How to deal with raccoons.

I have a question for the electric fence user-- are the chickens exposed to the fence too?? how do they do?
I have lost 3 chickens to raccoons (they are STEALTHY!!-they don't leave a trace, but I saw footprints in the snow...). They don't come TOO frequently, but I want to discourage them from coming at all--heartbreaking for me to lose anyone from my small flock (started with 8, down to 1 recently added up to 10).
My only disappointment in having chickens is the deaths/disappearances (due to coons); otherwise I LOVE having them!!! they are so much more rewarding than I could have imagined!

PS--if anyone has other methods for the raccoons, I'd be happy to hear them. But I WON'T shoot them (no judgement on anyone, just I couldn't do it.,..)

Thanks!
 
On electric fences, if chickens are exposed, they get zapped too and quickly learn to respect that fence. Which means they stay in. My current bunch have been exposed to the fence for about 9 or 10 months now........after the initial few days when they were learning what it was, they were going over "it", which when I started, "it" was a single hot wire. They would step on it and with one foot on the hot wire and one on the ground, they would get zapped, upon which they would launch about 5 feet in the air. The first time I saw the rooster get it he was still complaining about it 30 seconds later. Since then, I've not seen them cross the fence line ever. Not once. I can be digging in the garden on the other side.........something they dearly love to help with on account of the grubs and worms and such........but if I'm on the other side, they walk away.

The same fence that protects the chickens by day also protects the garden area they roam around in at night. With the fence off, I was getting deer and other visitors at night. With it on, all traffic stops. "It" is now the 4 wire fence shown elsewhere in this thread. Stuff can't get under it, through it or over it without getting zapped Even the deer must stumble into it in the dark. Although all of them (including the chickens) could easily poke through or hop over it like it wasn't even there, they don't. They know if they touch that wire it hurts and whatever is on the other side just ain't worth it.

So again, the fence protects and restricts them by day. The coop protects them at night. Nothing short of a bear (or human) has much chance of all at getting into the coop once the door shuts. No guarantees something won't get in someday, but so far none have......and it's not for lack of trying.

BTW, I would have no qualms about snuffing a coon.........it's just that I have no use for a dead one, so I try to avoid it if I can. So with the method above, I've never had to. Live and let live so to speak.
 
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Had to put a racoon down tonight. For those that can, CCI makes "Quiet 22" ammo. It pushes a 40gr bullet @ 710 fps for 45fpe. This is medium to high level pellet gun ballistics and plenty for raccoons if you can get close and put the bullet where it needs to go, not any louder than a pellet gun either.
 

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