Opossum in the chicken coop
Anna: There's a opossum in the chicken coop! I need you to shoot it. Should I get the rifle?
Mark [perusing his half-clad wife]: First, you should put on some pants.
When
we first moved to the farm, I wouldn't have dreamed of shooting a
opossum (or asking Mark to shoot one). But our closest neighbors are all
four-footed, and we soon realized that if we wanted to grow our own
food, we had to protect that food from the wilds. To that end, we now
hunt deer for our table and will occasionally kill varmints in the
chicken coop. Not snakes or hawks --- I figure those guys have a bad
reputation and need a bit of help. But a opossum or a raccoon who's
stealing eggs and might make a stab at a living bird? Those guys see no
mercy.
If it makes you feel any
better, I'm pretty sure this wasn't Mr. Opossum's first offense. I'd
seen signs of broken eggs in the nest box off and on over the last
couple of weeks. But I'd just assumed someone was laying thin-shelled
eggs. Wrong. Likely our egg predator had been snacking for quite a
while.
Lucy
used to be in charge of border patrol, and I remember seeing more than a
few opossum carcasses over the years. But as our hardy farm dog has
gotten older, Mark has taken over up-close-and-personal strikes
like this one. So, Monday night, my steady husband took a deep breath,
pulled the trigger, then we gave the carcass to Lucy to dispose of. With
me to run out when the hens cackle after dark, Mark to kill the beast,
and Lucy to eat what's left, we make a pretty good team.
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About us: Anna Hess and Mark Hamilton spent over a decade living self-sufficiently in the mountains of Virginia before moving north to start over from scratch in the foothills of Ohio. They've experimented with permaculture, no-till gardening, trailersteading, home-based microbusinesses and much more, writing about their adventures in both blogs and books.
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Been there, done that!
Last summer, I too had been finding broken egg shells in the laying boxes. I use a deep straw bed in mine, so didn't think much about it. Thin shelled eggs??
One morning I found a dead hen in the nesting area. Bloody neck was a give away that somebody was enjoying chicken besides me. So I cleaned it all up and decided it was time to empty the old straw and put in new. When I started pulling the straw out, guess who I found living underneath the nest box - right underneath the laying hens!? Mr. 'Possum!!
End game story was the exact same as yours.
I appreciate you all sharing your experiences. Honestly, I expected to be flamed by now for shooting the critter. But Tim's experience suggests that we made the right move.
Ruthlynn --- At intervals, I ponder getting a younger dog to carry the torch as Lucy gets older. I know she'd definitely help train one. Unfortunately, I also remember how much work it was to train Lucy into the grade-A dog she is now, and I also feel like we got really lucky finding a dog who's so perfect for our farm. Surely any younger buck would try to eat chickens and cats and goats and stomp on my garden beds and.... So, we've put off the decision and will hope Lucy keeps guarding our farm to the best of her abilities for many years to come.
http://www.inquisitr.com/2106782/opossums-the-unsung-heroes-against-lyme-disease-and-other-tick-borne-diseases/
not saying i haven't come to the same conclusion as you in the past. just thought i'd pass on this interesting info about opossums i read recently. who knew? they are really important lyme disease control.
Unless you can train a possum to not kill chickens or eat eggs, I think you went the only route you could have.
Well, almost the only route. Here are some other options for next time.