My encounter with a skunk in the chicken house.
A Visitor
It was late afternoon when I got to the chicken house to gather eggs most of the time because it was when I got home from work. I grabbed a large coffee can to put the grain in and walked into the chicken house and dumped the grain into the feeder, then gathered the eggs from the nest and put them in the can. I then picked up the waterer, took it out, washed it with the hose and a brush, filled it and returned to the chicken house.
I put the waterer on the wire mesh box. I use a frame with a wire mesh to let the droppings and litter build up under the waterer instead of in it. Anyway, as I did this I happened to look over and noticed something in the darkness under the nest. I went over to the nest and leaned over for a closer look. There, sleeping under the nest was a skunk.
I could see it breathing I was so close. I stepped somewhat gingerly back and left the chicken house. Don’t know why at that point I was so careful as I had already been banging all around the chicken house. I had even stepped within inches of it as it was under the nest when I had gotten eggs.
I was happy I wasn’t sprayed and just waited until dark. When Suzie, I called her Suzie, woke up to go foraging at night I went out and closed the door. She hung around a while but never went back in as I was much more careful to remember the small door in the chicken house at night.
My wife suggested getting rid of her but she didn’t bother the hens or the eggs and wasn’t around during the daytime so I just ignored her. Eventually Suzie must have found a better place to live as I stopped seeing her around.
Tags: chickenhouse, skunk, visitor