Ground Squirrels are stealing our eggs! Help!

[OnionPatch]

We've lost chickens to coyotes, bobcats and even a bear who ripped the door off the coop. And we've been able to remedy the situation each time. But this one has me stumped. At first I thought the chickens were hiding their eggs. Then, when this was proven not to be the case, I thought they were eating their own eggs. Then I caught the little rodents in the nest box, breaking and eating the eggs! On some days I don't get a single egg and I have 6 hens!

My chickens houses are wooden coops inside a totally enclosed, 12x12 heavy-duty, chain-link cage. (Bear-proof.) Each day I open it up and let them roam free on a fenced-in half-acre pasture. They return to the coop to lay their eggs. If I make the pen/coops squirrel-proof, the chickens won't be able to get in to lay their eggs. If I lock the chickens into the pen always, they won't be able to free-range and that's the whole reason I have chickens. Without access to free-range, their eggs are no better than what I can get at the grocery store, so what's the point?

I tried rat traps and caught one squirrel (I closed off one nest box from the chickens but left enough space for the squirrels to get in.) But now they're too smart and won't get near the traps. We removed a wood pile that was close to the coop, filled in and used smoke bombs in all the squirrel holes we can find but still, they persist. My husband even shot a couple of them, but apparently, not enough and he doesn't have the time to sit out back shooting squirrels all day. I tried mixing hot pepper into a few eggs and putting them back in the shells but they ate those like they were candy. We're starting to get desperate enough to try poison, but are concerned about the neighbor's dog perhaps finding and eating a poisoned squirrel.

Is this it? Did I win over the bobcats and bears only to be defeated by a dray of ground squirrels? :banghead:

[underpants]

1. By "ground squirrels" do you mean chipmunks?

they have taken about half our cherry tomatoes and something (rabbits) took down our ears of corn.

[OnionPatch]

5. No, not chipmunks. California Ground Squirrels

They're actually very cute and I regret having to battle with them.

http://groups.ucanr.org/gsbmp/

[efhmc]

51. We have these in Texas too. Do they make holes like praire dogs?

[doodadem]

56. Yeah, we originally thought they were cute too

Thought the damn gophers were cute as well. Now, 8 years later, I say, "Kill the bastards, kill them all!" And the damn packrats. We did finally end up poisoning out the squirrels with the bait stations you make from pvc pipe. But the gophers are a constant war in the vege and flower gardens, the lawn, the landscaping. What they don't tear up and eat, my dogs do trying to dig them out. The packrats moved into the detached garage and destroyed any number of things. They move into my gardening shed, anything else they can find.

We're in the lower Sierra Nevadas, eastern Calif.

[OnionPatch]

16. I forgot to mention, they ate half my corn patch, too!

They left the garden area, though, when I removed the nearby wood pile.....No more cover for them.

I remember chipmunks from growing up in Ohio. They are so cute. I'd have an even harder time battling them.

[saltpoint]

2. Nuke the bastards, is my advice.

Pull out all the stops, and let fly.

Sometimes a show of force is the only language these craven assholes will understand.

- - - -

I'm sorry this is happening to you. I admire the kind of life you are living to have this problem n the first place. A good chunk of my family tree would appreciate both the problem you face but mostly they'd admire the endurance you likely have in the face of it.


:thumbsup:

[OnionPatch]

8. I'd be happy to nuke them.

At this point, they are no longer cute to me. I'll nuke them. But I'm concerned about poisoning the neighbor's and even our dogs. The area we would bait is fenced off from the dogs but what if a poisoned squirrel comes through the fence into the yard? Are there different poisons that might be safer to use? :shrug:

[saltpoint]

10. Yep. Attractive as the nuclear option is, better check local

ordinances before pulling the switch.

- - -

Good luck on these critters, and congrats again for the endurance involved.

[OnionPatch]

13. Endurance, I don't know.....

I think it's just stubbornness. The more work I put into them, the more I feel I have to lose if I give up. I've fixed fences, created the chain-link pen, etc. etc. That doesn't count all the work that goes into raising them from tiny chicks. Once you have a system, though, chickens are really pretty easy to take care of. Except when these "little problems" pop up.

