Raccoons

[ShrekDawg]

So Gator saved the chickens, yet again, last night.

This time it was really **** close.

He had started barking like crazy a little bit at around midnight so I came down but we couldn't see anything so all went back to bed.

I wasn't asleep yet then but fell asleep shortly after going back upstairs.

Well apparently at around 2 or 2:30 after I was asleep, Gator started going crazy again and this time he was really mad.

My dad says that he turned the light on to see not one but TWO adult raccoons on top of the run!!! They were trying to get in and according to him, one was on top, and one was trying to get the gate open. The run is a chainlink dog kennel. But we don't have a roof, just bird netting and then plywood over half.

We checked this morning and they had made a hole in the netting so he got to them just in time.

But he says the **** things weren't phased at all by the deck light turning on or by Gator's barking. Not even by my dad going out on the deck. So finally he let Gator outside and he ran them off.

Thinking back on it, at midnight they were probably in the woods or general area and he knew it.

But it was close.

But my dad says the stupid things wouldn't go inside the coop or back on the roof (I'm glad they didn't go back up there) or even under the coop but instead piled together on the ground I think in a corner.

But I just went out and saw the hole for myself and it was really close! I'll try to get a picture.

But SO.

Besides putting a roof on the run, is there anything we can do to prevent further attacks? I know they need a roof but I was thinking of something temporary like another piece of plywood over the hole or a tarp or something.

And maybe a lock in the gate or something?

Or just locking them inside every night?

We were thinking of buying a few pieces of wood and some of those clear corrugated plastic roof panels to put on top of the run and that would be able to be transferred to the new run too so not wasted. But my dad just had a hip replacement on Wednesday and I have a project due this coming Wednesday the 7th so we won't be able to do that for a little while.

So I'm thinking something in the meantime.

But we have never had a problem with raccoons so I was not expecting it. Foxes, yes. Hawks, yes. Raccoons, no. So we've been lucky I guess.

I mean, I knew having a chainlink run (with the big openings) and bird netting for a roof was risky but we've been lucky.

The new coop and run will be more secure with a roof and I'll lock them in.

I guess I should lock them in here too?

Thank God for Gator I guess is all I can say for now. He has saved them countless times.

Of course, he didn't notice the actual hawk attack this spring when we almost lost one and they all went missing, but he has prevented other attacks. To be fair, hawks really give no warning and are silent, you see a 4 legged predator long before they attack.

But yeah, he's saved them several times now. The fox has been back at least two or three times and now the raccoons.

 

[ShrekDawg]

We'll see how soft your heart feels if they manage to break in and murder your flock. A pair of coons can devastate a lot of birds in a small amount of time. Winter is coming and they are going to be more inclined to invade your chicken's coop as it gets harder to find forage. They are crafty and clearly intent on getting in. Most places allow you to shoot a predator in defense of your livestock especially if that predator is not some endangered critter. I wouldn't think twice about it TBH, just leave a loaded rifle by the door when I go to sleep and end the issue. Best wishes.

That's very true, I never thought about it like that. I definitely love my birds more than any coon, they're pets in addition to being egg layers. Besides, I hear coons are nasty and mean once caught/in general.

I think I'll definitely shoot it or at least trap it and call someone.

And you're right, just find this other site and apparently it is legal in defense of your property, which I suspected, just my state sucks and makes it confusing and has everything on a million sites haha

http://wildlifehelp.org/solution/massachusetts/raccoon/how-trap-and-remove-raccoon/116

So since it technically is defending them because they are going after my chickens, I'll figure out a way to get the little ******** haha

Although tbh I also kinda feel like they're jist doing their raccoon-y thing and it's my job to protect the girls from predators and make sure they can't get in, which I've failed to do so far and have just been lucky. But that said, there are lots of dogs, kids, cats, around and we are set back in the woods but surrounded by condos/townhomes so they really don't belong in a suburban environment like this I suppose so it's different. I guess they need to go.

Although won't another one just move in?

But you are right, they will likely just keep coming back until they get one so I suppose it is far better to just eliminate them now while they're still around and before they do manage to bust in, which they are extremely close to doing

 

[PeepersMama]

We'll see how soft your heart feels if they manage to break in and murder your flock. A pair of coons can devastate a lot of birds in a small amount of time. Winter is coming and they are going to be more inclined to invade your chicken's coop as it gets harder to find forage. They are crafty and clearly intent on getting in. Most places allow you to shoot a predator in defense of your livestock especially if that predator is not some endangered critter. I wouldn't think twice about it TBH, just leave a loaded rifle by the door when I go to sleep and end the issue. Best wishes.

I agree completely. Defending your property doesn't need a liscense; just make yourself a nice pair of coonskin caps for winter. The fur will be especially thick this time of year

 

[ChickenChaser9]

That's very true, I never thought about it like that. I definitely love my birds more than any coon, they're pets in addition to being egg layers. Besides, I hear coons are nasty and mean once caught/in general.

