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Do badgers eat chickens?

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 Denni 01 Mar 2013
Evening all,
We have 3 chickens, Marge, Peggy and Margaret (I realise this information is irrelevant!), and they are in a fox proof Eglu chicken house with run and then an outer perimeter fence, stalag 13 we affectionately call it.

Anyway, just putting them to bed at dusk and I saw this little set of eyes staring at me so I thought it was our local fox which doesn't bother us or the chickens so we leave it be.

Anyway, turns out to be a bloody huge badger in a bit of a huff. We squared up to each other and he ran off. Turned on the outside lights and he has been digging at the back of the fence. I doubt he will get in as it is angled at the bottom to stop anything going under it but back to my question, if it gets hold of one (my darling 3 year old and wife sometimes takes it upon themselves to forget to lock them up at night...) of them will it have it for tea?

Judging by the size of it, I reckon it will eat anything!
 The Lemming 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Denni:

Looking for horse burgers
 Frank4short 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Denni: Can't say i've heard of it though then again badgers are omnivores so I wouldn't put it past him.

Oh and I'd personally be happy to lose the odd chicken to have a big badger in my garden.
 AlexD 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Frank4short:

yep badger will have em!
 krikoman 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Denni: in a bun
 Tim Sparrow 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Frank4short: Yes they do eat them. A friend had one break in, eat a few and then fall asleep in the coop!
No you wouldn't want a badger in your garden. They dig up anything and everything, then crap the most obnoxious filth into the hole.
And this isn't because I have a pretty garden. I have a steep tussocky wild grassy bank in a very rural area.
They have never troubled my hens (and neither have the foxes) due to electric fence which is only a deterrent as its not been connected for 6 months! Maybe its time to recharge the battery having written anti-badger propaganda.
Love seeing them elsewhere though, just NIMBY!
 Andy Say 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Denni:
You seen all those dead badgers on the side of the road? Well: they are killed trying to get at all the bloody chickens trying to work out why they are trying to cross the road.

Oh. And if any badgers manage to get at the bloody cockerels round here that are starting to kick off at around 5.00 I will put food out for them.....l
 Dave Williams 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Denni:

Yes, badgers will take chickens. They get into a frenzy, just like foxes, and will kill them all if they can get to them.

We used to keep hens, but after loosing over 50 in the space of a year or so, we gave up feeding the local badger population. How did we know it was badgers and not foxes? Easy; the badger sized holes were a big clue, we even caught a badger in the act on one occasion but the biggest giveaway was the fact that we found a great big badger asleep on top of the half-eaten carcases inside the hen house on one occasion. (See Tim Sparrow's earlier post!) He'd killed over 20 in one go.

We are completley overrun with badgers here. They make massive holes in the garden and shit and piss everywhere. Their favourite toilets are the raised vegetable beds.

Foul, horrible creatures ... I hate them.

Dave
 Queenie 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Dave Williams:
> (In reply to Denni)
>

>
> We used to keep hens, but after loosing over 50 in the space of a year or so, we gave up feeding the local badger population.

Total carnage.
Badgers are very difficult to secure against once they include you on their rounds. They're incredibly powerful and persistent and only the best fortresses will provide adequate protection for domestic fowl, short of resorting to electric fencing.
 Up High 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Denni: Its very unlikely the badger will eat your chickens.
Ive lived in the countryside all my life and have never heard of badgers doing this.
Unfortunately they do far worse damage, imagine having a herd of cows that you have bred all ypour working life and they contract TB from the badgers,,,,, you have to have them destroyed!
How bad is that.
ruffydd 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Up High:
> (In reply to Denni) Its very unlikely the badger will eat your chickens.

Sorry UpHigh, your optimism is very misplaced. Dave Williams is spot on - they're b@stards with hens. And they're creatures of habit - once they include your patch on their wanderings they're really difficult to get rid of. We've had holes eaten in the bottom of the barn door by badgers trying to get at the hens/ducks inside. The bottom six inches of the door is covered in scratches. Next door had over 20 of their hens killed by badgers - and exactly as Dave described, we knew it was a badger because in searching for them we found the badger curled up asleep on a bed of straw and half eaten hens.
 SFM 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Denni:

Sounds like you are going to have to landmine the back garden now!
 Bobling 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Denni:

Wow, you learn something every day. Thanks UKC.
 Kevster 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Denni:
Stinky mustilids.
Lovely to see, like otters or stoats. Wouldn't want to be s rabbit or a fish mind.... Or an earth worm..... Or chook it seems.
In reply to Denni:

I've seen a badger trotting along with a rabbit in its mouth, so have no doubt they will easily gobble up chickens, given the chance.
Moley 01 Mar 2013
In reply to Denni:
Yes, far worse than foxes. Much stronger and can break into pens and hutches that foxes would not. Probably not as many hen killing badgers as foxes, but once one knows how = big trouble.
 mark20 02 Mar 2013
In reply to Denni:
We had a large chicken hatch that had a 'drop down' style door that we closed every night. One morning we went down to lift it up, and a badger scrurried out. It had managed to lift it up on the way in but not on the way out. Killed everything inside. Same thing happened a few months later, only that time it managed to claw its way out through the wood. They are opportunistic predators
OP Denni 02 Mar 2013
In reply to mark20:
Morning all,
Well even though I've lived here a year now, I was unaware that the deliberate 6ft overgrown gap between our back fence and the opposite neighbours is actually set (pun intended!) aside for badger travel to stop them roaming round the road and gardens.

We live near the sea and there is a small copse apparently full of them so surprised I haven't seen any until now.

Further evidence this morning of it trying to get under the fence. If it manages to get under that one, which it probably will, then I reckon because of how powerful it is, it could probably lift the fox proof fencing up and I'm sure a plastic chicken coop door won't stop it! Electric fencing may be the way forward.

Only ever seen a road kill badger as I drove past it, never seen one in person, they are bloody huge!
 Bimble 02 Mar 2013
In reply to Denni:

Plenty on google about it too
https://www.google.co.uk/search?q=badger+proof+chicken+run&ie=utf-8&...


If I were you, I'd get down to your local farm supplies shop & get some heavy-gauge galvanised fence, then dig it in at least a metre deep. That may slow Brock up somewhat.
 mark20 02 Mar 2013
In reply to Denni:
As the sun went down in the evenings, we used to climb up a tree and watch them come out of their sets and scurry around for food. Quite amazing creatures, big beasts but surprisingly quick and dainty
 Bruce Hooker 02 Mar 2013
In reply to Frank4short:
>
> Oh and I'd personally be happy to lose the odd chicken to have a big badger in my garden.

You wouldn't if you had one (shortly some), they could probably have dug the Channel Tunnel if a way had been found to orientate their efforts

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