[saltpoint]

17. I wish I had a useful suggestion that would help, but you would

likely be the sort of person I would ask about the same thing.

It sounds to me like your "stubborn" is the right kind of stubborn.

:thumbsup:

[Grinchie]

45. The California Ground Squirrel is a pest, and may be removed at will

According to California Fish and Game laws.

Surprisingly, we are in a very urban area and the silly neighbor feed these varmints constantly, and don't give a damn about the consequences of breeding hundreds of Squirrels that have no fear of humanity. These things are brazen, cunning and destructive. They burrow under slabs and foundations, and I've twisted an ankle more than once on my old farm due to these incredibly prolific creatures.

In my current situation, they have brown tired of peanuts, and instead like to raid our sweat pea, Snap peas, Tomato's, cilantro, sunflowers chard and persimmon seedlings. They will come into the garden and willfully topple potted plants, and dig up leafy greens.

In the past, I had large acreage, and would just grab the .22 rifle and put them down as fast as I could. That approach netted me about 25 squirrels in one season, but it didn't dent the population. In my current situation, we are living on a postage stamp, but it is very productive. The squirrels are used to people, and the fences act as runways for them to travel throughout the neigborhood.

I borrowed a hava a hart trap and set it out in the garden. No bait, just out in the open near the tasty veggies. I caught 5 squirrels so far, without even trying. Every once in a while I hear a rattle and it's a squirrel or Roof Rat caught in the trap.

Now I love all animals, but when they get out of balance do to the meddling of people I have no qualms about thinning them out. Although I truly believe that all creatures have a right to exist, I also believe that the natural order of things sort of demands action when things become a nuisance, or become destructive. It's sort of like letting a Rattlesnake nest in your tools shed. Nice for the snake, but not nice for kids, pets, livestock, wives, friends etc. It's better to move teh snake to somewhere it can do it's thing without being bothered or bothering me.

It is illegal in California to relocate a trapped squirrel. You must dispose of it, or let it go. There is no other alternative.

[jwirr]

40. We set out live traps around our house when we had squirrels trying

to get in through the window screens. The problem with this is it take a while if you have a lot of them and you have to transport them to another area.

[bahrbearian]

3. Can you make the coops, so the chicken has to fly into them?

I made a latter like roost across from my layer boxs and and made them fly across to them. then surrounded them with 12' metal siding so the vermin couldn't grab hold of wood. I had problems with weasles. Except they would kill my chickens. The A-fram latter like Roost and higher roost near the ceiling gave a place for the chickens to hide while the weasles invaded.

[OnionPatch]

6. Hmmm, that's a thought.

The squirrels do climb very well but would need to grab a hold on something. I would have to make some of my fence a little higher, though, if my chickens are going to fly. They're wings have been clipped but are almost grown out. I don't think they realize they could probably fly now if they tried. Hmmm...thanks, I'll have to think on something like this.

[bahrbearian]

7. Its not really flying its more like flapping and jumping

Its only 6 to 8 feet.
Upon edit if your boxes are up high you can just wrap the layer boxes with metal and the squirrels can't get to the eggs.
No way could I keep the weasles out of the coop so I kept them away from the chickens and the eggs,, I don't know which came 1st.

[OnionPatch]

12. This is a possibility.

I'm sure they could manage to jump that high if they needed. Sometimes they jump to the top of their houses and sleep on the roof. I'm going to seriously think about something like this, thanks!

[Grinchie]

46. Chickens fly very well when they need to.

Do not overfeed them, and make sure they have a nice roost.

You may need to teach them where to roost at sundown.

Chickens gone wild will roost in trees at night, even in the pouring rain. I made a roost in a tree that was only a tarp, and they lived there happily, luckly, the rats didn't get to them at night, which is a big problem everywhere.

[trixie]

4. I have no advice

but there is a really funny video called "Squirrel Wars".

[OnionPatch]

9. Do you have a link? I could use some squirrel humor about now.

:D

[trixie]

30. here ya go

http://www.birdsforever.com/sqbooks.html

scroll to bottom.

