Replies to This Discussion

Permalink Reply by Julie Buck on October 14, 2010 at 9:49am

Chicken feed also draws skunks. but then so do chickens and eggs, dog food, cat food, apples that fall on the ground under the tree and almost anything else edible. Miserable smelly little pests.

Permalink Reply by Jan - Zone 3 and 4 on May 10, 2011 at 8:27am

Loved your replies!  It's the truth!  It's a dog eat dog world and most people would just die if they knew what happened behind the scenes in nature!!  I have thought about getting chickens again, but with no dog, and so many predators here, it would be a constant struggle. 

Permalink Reply by Hazel Dene on October 29, 2010 at 4:53am

Get a cat...chooks are worth the trouble. Lovely fresh eggs with golden yolks. So fresh they stand up proud in the pan and taste rich and wonderful. In Australia we have venemous snakes that may be attracted by the rodents but not skunks...I think I am happy about that.??

Permalink Reply by diana Z9 Houston, Texas on March 4, 2011 at 8:20am

I did have a mouse at one time in the girls house but they took care of that little mouse.  I also don't have rats.

Permalink Reply by Sudschick on April 1, 2011 at 4:31pm

Have had chickens...anywhere between 30 and 100...for almost 18 years. Have never seen a rat. To quote my Biology professor, there is no such thing as spontaneous generation. Rats come from rats, not chickens, eggs or feed. Take care of your coop, the surroundings, and their feed and you will have no more rats than you do now...two legged types excluded. Get a couple of cats and have even less.

Sudsy

Permalink Reply by Tricia C. on April 20, 2011 at 8:28pm

I haven't had that problem but I know others have. I think the reason we have not had a problem so far is that we have about 20 ferral cats wandering all around.  They don't bother the chickens though.  Make sure the food is kept in a metal container with a good lid.  Do a search for "chicken feeders rat proof".  You should be able to get the information you need.  Now if I could find a nice way to get rid of the ferral cats that are driving my dogs crazy with barking along with all the poop the cats are leaving in my yard.

Permalink Reply by Sudschick on April 20, 2011 at 8:52pm

You could always call animal control and trap them. They'll take all of them away for you, if that's what you want. Many places spay and neuter feral cats for free and release them. At least that would slow down the population.

Permalink Reply by K Gleaves on June 16, 2011 at 6:51pm

After losing two small flocks of my beloved birds to some critter that dug a perfectly round hole that was at least 2 feet in length to get under the fence and into my coop, I gave up on chickens.  I just couldn't take the heartbreak of losing my "girls" again.  I had NO IDEA that opossums could kill a chicken!  That explains so much.  The hole the critter dug was too small for a raccoon, so I couldn't figure it out.  We do have possum problems around here.  Any suggestions on how to keep them away?  I would so love to get another small clutch.

Thanks

Permalink Reply by Bonnie Hannum ~ Missouri, USA on September 20, 2011 at 4:09am

We keep the chicken feed in a galvanized garbage can with a lid for storage; have had no problems out in the coop or pen area with rats.  But we also have cats, hawks, and owls that take care of those rodents.....

Permalink Reply by Sharon Robinson (Z4, ND, USA) on October 30, 2011 at 11:05am

Another thing that will go after your chickens, is an owl.  Up here we've had instances of an owl entering the coop when the chickens were sleeping at night, sidle right up to a chicken and grab it, then leave the coop while the rest of them are trying to figure out what happened.  Hawks will also take a chicken if it's pen is big enough.

One year we were raising turkeys, both domestic for butcher and wild for release.  when they got big enough that the cats couldn't bother them, we allowed them to roam the property, eating bugs as they wanted.  One day we came home and discovered the scene of a battle all over our yard.  White feathers were everywhere!  After inspection, we found one of our dogs sitting beside what turned out to be a feather from a Golden Eagle.  Evidently, the eagle had grabbed a half grown turkey, only to discover it was heavier then he/she thought, and they couldn't just take off.  While he/she was working on getting the turkey in the proper position for an easy carry, our basset/black lab mix discovered the bird in the yard.  Well, that was his yard, no one entered without his permission, so he attacked the eagle, only he ended up with a mouthful of turkey and a tug a war began.  Hense, the feather's everywhere.  The Eagle won the turkey, but he/she never came back after having to fight the dog for it's meal.  And I know the dog didn't eat the bird, because that dog only ate cooked meat.  If you gave him raw meat, he thought you were trying to poison him.

In fact, this year all the pheasant disappeared around August first, just in time for the hawk's to fledge.  They were hiding.

Permalink Reply by Christine C on November 17, 2011 at 8:50pm

My feed is stored in a locked garbage can.  I check the feed every day in the coop and the coop is closed tight at night.......a rat would have to dig or chew real good to get at it. There are lots of neighborhood cats, owls and hawks in the area also, not to mention everyone has a dog or four......and my killer pug!! If only she would stop eating the chicken poop, it's making me sick!!

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