Of Chickens, a Fox and the Skunk

joken · May 31, 2020

JoAnn is taking this Coronavirus very seriously, and since she is usually right I'm doing my best to keep her happy. We have often talked about getting Chickens, and as much as I like free-range eggs, It just doesn't pencil out. Chickens also would be one more thing that someone would have look after around here when we are in AZ. Anyway, thanks to Covid19 and the looming scarcity of eggs, we now have Chickens

.

We have five acres four miles from town and have varmints here occasionally, but they typically are not a problem. A couple of weeks ago my wife called me to look at something. The Something was a large Red Fox rolling around on his back on our lawn and having a great time. It was a beautiful Fox, very dark red that melted into a lot of black. I haven't seen a lot of Fox but never have I seen one colored like this one. I didn't see it for long from the window but it was out in the back yard when I went out. The animal didn't seem to fear me very much and loped off into the pasture, it stopped and looked back at me after about a hundred yards, like the last Elk topping a ridge.

Back to the Chickens: They are four weeks old now and no longer in the kitchen. We moved them out to the shop until the weather warms up and I finish the Chicken House. Chicken houses are expensive and most are not very well built or suited for Oregon weather so I'm building one. Building projects always take twice as long as I estimate and cost at least twice am much as I told the Princess.

I thought it would be a good idea to trap the Fox and re-home it before it came back for a Chicken. JoAnn has a composter outback. Some critter crapped on top of it recently after it couldn't get the lid off, so I thought that would be a great place for a trap. I tucked the trap up under a large Hawthorne tree/bush close to the composter. We haven't had any visitors to the trap until this afternoon when JoAnn told me we had a Skunk. She had gone out to the composter, having forgotten about the trap, and didn't even notice the skunk until she was coming back to the house. She walked within 5' of the trap going and coming. I couldn't get a good shot at the Skunk because it was dark under the tree. I didn't kill it with the first shot and wasn't quite fast enough with the second. The skunk sprayed and fortunately, the wind carried the odor away. I thought it did anyway until I went up to shower and realized my clothes were skunky. I am so thankful that my wife didn't get sprayed or I'd be out sleeping with the Chickens.

jbett98 · May 31, 2020

Raccoons will never stop trying to kill your hens. The worst part, is that just eat their crop out of their necks and leave the body behind.
Make sure you have an easy way to close the coop at night unless you have their run enclosed with heavy wire, as chicken wire won't stop a determined coon.
Bury the wire at least a foot.

GOG · May 31, 2020

Those poor city folk will never understand the charm of country life.

joken · May 31, 2020

jbett98 said:
Raccoons will never stop trying to kill your hens. The worst part, is that just eat their crop out of their necks and leave the body behind.
Make sure you have an easy way to close the coop at night unless you have their run enclosed with heavy wire, as chicken wire won't stop a determined coon.
Bury the wire at least a foot.

I ordered an automatic door for the chicken house and bought some used 6' tall chain-link panels for a run. We do have some Racoons around here, especially when the cherries are ripe.

Flounder · Jun 1, 2020

Highly recommend buying/borrowing a game camera and setting up near your coop (and later on moving further out to see what is on your perimeter). The camera will tell you what is sniffing around and how many more you need to trap.

If you are using live traps, be aware that chickens are very stupid and will constantly be curious and get inside the trap themselves. The best bait we have found is leftover bones from Kentucky Fried Chicken. Nothing seems to be able to resist them (including the chickens - go figure).

If you are using live traps, then recommend using some wire cutters and making slightly bigger holes in a few strategic locations to make dispatching the predators. Skunks have small heads for their size and you have about 50% chance of a instant kill without a spray. There are other alternatives for dispatching skunks that are out on the internet that the professional trappers use that are very effective. Good news is that once a skunk has been in your trap, all other animals think it is "normal" and catch rates actually go up (once the initial smell wears off).

Also watch for possums around your coop. They can do some real damage to your birds. Also be aware that dogs are the #1 killer of chickens, so if you have a neighborhood pack (or even your own), you need to protect them from that threat as well.

I am a big fan of dog-proof traps (like this one). Keeps the local feral cats and skunks out, but gets the raccoons and occasional possum.

Good luck with your birds. Let me know (either PM or post here) if you have any more questions.

joken · Jun 1, 2020

alaskaflounder said:
Highly recommend buying/borrowing a game camera and setting up near your coop (and later on moving further out to see what is on your perimeter). The camera will tell you what is sniffing around and how many more you need to trap.

If you are using live traps, be aware that chickens are very stupid and will constantly be curious and get inside the trap themselves. The best bait we have found is leftover bones from Kentucky Fried Chicken. Nothing seems to be able to resist them (including the chickens - go figure).

If you are using live traps, then recommend using some wire cutters and making slightly bigger holes in a few strategic locations to make dispatching the predators. Skunks have small heads for their size and you have about 50% chance of a instant kill without a spray. There are other alternatives for dispatching skunks that are out on the internet that the professional trappers use that are very effective. Good news is that once a skunk has been in your trap, all other animals think it is "normal" and catch rates actually go up (once the initial smell wears off).

Also watch for possums around your coop. They can do some real damage to your birds. Also be aware that dogs are the #1 killer of chickens, so if you have a neighborhood pack (or even your own), you need to protect them from that threat as well.

I am a big fan of dog-proof traps (like this one). Keeps the local feral cats and skunks out, but gets the raccoons and occasional possum.

Good luck with your birds. Let me know (either PM or post here) if you have any more questions.

Thanks for the tips