NEVER PLANT A PERSIMMON TREE

[Jamesthesilkie]

Ever since this darn persimmon tree has gotten it's fruit, we have had 6 POSSUMS, a skunk, and at least 2 foxes visit my yard to get a snack.

I had a wild broody hen a few months ago and the possum ate 2 of the chicks and they eat all of my ducks eggs, and also go into my trash!!

Everyone is up safe at night, and they are now in a run, but get 2 hours of free range in the evening. I hate worrying that a chicken won't make it, I won't notice, and the possum will get them!! 4 of the 6 possums have been dealt with. Foxes are too fast, I gave up. And the skunk was cute so it got a pass

If this was my house and I wasn't renting, I would totally demolish that tree. So, my message is, never plant a persimmon tree!!!!

 

[cavemanrich]

If you are blaming the tree,,,,,,, The age old saying,,, you are barking up the wrong tree.
I feel sorry for your losses
Tree has nothing to do with the predators being around.
I feel bad that you dealt with those opossums. They are more beneficial than you think. Of course they will take chicks to eat, as will many other animals. Rats, cats, and even crows, not to mention hawks. Don't forget snakes.
I guess you did not fell lucky with the skunk ..
I have skunks, opossum, raccoons, coyotes, and fox in my area. I secure my coop, for the night. I free-range during day when I'm outdoors. My cats do not bother my chickens. They are rescue ferals.
Here is a friendly one that visited me. All my family members are afraid of them, except Myself. Never got sprayed, because I approach with a kind attitude.
I have a few more pictures, but my encounters do not always have me with a camera in hand.

In over 20 years of chicken keeping, I have NEVER killed any animals, (predators)
The politically correct crowd uses a different term. DISPATCH,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

YOU DO WHATEVER YOU WANT TO, BUT BE AWARE THAT EVERY TIME YOU DISPATCH ONE OF THOSE PREDATORS, ANOTHER ONE WILL COME AND TAKE ITS PLACE. When will the killing stop.

I suggest that a secure living area (coop, and run) will do wonders for your chicken keeping adventure.
An ounce of prevention goes a long way.
Keep your chickens SAFE.
WISHING YOU BEST,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,and

 

[cmom]

I agree. So sorry for your losses. I am rural on a dead end road and my property is mostly open pasture. I don't have any persimmon trees on my property but there are some on the property next door. I'm sure predators are drawn to them. My birds are well protected so no predator can get to them even with the trees there. I have eliminated a few skunks but someone was catching them and releasing them in our area. I had an skunk issue for awhile. Since I eliminated some I have had seen some since, but not in the numbers I had before. I don't free range anymore due to losses from predators in the past. I have nice very large pens. I have electric wires around my coops and pens, concrete under the gates and good heavy duty netting covering all of the pens. I do have several game cameras up around on my property. I see predators roaming here especially at night. Good luck...

 

[ladybrasa]

Take it out on the tree by removing and eating every last fruit on the tree and leaving none for wildlife. They should be ripe at this time of year!

 

[cmom]

Apparently she can't remove the tree because she is renting and doesn't own the property.

 

[Allthefloofs]

Take it out on the tree by removing and eating every last fruit on the tree and leaving none for wildlife. They should be ripe at this time of year!

So this made me laugh really hard because we have bad roof rats that eat all of our citrus and just become general nuisances in the late fall and I totally did this with our pomegranates and grapefruits. I spitefully pulled them all off....leaving me with like 45 pomegranates and about 60 grapefruits that I needed to do something with. It was a creative time to be sure.

 

[Painted Calls]

I have a small persimmon grove. I've never lost a bird to a predator.

Maybe tighten security.

 

[ladybrasa]

Well, I was trying to be funny ... but also not ... yeah, don’t remove the tree, just all the fruit. Really, as long as they are ripe, they are actually pretty nice. Purée and freeze pulp. But really, if you remove the food source (the fruit on the tree), at least some of the critters will realize there’s no more food to be had, and look elsewhere (nevermind ‘elsewhere’ might be the coop, as long as it is proofed you should be okay).