[Muttocracy]

11. couple of places to ask

Info from UC Davis
http://ucce.ucdavis.edu/files/filelibrary/1359/36628.pdf

Post a question to these folks?
http://www.extension.org/pages/Wildlife_Damage_Management:_Rodents

Here's a similar question - they have an interesting comment about making it a trap they can't get out of if you use a poison.
http://au.answers.yahoo.com/question/index?qid=20080601003405AAApTIV

I know folks who use this supplier for less harmful pest control products - maybe if you call them they'll have ideas?
http://www.gemplers.com/rodent-control

[OnionPatch]

14. Wow, thanks for all the great links!

Maybe I can find something that wouldn't be horribly toxic should a dog eat a poisoned squirrel. Or some methods of doing it safely enough that this won't happen. :shrug:

[Grinchie]

47. I am against poisons of any sort.

Mainly because then you are left with a toxic carcass and you can't feed it to the buzzards, coyotes or foxes.

On my old farm I had a spot called Buzzard Knob where I left all the squirrels I shot. That place was buzzard heaven, and it sure was a sight to see them squabbling over a freshly laid out feast of Squirrel.

It was the only honorable thing to do with the carcasses in my opinion, and it provided sustenance for important scavengers that are having a hard time these days.

[Warpy]

15. I'd suggest squirrel proofing the coops

and allowing the chickens out to free range for a set few hours a day, say in the afternoon. That will allow the hens to free range and reduce the amount of time their eggs are open to predation.

It's either that or continue to feed the hens so they can continue to feed the squirrels.

If the hens lay outside the coop, they'll tell you about it. They always do.

[OnionPatch]

18. That's a thought. But they seem to lay all throughout the day.

Some in the morning and some not until late afternoon. Still, I may get at least a few eggs if I wait until mid-afternoon to let them go. I don't really need to squirrel-proof the pen because the squirrels won't go in when the chickens are locked in there. Can't blame them. Chickens are like little dinosaurs and would eat a squirrel, no problem, if they could catch one.

[Warpy]

23. That's all you can do

Maximize the number of eggs you get and minimize the ones that feed the squirrels.

I know chickens didn't seem particularly annoyed when my cats used to chase them. It was more like a game of tag, both sides getting exercise and nobody getting hurt.

[Grinchie]

48. Funny you should mention this

One season we have an explosion of mice and rats. We would set traps every night, and catch half a dozen or so. We had a flock of free range chickens, McClatchy-Hatch's, and we would feed them the rodent fresh from the trap.

They got so used to this that they started hunting them on their own.

One day, my wife missed picking up a Rat trap and one of the hens got nipped by the trap and lost the top part of her beak. It was so sad to see this beautiful bird, disfigured and handicapped, with only the bottom beak intact.

It was a bad accident that we will never forget, but the bird survived and brooded up another 35 Chicks before she went missing. Chickens are amazing, resilient birds in their natural state. So totally unlike the things Tyson raises.

[madrchsod]

19. i had dogs and geese

geese are better watch animals than dogs but dogs love those little furry critters. i had a nice coop and of course free range. i had a few problems until i got a dog and 6 geese. you really have to watch where you step when you have geese

[OnionPatch]

22. I had thought about geese.

Would a goose chase a squirrel away?

My dogs are great at guarding the chickens, but only from on the other side of the fence. (The last time a chicken flew over the fence into the yard, it ended up dog food.) The squirrels know the dogs can't reach them.

[NV Whino]

20. LOL Sorry for laughing

I'm battling acorn woodpeckers right now. They've stuffed acorns behind all my client's decorative shutters. Then they pound holes in the shutters trying to get to them. They've also destroyed numerous window screens and are currently reducing a porch railing to the size of a toothpick.

The joys of country living.

Lining surfaces with metal is a good answer. And here's a site that has helped me with various kinds of pests.
doyourownpestcontrol.com

[OnionPatch]

21. You have to be in California!

I never knew of acorn woodpeckers until I moved out here. They are so cute! I just love them. But then, they don't mess with my house. My poor neighbor, though....he has holes all over his wood siding and has strips of aluminum flashy stuff all over to deter them. It's not working and it looks awful, poor guy. My only consolation is that he's a Republican. ;)

[NV Whino]

25. Yep

I have put flashy bird tape all over this place. It's going to drive my client nuts and the birds just ignore it. At this guy's other house, I've put out the bird tape for the turkeys. The stupid turkeys fight themselves in the French doors, pooping all over the patio in the process. They are stupid enough, however, that the bird tape works pretty well for them. Then there's the hawk that treats the front fountain as his personal bathtub. We kind of like that, though.

