Squirrels

[Mmes]

We are being pestered by squirrels - a family of five I think. I just bought a brand new coop for some babies and the squirrels are terrorising them - burrowing into the coop and eating all their food. Any ideas on how to rid us of the squirrels? Are they dangerous to our birds? Even our fully grown girls are nervous of them and allow them free access to their food.

 

[TK421]

A few possibilities come to mind. 1)different food 2) install a bottom on the coop 3)install an apron 12-18” wide around the outside edge. Option 1 has a low probability of success honestly. Harassment and trapping probably won’t do you much good because squirrels are persistent and there will be a new family of squirrels to replace them pdq. Another option is to wait It out but I don’t like that either. You could be teaching young squirrels where to find easy food. Consider the apron to prevent the problem long term.

 

[Mmes]

Thankyou TK421 for your ideas. Im not clear what you mean about 'an apron'. Could you help me by describing this suggestion? You never know, it might just work...........! Mmes

 

[Ihavesomechickens]

Try a piece of hardware cloth where they were digging or just lay a piece of hardware cloth all they way around ( an apron ) about 18-24 inches out from the walls.

 

[Al Gerhart]

Short of an all steel or steel hardware cloth coop, you aren't fencing out the squirrels. You gotta get control of the feed so they cannot eat the feed. If these are "babies" that is tough to do as they will be too small for a rat proof chicken feeder and treadle feeders are not safe for birds under a pound or two.

If I were you, while the chickens are small, I would feed twice a day and no more than the birds will clean up. That will stunt their growth a bit, fewer eggs if you have some adults, or better yet pen the babies apart and use a rat proof feeder for the adults.

But to defeat squirrels you HAVE to stick with the narrow and distant treadle, no extra platforms to make them easy to use. You have to keep the spring pretty tight so they can't gang up on the treadle or just push the door open. Even then, enough squirrels are gonna defeat a treadle feeder but there is a silver lining, they make great squirrel traps. Drop the feeder in a trash can with a lid and run a hose from the lawn mower into the trash can for ten minutes. Or take Mr. Squirrel for a very long car ride.

The good news is if this is indeed a family, a litter with near grown juveniles, once they are grown the parents will force them to leave so you won't have five to deal with. But it begins again next litter.

 

[Rigel6]

I agree

Short of an all steel or steel hardware cloth coop, you aren't fencing out the squirrels. You gotta get control of the feed so they cannot eat the feed. If these are "babies" that is tough to do as they will be too small for a rat proof chicken feeder and treadle feeders are not safe for birds under a pound or two.

If I were you, while the chickens are small, I would feed twice a day and no more than the birds will clean up. That will stunt their growth a bit, fewer eggs if you have some adults, or better yet pen the babies apart and use a rat proof feeder for the adults.

But to defeat squirrels you HAVE to stick with the narrow and distant treadle, no extra platforms to make them easy to use. You have to keep the spring pretty tight so they can't gang up on the treadle or just push the door open. Even then, enough squirrels are gonna defeat a treadle feeder but there is a silver lining, they make great squirrel traps. Drop the feeder in a trash can with a lid and run a hose from the lawn mower into the trash can for ten minutes. Or take Mr. Squirrel for a very long car ride.

The good news is if this is indeed a family, a litter with near grown juveniles, once they are grown the parents will force them to leave so you won't have five to deal with. But it begins again next litter.

with you about the tenacity of squirrels, but what is this “distant and narrow treadle?”

 

[Al Gerhart]

The reason we set the treadle way back and make it narrow is so that if a bunch of squirrels or rats ganged up on the treadle they couldn't reach the feed. They aren't likely to cooperate, once one starts eating the others will rush forward and the door will close. Look at the picture on my avatar. Wide treadle treadles are not rat proof.

 

[Rldad1]

Depends on where you live. You can either trap them and send them a long way away or if you are in my neck of the woods, we say Brunswick Stew!!!