Yey Skunks! :(

[OSDad]

I woke up yesterday morning and went to let the birds out of the coop and seen something had a spot of the yard tore up. I guessed skunks. Last night driving into town we see 3 of the fragrant little guys a few hundred meters from the house.

What should I be watching for in the next while?

If they start to be a problem, what are my best options to deal with them?

What will a skunk do to a chicken?

Thanks,

OSDad

 

[Jenna14Chicken]

Skunks usually just go for the eggs but if the chickens are easier or in the way of the skunk skunks will kill the chicken(s). If I were you I would make sure your coop is very secure and if they get in, somehow kill them or if u want u could set a trap go out and get sprayed and take them somewhere else! Lol

 

[OSDad]

I have the coop and run well secured. Birds are locked away in the coop at night.

Hopefully without getting anything from it they will move along to something else. If not I need to explore other options.

 

[Tumbling K]

I have the coop and run well secured. Birds are locked away in the coop at night.

Hopefully without getting anything from it they will move along to something else. If not I need to explore other options.

lab dogs, love to chase skunks, juss sayin.


I'm not sure anything is truly a natural deterrent for a skunk.

you can trap them, or shoot them.

 

[Howard E]

For those living in areas infested with Japanese beetles, get ready for Part II of that nightmare. Skunks love the beetle grubs and will do a number on a lawn not that much different than a sounder of feral hogs. Well maybe not that bad, but they will be digging it up. I have a big lawn area measured in acres, so if that is all they were doing I'd let them have at it and let them be. But they don't stop there. Mine want to move into the barn. They have already done that. Saw Pepe jr. peeking out from an abandoned groundhog hole yesterday, so that appears to be their new home base. Got a whiff one one a few hours ago that must have been coming from the sweet corn patch, which would mean I was maybe within a few feet of it and couldn't see it. Also not more than 50 feet from my chicken house and today the chickens are out. That's not good.

I could live trap them and deal with that, but I use a different method, which is to start baiting up a safe firing range with cat food. Each evening I put out a little bit and get them used to coming to it. Once I know where and hopefully when (usually about an hour or so after dark), I get the drop on em with a shotgun. They see a bright flash of light from the flashlight, then another flash and then it's lights out for them. Then it's a short ride to the back of the hay field and the buzzard buffet is open.

 

[bobbi-j]

For those living in areas infested with Japanese beetles, get ready for Part II of that nightmare. Skunks love the beetle grubs and will do a number on a lawn not that much different than a sounder of feral hogs. Well maybe not that bad, but they will be digging it up. I have a big lawn area measured in acres, so if that is all they were doing I'd let them have at it and let them be. But they don't stop there. Mine want to move into the barn. They have already done that. Saw Pepe jr. peeking out from an abandoned groundhog hole yesterday, so that appears to be their new home base. Got a whiff one one a few hours ago that must have been coming from the sweet corn patch, which would mean I was maybe within a few feet of it and couldn't see it. Also not more than 50 feet from my chicken house and today the chickens are out. That's not good.

I could live trap them and deal with that, but I use a different method, which is to start baiting up a safe firing range with cat food. Each evening I put out a little bit and get them used to coming to it. Once I know where and hopefully when (usually about an hour or so after dark), I get the drop on em with a shotgun. They see a bright flash of light from the flashlight, then another flash and then it's lights out for them. Then it's a short ride to the back of the hay field and the buzzard buffet is open.

I like that method! Wham, bam, and it's done. I have had to make sure the garage door is shut for the last week or so. I have smelled skunk outside the bedroom a couple of nights in a row, so I didn't want it to get any ideas. We had a skunk go off in our attached garage once. It's not pretty.