[doodadem]

57. Yup...have those guys too!

Our old wood garage is a fine example of "peckerwood". It looks like swiss cheese in places.

The funniest thing was when we were building the new chicken coop. I had bought a roll of linoleum for the floor, and was storing it in the Work in Progress. When we finished the outside, and I was ready to lay the floor, I unrolled the linoleum, and probably 500 acorns rolled out! The woodpeckers were coming in the little chicken doors, and doing what they apparently thought was their winter storage.

[bvar22]

24. A hungry barn cat should solve your problem.

Very effective at rodent control. Full grown chickens would be no problem, but if you are raising chicks, you would have to protect them from the cats.
Our cats are effective against everything smaller than a full grown rabbit.

[OnionPatch]

27. That would work somewhere else.

But cats that roam free don't last very long around here. We're right next to the national forest and lots of wildlife. Our last outdoor cat lasted about 6 weeks. Coyotes, bobcats and bears are too common.
Thanks for the suggestion, though.

[bvar22]

29. Well, that's where the Porch Dog comes in.

The Porch Dog keeps the coyotes, coons, bob cats, and bears off the Barn Cat while she is chasing the squirrels. :D


You can see our Barn Cat on top of the coop watching the Guineas.
Her name is MaggiePie, and she is not really a barn cat.
She is a house pet who has mouser duties, but she also patrols the coop and has done a good job of keeping our little hilltop rodent free for 2 years.

We are also in a remote location, surrounded by extensive National Forest and protected Wilderness.
Coyotes, coon, skunk, hawks, possum, bobcats, black bear, and a persistant rumor of Cougar are common.
Our coop is Ft Knox, but couldn't withstand a bear assault.


http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=246x7979

[OnionPatch]

Lol, she's cute!

And what a cute name. Your coop is nice, too. I always wondered what guineas are like.

We have two "porch dogs". They're great at keeping the bears and bobcats away. When we've lost a chicken, it's been when the porch dogs were slacking off in the house so now I make them stay outside all day. Our last outside cat kept climbing the fence and slipping off into the forest. The porch dogs couldn't help him out there. :(

I checked out your pics, your place is great! Did your pics go into Mother Earth News? I have that issue, I'll have to look. (I LOVE that magazine!) And you are in Arkansas? I was just there for the first time this summer. We were near Eureka Springs. It was so pretty. I totally loved everything about it except for the 100+ chigger bites I got while I was there.

[bvar22]

34. We love our "Mother",

and I am really happy that she chose a couple of my photos.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=280x43395

Mother Earth News is one of our bibles.
The other is Countryside and Small Stock Journal.


http://www.countrysidemag.com/issues/92-4.html

Both magazines are excellent. There is something in every issue that directly applies to our everyday life. The last issues of each had good articles on Drying fruits, veggies, and herbs.

We currently Freeze and Can, but drying offers advantages that we can utilize.
We would like to eventually market dried Blueberries, Lavender, Spearmint, Catnip, Chamomile, and other herbs along with our own Honey. We have experimented with the above, and all grow like crazy with relatively low maintenance.

The Fresh Produce market is pretty saturated here, and has a short shelf life/transportation problem, but we would like to dry some fruits and veggies for our own use over Winter.

Eureka Springs and the Ozarks are beautiful....still mostly undeveloped and unspoiled.
We are further south (about 100 miles) and closer to Oklahoma, The Ouachita Mountains.
The growing season is about a month longer (two weeks between the frosts on each end), and there is a little more topsoil. We love our life on this little hilltop, but still have alot of work to do.

