Don’t forget the licence option. It isn’t something I recommend lightly, but it is necessary sometimes. It may be worth speaking to the council pest controller. See http://www.sedgemoor.gov.uk/CHttpHandler.ashx?id=776&p=0 for instance.

If it’s any consolation, I’ve clipped the wings of my chickens. Hasn’t cramped their style too much. They still escape…

It sounds like you have a problem badger on your hands. Attacking chickens is rare and it is only the odd rogue badger that seems to do it. You are right that your badger is probably an outcast – the wounds on the rump are a classic sign of a badger that’s been attacked and driven away by other badgers.

Unfortunately the law on badgers is complex. It is a criminal offence to kill, injure or ‘take’ a badger, but their are exemptions and licences can be obtained in special cases. Serious damage to livestock is one of these. I’m not an expert on the finer points of the law, so it may be best to speak to your badger rescue people about this, although the licence to move or kill a badger has to be granted by either DEFRA or Natural England (I forget which, and I’m not an expert on Quangos either). I think it’s a job for someone with experience.

Other than that, the only option is a physical barrier, including an electric fence. I’d have a word with the badger people and see what they recommend.

Sorry I can’t be of more help

All the best

BWM

As always, I’d ask whether you’re sure a badger is responsible, rather than say, a fox. Badger attacks on poultry are still rare (but they do happen). Attacks from foxes, stoats, rats and mink are more common. The size of the hole may give you a clue.

If it is a badger, the best action is a sturdy fence (or an electric one) to keep it away from the coop, or something to reinforce the nest box.

Hope this helps

BWM

We had 4 chickens and we think that a badger has been taking one at a time. First I thought I had locked one out and a fox had got it but a few nights later when another chicken went missing I realised that a badger has been opening the nesting box on our hutch and taking them. I tied the nesting box down only to find that a badger had ripped the corner off the nesting box to get another chicken.

This ties in quite nicely with my neighbours story when about a week before I started to lose chickens, he had a panel off his shed ripped off and discovered a chicken with his head bitten off inside.

Can you suggest anything other that re-cladding the hutch?

What you saw there is what is known as a ‘badger funeral’ – something pretty rare. There is an old belief that if a badger dies its family will bury it. There isn’t any definite evidence for this (I’ve seen plenty of dead badgers that were obviously not buried) but people have seen the same thing as you – a dead badger being dragged off by another one. Sometimes badgers have been found covered in leaves, presumably by other badgers.

Why do they do it? I’m not sure. But you’ve witnessed a rare thing with badgers, and that’s something to be pleased about.

Thanks for sharing it

All the best

BWM