Here in the heart of the Old Deep South - there are PLENTY of them Coons lurking about the ol' Hen House!
Being in UCLA ( Upper Corner of Lower Alabama ) I have had to be educated rather quickly about Coons.
Very soon after constructing my idea of the perfect Chicken Tractor (not a great idea) I quickly discovered all was NOT well in paradise. I found a fairly broad but not deep tunnel gouged in the dirt under the 2X4 side rails of the structure. No chicks were harmed in any way but the mash dispenser was disrupted and the feed was gone.
Clearly time for re-evaluation!
The hen house has undergone several re-designs. It is now a hen house and not a chicken tractor. The thing got to where it more resembled a Panzer tank than a chicken tractor after a while!
Along with the defensive restructuring, I added active defense. At first I set a "Have-A-Heart" type trap. This netted six raccoons. This included Mama and two kits. Unfortunately, one kit survived to carry on.
However, the papa raccoon was too smart and stole the bait out of the trap several times without tripping the trap. Some research lead me to buying a Duke Dog Proof trap.
This did the trick! The first night I set it and primed it with canned dog food, I got the guy!
I've set the trap twice since then without anything taking the bait. I'll wait a week and see if another family tries to take over the territory.
Release is not an option!
Being in UCLA ( Upper Corner of Lower Alabama ) I have had to be educated rather quickly about Coons.
Very soon after constructing my idea of the perfect Chicken Tractor (not a great idea) I quickly discovered all was NOT well in paradise. I found a fairly broad but not deep tunnel gouged in the dirt under the 2X4 side rails of the structure. No chicks were harmed in any way but the mash dispenser was disrupted and the feed was gone.
Clearly time for re-evaluation!
The hen house has undergone several re-designs. It is now a hen house and not a chicken tractor. The thing got to where it more resembled a Panzer tank than a chicken tractor after a while!
Along with the defensive restructuring, I added active defense. At first I set a "Have-A-Heart" type trap. This netted six raccoons. This included Mama and two kits. Unfortunately, one kit survived to carry on.
However, the papa raccoon was too smart and stole the bait out of the trap several times without tripping the trap. Some research lead me to buying a Duke Dog Proof trap.
This did the trick! The first night I set it and primed it with canned dog food, I got the guy!
I've set the trap twice since then without anything taking the bait. I'll wait a week and see if another family tries to take over the territory.
Release is not an option!