Ticks & Chiggers ARE a problem here. The chiggers were especially bad this year because of the mild winter (or so the locals tell me). The best ways we have found to deal with them are to wear loose clothing, and to immediately scrub down with hot soapy water and an abrasive wash cloth ASAP after working (or walking) in the brush. We also quarantine all clothing that has been in the brush during Chigger Season until it can go through a hot, bleach wash.
We keep the areas around the house, garden, and coop mowed short, and that seems to help with the ticks and chiggers.

The Guineas eat ticks, and that was one of the reasons we got them, but The Guineas have Flown-The-Coop. We weren't entirely sad that they decided to leave.
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=268&topic_id=1888&mesg_id=1909

I'll tell MaggiePie that you think she is cute.
She loves stuff like that.

:hi:

[OnionPatch]

35. I saw those pictures.

Wow, I guess I'm not visiting the Rural/Farm forum often enough!

Wish we had known about the chiggers. The worst part was that we didn't even walk in the woods, just through the yard of the house we rented! I had to pull five deer ticks off my leg the first day, so after that we pretty much stayed on the deck. The chiggers got us anyway. But it sure was pretty there.

We hope to move to a larger, more rural property one of these days and do the same thing you're doing. You're an inspiration!

[bvar22]

38. WOW. That is an EXTREME and unusual case.

I don't want you to think that all of Arkansas is like that.
I haven't had a tick this Summer, and I think Starkraven has had one, and we are in the brush everyday.

We will occassionally get chiggers, but it is not even close to an everyday thing, and we consider 4 or 5 bites a really bad day. That only happens once or twice per Summer, usually after something like laying on the grass working under a car for several hours.

Sorry about your experience.
Arkansas hasn't "developed" many of the scenic wonders.
If you can't get out and hike, you can't really see some of the most beautiful places.
I wouldn't be able to live here if things were that bad all over.

The locals tell us that you can control chiggers by thinly spreading powdered sulfur on the trouble spots.

Plase come back.

Bob & Kirsty
Ouachita Mountains, Arkansas

[OnionPatch]

39. I'm glad to hear it's not always that bad.

We were not prepared. That was part of the problem. If we had known and used bug juice, I'm sure it wouldn't have been so bad. If we had known to immediately shower and scrub our whole bodies and wash the clothes, it wouldn't have been so bad, either. I figured we must have walked through a colony (?) of them in the yard or near the deck. I think a few must have even gotten in the car, or maybe they were on our jackets, because new bites were showing up days after we left. Even my 79-year-old mother who only walked to the car and back several times got more than 75 bites! (We were all counting our bites to see who had the most.) The place must have been completely infested with them.

I had already guessed it couldn't be that bad everywhere in Arkansas, and that our case was severe. It won't stop me from going back, though. I loved it. It reminded me of back home in Pennsylvania and Ohio (where I grew up) except not as crowded. Next time we'll be bug-smart, though.

[flying_wahini]

50. about chiggers..... ever tried the old sock filled with sulfur powder?

We used it as kids and it always seemed to do the trick....
Fill an old tube sock with sulfur and powder your shoes, ankles waist and pits

It loses it's potency after a few hours and

makes you stink but no chiggers...

My Dad used to Dust the yard with sulfur in a pillowcase ever once in a while....


Also another suggestion is to take a bath using a load of epsom salt and submerge yourself completely

Before you go outside and another ES bath when you come back in..'

My brothers and sisters and I would all use the same tub of water...

"line up for tub time..."

[Grinchie]

49. Guineas can be very loud and raucus

Too much noise for my preferences.

[Kare]

53. get more than one

If you have an army of cats then you can loose one or two and not be catless. Our losses are heavy here as well. I know of at least one confirmed coyote kill of one of my cats (my favorite at the time). The road gets the most of mine.

I'm sure that some people will see my suggestion as cruel and hard hearted but if you need cats to protect your property from rodents then you have to do what you have to do.
We inherited 19 cats when we bought our place. We went down to about 6 for a while and are now around 10 or so. Everyone I know has an army of cats to take care of mice and other vermin. Ask around I bet a neighbor of yours has a few cats and would gladly give you half a dozen. I don't really recommend making pets out of farm cats to a huge extent, the turn over can be too high and it can be hard on you. I look at mine as workers, they do their job in the summer killing mice and others and in the winter I provide more food for them. Some stay and some leave (one left for months and came back with two kittens in tow, haven't seen her all winter but one of the babies is still here) as long as you keep more than you loose you are set.

