Skunk in Chicken Yard

We have been very good about keeping our coop closed every night and opening it every morning.  Then one night we forgot, and heard a scuffle at 2:30 a.m.

Nice roost.

Lo and behold, there was a de-feathered chicken body in the yard the next morning.

Spraying the skunk.

After that, two of the chickens have been preferring to roost above the coop, in the oak tree.  Not a bad idea, really.  Especially since we first spotted them up there when we saw a skunk in their yard at dusk.

Skunk scampering away.

Another evening, we went to close the coop at dusk and the skunk was spotted eating their feed at the bottom of the coop.  My husband scared it off by spraying it with a hose.  It scampered off, under the fence, and into the neighbor's yard.

After a little research, it looks like skunks do not prefer chickens, but will eat them.  We have thought our past issues were because of raccoons, since we have seen them in the yard as well and in the neighborhood.

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