Skunk smell inside coop

[Smileybans]

I went down yesterday, Sunday, morning to let the girls out and I smelled skunk. Not unusual because they’re everywhere where I live. So I didn’t think much of it. When I opened the big coop it reeked like skunk. We had a cat get sprayed last week and it smelled just as strong as that. The smell was stronger inside the coop than outside. But I couldn’t find any weak points. No dig spots. None of my HC was ripped off the vents or windows. And on top of that the girls were all fine. They didn’t seem scared at all. They were their happy go lucky selves.

I have hot wire surrounding the run. The run is fully enclosed with a HC skirt of two feet out and two feet sunk into the ground. The only real weak points are the netting on top. It’s plastic. But that looked in tact too. Could the skunk have hit the hot wire, got scared and sprayed into the vents of the coop? The coop is an 8x10 with gable vents. If the skunk didn’t hit the hot wire would it have sprayed at all?

 

[sourland]

It is very likely that the skunk hit the hot wire and sprayed.

 

[Smileybans]

It is very likely that the skunk hit the hot wire and sprayed.

Do you know why it would smell more inside the coop than outside? Outside I couldn’t really pin point the origin of the smell. Though it did smell more towards the back of the coop. Inside the coop it was horrid. When I opened the pop door I could tell the smell was worse inside.

 

[Folly's place]

I think that skunk sprayed outside but facing the coop, and outdoors the smell will be blown around, while in the coop it just stays.
Ugh!
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Also I'm wondering about your coop ventilation, is it too closed up?
Mary

 

[Smileybans]

Also I'm wondering about your coop ventilation, is it too closed up?
Mary

The ventilation in my coop is actually too much when the windy months come around. I have ventilation in the gables and the soffits. The gable vents are huge and open. It’s just a hole in the wood with HC covering it. When January and February roll around I had to put filters over last year because the wind made the coop too cold.

It hasn’t been very windy here and won’t be until the later months. The coop is also surrounded by trees.