How To Deter Skunks

Skunks can enter your coop in hopes of finding eggs in easy reach. If you’re like me, you may not want to share your chicken coop or eggs with skunks. It isn’t their fault that their natural defense is to accurately spray a seemingly impossible to get rid of stench that may be harmful and painful to the eyes at a distance of up to 15 feet, but these are reasons I don’t want them around. 

Seeing a skunk on the coop camera had me concerned. If the skunk comes around in the middle of the night when no one is out and about, that’s ok with me, but lately, the visits have come at dusk. Yes, the exact time I close up the coop. We have had some meetings that I don’t want to repeat. 

While the skunk has yet to spray, it does agitate my ducks, geese, and sometimes the chickens. I can hear the goose inside the coop in the back hissing at the skunk. (That and odd duck behavior are nice warnings for me.) The skunk has indirectly caused losses, adding another reason I prefer it not to visit.

So, what can be done? 

If you don’t wish to harm the skunk, some common kitchen items have proven helpful as deterrents. Looking online led me to vinegar, orange peels, and coffee grounds. The first few nights, I simply filled a spray bottle with vinegar and sprayed around the coop about an hour before I would normally say good night to the flock. While I was using this vinegar-only spray, I had a jar of chopped-up orange peels soaking in vinegar to allow the orange scent to infuse into the vinegar. After a few days, I strained this into my spray bottle and began using it instead of the plain vinegar. 

I wasn’t seeing the skunk at the birds’ bedtime anymore, but still, it showed up a bit later on the camera. I continued this application, spraying around the coop door and base heavily, especially after it rained. I also started to sprinkle used coffee grounds. I do this every few days now.  I’ve left the vinegar spray bottle within easy reach, but haven’t had to use it daily in a couple of weeks. I know I will need to continue this process to live in peace with the skunk. 

I still see it visit on the trail cam very late at night or in the very early hours of the morning, but the coop is closed and neither the birds nor I are out with the skunk, so I’m ok with the arrangement of watching it pass by when I review the photos.