[doodadem]

58. Our 5 barn cats are great

I think they have really helped in keeping the squirrels from coming back. And this time of year, they are constantly catching gophers. They're just severely outnumbered.

One thing I do that does seem to help: I put used cat litter in the gopher holes, and I used to do the same thing in squirrel burrows. I also drop the dog poops in the gopher holes when I pick up the yard--the gophers hate it, and it keeps the dogs from digging there again.

Have not had any problems with egg stealing. The cats are always around the coop, and our coop has a totally contained run, 12 x 32 ft. off of it, that nothing smaller than miceys could get into. With all of the predators we have around here, there's no way we could let the chickens free range. We haven't had them there in snake season yet though.......that could be a problem.

[Muttocracy]

26. here's an article that might give you a laugh

NY Times: Garden Vigilantes: Peter Rabbit Must Die

THE homeowner, a city-boy artist and illustrator who had moved to rural Pennsylvania, never wanted to kill the woodchucks. Sure, they were ruining the garden and digging up the foundations of outbuildings, but it was a moral issue: the artist, who is still so uncomfortable about what transpired — and so concerned about how his New York clients would feel about it that he is not willing to be identified — did not want to take a life.

Given the size of the property — a 12-acre former horse farm — fencing was out of the question. He bought a Havahart live animal trap but did not catch a thing. And he worried that releasing woodchucks down the road would only be dumping the problem on a neighbor. So he moved on to that tried-and-true landlord’s tactic: harassment. He attached a hose to the exhaust pipe of his old pickup truck and stuffed it into a burrow — not to kill the woodchucks, just to encourage them to move on. That didn’t work, either.

Finally, the artist decided he would have to shoot the animals. First, though, he went to each hole and made an announcement.

“I said: ‘I intend to kill you. You have 24 hours to get out,’ ” he recalls. “I wanted to give them fair warning. I said, ‘If I were you, I would find another place to live.’ I also promised them I would not take a shot unless I knew it would be fatal.”

continues: http://www.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/garden/05animals.html

[OnionPatch]

28. That was great!

Thanks for giving me a good laugh this morning. :rofl:

[hippywife]

31. Well, after reading this entire thread

up to this point, I would suggest what we do with our girls. The simple chicken tractor. Ours can't free range at all because of our dogs and this allows them to graze on bugs and grass with full protection. They have even begun to lay while in it so we need to put a light weight nest box of some kind in it for them.

You just move it around the property every so often so they have access to fresh grazing area. Then they go back in their pen at night. We are getting our first eggs and the color of the yolks tell me they are doing just fine. :hi:

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_mesg&forum=268&topic_id=1729&mesg_id=1743

[OnionPatch]

33. Oops, I messed up and replied in your linked thread

instead of this one. :blush: I'm home with a cold, all "hopped up" on cold medicine this weekend. :crazy:

[DU GrovelBot]

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[LWolf]

36. I have the same problem with packrats.

They tend to operate in the dark, though, so a light triggered by movement helps. In the winter, anyway, when it's dark when I leave and dark when I get home.

It also helps to collect eggs earlier; the more often I'm out and about, the less likely they are to infiltrate. That doesn't help when I'm at work, though.

I know what I would do for ground squirrels, but that wouldn't work for most people.

I'd put my dog in the coop for awhile each day. She gets along great with chickens, having been raised with them, and her favorite hobby is chasing rodents.

The packrats are so incredibly sneaky; one of the things I'm trying to do is remove all of their hiding places.

[newfie11]

37. Snakes will also eat the eggs

I lost lots of eggs to black snakes. Even caught them in the act of swallowing one.

[LWolf]

41. I have a new egg thief this week.

Magpies.

My hens have been laying in two different places; where they are supposed to, in a nest box, and in my barn. They free range, and they love the barn. I got a new hay delivery; the tallest point of the stack is about 12 feet up. They've been getting up there to lay.

