Co-existing with Possums

[Casey09]

I have no idea how not to coexist with them. They come in the stalls during winter. My grain is in a deep chest freezer.
I do worry about EPM because I know my property has opossums. I’ve had people shoot them before because of it, but I can’t eliminate all of them. Someone told me most horses have already been exposed and that horses are exposed in the fields and through hay that gets it before the hay is even baled, which does make sense to me.
thoughts?

[jonem004]

@Gardenhorse

But possums also eat ticks. Lots of ticks. So if you’re in an area with a lot of Lyme or other tick-borne diseases, I can see wanting them around the property, just not in the barn near the feed.

Guinea hens also eat ticks and don’t spread epm. But possums will kill them as easily as chickens. And they’re loud and ugly, but still better than possums.

[pony_grandma]

@McGurk

… it’s also not at all clear if relocating is a kindness. It’s also potentially giving someone else your problem.

So DON’T be THAT guy who did gramps wrong! All of a sudden he was complaining about all of the raccoons at his place… :uhoh:

regarding possums we have to draw the line at those, the hay loft is way too attractive in our neighborhood.

[Wanderosa]

@Mosey_2003

Of course I lock up my chickens. I understand that it’s my job to fence predators out. The opossum incident happened because I didn’t realize the opossum was indeed able to infiltrate my barn. I have rectified the problem, but that opossum killed 4 full grown large fowl Barred Rock hens before I got it caught and it’s point of entry blocked. If it wants a chicken, it will kill a chicken.

Did you actually witness it attacking a chicken? If not, it’s more likely something else like a raccoon or fisher cat entered the coop the same way as the possum and got the chickens. It’s not out of the realm of possibility for a possum to kill a full-grown, standard breed chicken in situations where other food sources are scarce, but it’s pretty unusual. They prefer to go after eggs and very occasionally chicks or a bantam sized chickens and they’re easily deterred by a decent rooster. The hens themselves will dispatch a possum pretty handily as long as they have a low light source to be able to see it. They’re faster than the possum and have sharp beaks and claws. A coon or fisher cat on the other hand can and will slip in, do a lot of damage, and slip out without you ever knowing it was there. And even a good rooster will lose the fight with them before it begins.

I had a pastured meat and egg business so I had 1000+ chickens running around our farm for the better part of 5 years. Never lost one to a possum. Only one possum in a coop that I ever caught. And one of the roosters had already flogged it good and it was bleeding to death. I believe that possums sometimes kill chickens, though I believe that many of the deaths attributed to them are actually the work of another predator like a coon that is stealthy and avoids human contact.

[Mosey_2003]

Yes, I caught the opossum in the act. The deaths stopped when the opossum was removed.

[FatCatFarm]

Interesting. I have had a horse with EPM. We live next to 800 acres of wooded water authority property and are inundated with possums. In the last 6 weeks, I have relocated 13. And I think another just showed up on the back deck. The big livestock guardian dogs are now desensitized to them and I think view them as just odd looking, grumpy cats and don’t really bother to harass them. I take the outside food up at night at the barn and at the house, but then they started showing up first thing in the morning when I put the food out, shouldering the cats out of the way. And that’s when I decided enough was enough.

I don’t care for them but I’m not going to shoot them. They are supposed to be transient or itinerant, but when they find a dedicated food source, will set up shop and reproduce which I believe is what happened at our place. They were checking between the house and the barn for snacks, even going into the horse stalls to find dropped grain.

It was ridiculous. Chasing them off with yelling and brooms was not a deterrent; they just came back when the noise went away. They’re not the sharpest tacks in the box either as I’ve picked quite a few up by their long tails and just dropped them into a waiting cat carrier for relocation, but these were the boldest ones who no longer saw me as a threat. Otherwise, a Have-a-heart trap with a offering of cat kibble works a treat.

No, I don’t feel the least be bad helping them down the road a ways. Beats a bullet and they are supposed to be nomadic any way. I’ve read the articles.

[PalominoGirl]

Possums will eat ticks and other bugs which is great. They are an EPM risk. I suppose the only way to balance and co-exist is to leave them a lone and don’t encourage them. Keep all food secured, chickens locked up…and let them be. They are designed to take care of themselves and too much interaction could give you a population control problem or a predator (coyote) problem which IMO is worse.

[xeroxchick]

I am an unrepentant fan of opposums. They eat ticks! Have never had a problem with them, even though my grandparents ate them. Opposums get a bad rap.

[xeroxchick]

@jonem004

Guinea hens also eat ticks and don’t spread epm. But possums will kill them as easily as chickens. And they’re loud and ugly, but still better than possums.

OMG the pit bulls of the poultry world! I’m terrified of them! A heard of Guineas will come after you! They are vicious!