Two days ago (death on the farm)

[gcwpapillon]

My sister and I went out to feed out 27 meat/egg birds and when we got to the coop, we opened the door and 7 of the chickens were dead! Blood and feathers were EVERYWHERE, some of the chickens heads were missing, one was so torn up it barely resembled a chicken!!!The rest of the chickens were freaked out!!!!Squaking, huddeling in one corner, the coop smelled so bad of dead chicken!!! Some how a possum got into the coop through a three inch hole that was blocked by our nesting boxes, which then the possum had to sqeeze through a one inch space.....Last night my brother shot the possom, it weighed between 10-20 pounds!!!This possum was big!!! Our chickens have calmed down (finally), and my sister and I put chicken wire over that hole...and a few others. What sucks is that the possum got five egg birds, which leaves us with six egg birds...my sister and I were grossed out, and very sad caus ewe worked so hard to protect them....

 

[BeckyLa]

Aw. I'm so sorry this happened. I hate preditors. But just to let you know, possum, coons, etc, can easily tear through chicken wire. You'd be better off to use hardware cloth, a small holed welded wire that is very strong. Did you see the teeth on that possum? Yep, they can go right through chicken wire.

 

[silkiechicken]

Are you sure it was a possum? That kind of killing doesn't sound possum like to me. Missing heads? more than one bird? I say that's more coon or weasal esque.

 

[jackiedon]

I am so sorry for your loss. It sounds like you and your sister work very hard to keep your chickens.

jackie

 

[mychickensareidiots]

Thats a shame. Just this last spring i put out rat traps baited with peanut butter and caught 6 opossums. And, I live in the city. My dog also killed a full grown raccoon and 2 medium sized opossums. It might not be a bad idea to put out a few live traps or some steelies and see if you can catch any more of 'em. they love to come around the coops at night and try to get in. I'm sorry for your loss and i hope it doesn't happen again.