After a few days of few eggs, yesterday I caught the magpies in the coop. They flew out as soon as they saw me, leaving broken eggs behind. Then I went out to the barn. There was a magpie on top of the hay stack, and broken egg shells at the bottom.

[OnionPatch]

42. Oh no!

It seems to me that magpies would be as hard to deal with as squirrels. You can't really lock them out without locking your chickens out. They're pretty darn smart, too. Are they still coming around?

We tried smoking out the squirrels but they're still around. We may have killed a few because now I have a few eggs everyday instead of none.

Good luck dealing with the magpies.

[LWolf]

43. I'm not sure who's "around."

My summer break is over, I'm back to work, and getting very few eggs. I'm finding broken, empty shells in the barn. It could be magpies, pack rats, or both. Probably both. By the time I get home from work, it's too late. There are a couple of hens laying inside the coop, which both pests avoid (one way in, one way out, no easy escape,) so I'm getting their eggs. The rest? Every once in awhile, when an egg is laid AFTER the pests have cleaned out the early eggs, I get one.

I'll get more today, since I can make my presence known, and check more frequently. As a matter of fact, I'm on my way out there right now.

[Grinchie]

44. I recomend a 22 caliber rifle or a 12 gauge shotgun.

I owned a 20 acre persimmon ranch and the ground squiirels were a real pain. I must have shot at least 30 of the varmints that were burrowing under the slab of the barn.

As an organic farmer, I don't believe poison is the way, especially since we had a nesting pair of red tailed hawks in a Cottonwood up canyon. Additionally, if other varmints ate a poisoned squirrel, it would affect the normal predators, which we needed to keep balance.

The squirrels were definately out of balance, and it was the only way we came up with for control.

In a city setting, you can use Havahart traps effectively, and we recently caught 2 that were raiding our tomato patch. The trouble with trapping is that California Law specifies that the rodents must be Euthansized properly. That means no drowning, so it makes disposal a bit more difficult.

Interstingly enough, the trap was not baited, and only left in the vicinity of the Tomato patch. We also caugt two roof rats in an unbaited trap, and this is in the East Bay of California in a highly urbanized area. Go figure.

[HAARP]

52. Is this meant to be...

allegorical? Are the squirrels the bankers and the chickens are the citizens? It's brilliant.

[flying_wahini]

54. I have squirrels in my garden and I finally figured it out....!

They Hate, Hate, Hate !!!! the flexible mesh netting that snags their little claws.

I use the mesh that covers my wine bottles (ahem) to keep them from bumping each other, and the mesh that

comes when you buy bulk onions and such at the grocery store, or buy bird netting from Home Depot.

Doesn't matter which kind you use, but you need to use a lot of it..... pretty soon they figure it out.

Mine gave up after getting tangled up in it a few times.

I wrap my deck where they jump from the trees to get to my banana trees. Covered their pathways with it.

Wrapped my big tree trunks with it, too.

The little shits ate every single new growth leaves off my banana trees for months. I tried everything else, too.

The rotten eggs, the pepper sauce, the sulfur powder. Nothing worked. But this does....! Now I just leave a wisp

tied to a stake nearby, and they won't go near the banana trees anymore.

Of course, you will have to figure out where they are climbing up to get into the coop - try wrapping it vertically

up poles and such, so that the chickens don't get tangled up in it.

Hope this helps, worth a shot. Good Luck.

[Grinchie]

55. Where are you growing your Bananas?

We don't have squirrels in Hawaii.

[flying_wahini]

59. I grow bananas in The Woodlands

Just north of Houston.....

[NNN0LHI]

60. Got a pair of red foxes that keep the squirrel population down around here pretty good

I watch the foxes chasing them around in my back yard most every morning. My dogs love watching them.

Don

[Lefty48197]

61. I have a THEORY. Try red pepper flakes.

Don't do this until you check with somebody who knows more about the subject.
I put red pepper flakes in with my birdseed. It keeps the squirrels out of the feeder and I think it keeps the mice away from the bucket of seeds in the tool shed. The birds aren't bothered by the pepper but the squirrels are!
Maybe chickens won't react to the pepper flakes and maybe the squirrels will be repelled?