I'm new at raising chickens and would like to know if opossums pose a threat to chickens & guineas. I've only had my chickens for a week, and for the past two nights I've seen an opossum near the chicken coop when I drive into the driveway after dark. Any advise would be appreciated. Thank you.

Beginner, I would be worried. Opossums will most certainly steal eggs, and I have known them to harass and sometimes kill adult birds. They will also eat chicken feed. I have had them rip open a bag of feed waste half of it. If your chicken coop is not 100% secure, I would definitely be thinking of a way to get rid of the opossum(s). Good Luck!

Thank you, Mark. I appreciate the advice.

Beginner,
Just about 3 weeks ago, I went out to close up the
hen house one night and there in a nest box sat a big,
fat opossum who had just had himself a nice egg dinner.
Not thinking, I ran him off. Well, 2 nights later,
there he was again, this time in the hen house floor,
just below where the birds were roosting. I don't like
to kill anything, so I VERY carefully caught him in a
large Rubbermaid trash can. I duck-taped the lid shut,
drove him about 5 miles away and let him go. Of course,
if you have a gun and are willing, you can shoot him.
Either way, you don't want ANY critters like him
around your birds. As Mark said, they WILL eat your
eggs and eventually they WILL kill some birds.
Raccoons, skunks, coyote, fox, etc. are all predators
for your birds and cannot be trusted or tolerated.
You will have to eliminate or relocate them (depending
on the animal, I wouldn't try to catch a fox and take
him anywhere !!). You will have to be ruthless. Once
they figure out they can get a free meal at your hen
house, believe me, they won't go away on their own.
Good luck !!
Jennie

Opossums will eat chickens. They have a trademark way of doing it too from what I understand. The start at the head and work their way through the bird.

I cheer evertime I see a dead opossum on the road near where we live.

Most of the critters that have gotten our birds were dogs though. Even our own dog. I think a hawk carried one off once.

Hi, there, I got this from Stromberg's Book of Poultry. These feeding habits indicate the kind of predator you have, possom is included.

Dogs: The feral dog kills wantonly. Carcasses are badly torn. Many birds are killed.
Fox: Usually takes one fowl and leaves premises trailing drops of blood and feathers. May partially bury chicken. Can climb fence of condsiderable height.
Oppossum: Usually kills one chicken at a time, often mauling it. Eggs may be smashed.
Owl: Heads and necks missing. One or two dead birds.
Raccoon: Tends to eat heads off many chickens in one night.
Weasel, Mink: Bites through skull, back of neck, or under wing of poultry. May eat only back of head and neck, kills several birds in one night and places neatly in a pile.

I really appreciate all your responses. We're locking the chickens in their coop at night and will be getting rid of that opossum ASAP. Haven't seen it again since I posted, but I'm going to set a live trap by the chicken yard anyway. Thanks again for all your help. I love this forum!

I don't know why y'all have to talk about all this killing. Can't there be more than two species on this darn earth!

I have my coop directly under a tree in which an old coon lives and we also have possum, coyotes, fox and local dogs. None of my chickens has been had becasue I lock them up at night and took the patience to make a sound coop in the beginning.Take care and there isn't a need for all this bloodshed.

Anonymous, well said. Never noticed this conversation or i would have maid a similar statement but I couldn't have stated it better. I also have no problems with predators beacuse I take care to keep predators away and lock them up at night. Prevention is better than trying to kill everything in a 10 mile radius.

YoYo

Also, when you lock up your chickens at night be sure to also put away any feeders you have out in the chicken yard so you don't have nocturnal critters coming around to eat. Make sure you store your extra feed in trash cans with lids.

Connie

opposomes WILL eat chicks but not big chickens.

If you take the time and effort to preditor proof your coop and chicken yard you can enjoy both the preditors and the chickens. How wonderful to have wild animals on your property, enjoy them. Remember, we are smarter than they are, we don't have to resort to killing them.

I'd kill the opossume but thats just me! Good luck!
randyjacobs

I was wondering if anyone had infomation on how to discourage skunks from coming around. I know that we have had some visitors the last couple of nights and want to discourage them. Will they kill my chickens and I think that I have heard that they will eat the eggs. Any infomation would be appreciated.