely free. We put up light fencing to keep them in or out of certain areas, and only let them out of the pen in the first place when we will be outside with them. It can all be a pain in the neck sometimes, but I know they are about as safe as we can make them.

(Also, we used to store the feed & scratch in the unused 2nd curbside recycling bin, but the squirrels started gnawing the cover, so we changed to a large cabinet/small shed, that was previously a mini-coop when our younger chicks were first able to be outside. Or I would recommend a covered metal container.)

 

[al6517]

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Now that's a great idea, no fuss no muss. Good suggestion.

 

[TreeHugger]

Just a thought... can you put pepper in the chicken's feed? I had a co-worker talking about putting pepper around her bird feeders to keep the squirrels out; apparently they hate the taste. My chickens don't seem to be bothered by leftovers seasoned with pepper or chili powder. Of course I'm not sure if the chickens would like "seasoned" feed.

 

[HomesteaderMel]

I know a little bit about jack russels... one of them killed one of my Brahamas. We have a dog, and she loves to chase the squirrels when she's outside- the only problem is, she's an inside dog and doesn't spend all day around the coop.

@TreeHugger- I'll try that! I let you all know how the pepper works..

@Nic&Chickies- our coop is very secure. My hubby installed a "chicken door", and we open it every morning and close it every night. The door also has an interior lock on it. There is a larger door for us to use, and it is also locked of an evening. My problem is during the day when the "chicken door" is left open. Our layers have to have access to the coop to lay in their nesting boxes. We have not had any other issues with predators, even though we live pretty far out in the country... our neighbor even has a raccoon as a pet!

 

[ninabeast]

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This is a fascinating idea. I've been trying cayenne pepper on my girls' feed to prevent worms. Apparently, chickens have no heat sensors, so they eat it without a second thought. Sure would ruin it for squirrels, I'd imagine, but you'd have to keep it up.

This really has me thinking, as I've never had squirrels in my coop...she said.

 

[marty8587]

I recently got a bag of black oil sonflower seeds from a free pile at a garage sale and was giving some to the chickens in a dish in the yard and noticed the squirrels were all over it even when the girls tried to chase them off. I am definetly gonna try the pepper and cyanne at least to mess with them!

 

[MCI]

Cayenne works. The squirrels do not want anything to do with it, but will be back about twenty minutes after you feed them without the cayenne.

I think bird shot or trapping is the best long term solution.

 

[Mattemma]

I have a squirrel trap(was mentioned on here),but it is slow going. Lol,squirrels are harder to handle than coons.

Someone mentioned a platform on a post.Food on the platform.Squirrels come to eat,and then hawks come to eat the squirrels. If you are ok with shooting them then this platform or a pile of food on the ground in shooting view is good.

 

[jjthink]

I really like squirrels and don't mind them dining but have noticed that by feeding them some bird seed mix and/or peanuts by my back door each morning they completely ignore/forget about chicken feed (apparently utterly boring by comparison)....
The last thing in the world I ever worried about was squirrels in the proximity of my birds - 15+ years and never an issue. The squirrels are actually a bit entertaining for the birds

JJ

 

[groundpecker]

Harvest and eat them. They love corn. get a few of those "dry corn on the cob". drive a long nail through a piece of plywood and push cob in the nail . Pick them off with a .22 when eating it.