I think I'll definitely shoot it or at least trap it and call someone.

And you're right, just find this other site and apparently it is legal in defense of your property, which I suspected, just my state sucks and makes it confusing and has everything on a million sites haha

http://wildlifehelp.org/solution/massachusetts/raccoon/how-trap-and-remove-raccoon/116

So since it technically is defending them because they are going after my chickens, I'll figure out a way to get the little ******** haha

Although tbh I also kinda feel like they're jist doing their raccoon-y thing and it's my job to protect the girls from predators and make sure they can't get in, which I've failed to do so far and have just been lucky. But that said, there are lots of dogs, kids, cats, around and we are set back in the woods but surrounded by condos/townhomes so they really don't belong in a suburban environment like this I suppose so it's different. I guess they need to go.

Although won't another one just move in?

But you are right, they will likely just keep coming back until they get one so I suppose it is far better to just eliminate them now while they're still around and before they do manage to bust in, which they are extremely close to doing

Ecosystems are complex but IMO if the raccoons being raccoons means that they will throw caution to the wind and repeatedly come into your yard to try and get your birds you could just keep trying to outwit them everytime making adjustments and improvements and being on constant alert for trouble. That is a solution. If you police your yard by killing trespassing predators though you might have to deal other families of raccoons. Survival of the fittest being what it is though what that means is that the ones who survive will be the ones who figured out to find their meals elsewhere. Chickens have no defense against raccoons except for you. You are their first and last line. I would not underestimate the predator's desire to eat your birds nor mistake the fact that they are animals to mean they are not clever enough to find a way in. It is your flock. Do what you want but I would never but mine in danger in order to protect the life of something that could just as easily get food elsewhere. Raccoons can and do eat almost anything but these ones are choosing to target your chickens.

 

[ShrekDawg]

I agree completely. Defending your property doesn't need a liscense; just make yourself a nice pair of coonskin caps for winter. The fur will be especially thick this time of year 

That does sound toasty, especially with the winter we will probably have this year

​Ecosystems are complex but IMO if the raccoons being raccoons means that they will throw caution to the wind and repeatedly come into your yard to try and get your birds you could just keep trying to outwit them everytime making adjustments and improvements and being on constant alert for trouble. That is a solution. If you police your yard by killing trespassing predators though you might have to deal other families of raccoons. Survival of the fittest being what it is though what that means is that the ones who survive will be the ones who figured out to find their meals elsewhere. Chickens have no defense against raccoons except for you. You are their first and last line. I would not underestimate the predator's desire to eat your birds nor mistake the fact that they are animals to mean they are not clever enough to find a way in. It is your flock. Do what you want but I would never but mine in danger in order to protect the life of something that could just as easily get food elsewhere. Raccoons can and do eat almost anything but these ones are choosing to target your chickens. 

Thanks for explaining it so well and calmly and not just yelling at me that I need to shoot them or whatever.

Your reasoning does make a lot of sense and brings up things I never thought of.

Like for instance when you said that they eat almost anything yet are choosing to go after my chickens. That's especially true and I guess makes them much more of a nuisance. I'm sure there are plenty of other raccoons around who DO eat the other food sources so I really don't want to and shouldn't deal with ones that choose to eat my chickens? Like I said we are set back in the woods and have almost 3 acres plus the neighbors all have wopds too so there's two fairly large patches where I am sure there is lots of food, cranberry bogs across the street (although idk if coons eat from there?), and heck, even a pond down the street. Two actually, a smaller man made one and a bigger one and large marsh area behind that. So I assume that's plenty of natural resources? And heck, even if they insisted on UNnatural resources, there's all the condos and surely plenty of trash there? So it is a little weird they choose the most difficult food source. You are right about that. Plus they might teach future babies about the chickens?

As for them getting in, I definitely don't underestimate; raccoons are amazingly smart. That said, I do need to take more and better precautions.

Also, do you think the bird feeder and compost pile nearby could be attracting them too? I have also thrown seed down before but not for a while. I suppose I should STOP doing that and maybe place the compost pile further away from the chickens???

 

[shortgrass]

@chickenchaser09, we "assume" all sorts of things on here, its part of discussion and brainstorming to generate ideas.

I have a hotwire, my folks have hotwire. My neighbors have hotwire. We assume it works sometimes, and sometimes it doesn't.

Can we agree to disagree and move on, please?

 

[ShrekDawg]

I forgot about this semi important bit but my dad says they were already here once before last night.

I forget exactly when but I had made a post about it then too, maybe a month or so ago?

But we weren't sure it was raccoons then though, just that they were on the ground, off the roof, awake at 4am. We had initially thought it was a fox but if so I would have thought they would be up high.

So I think they actually have been here before.

But either way, they're gone for now

 

[PeepersMama]

All chickens should be locked in their coop at night. If they weren't in the coop that would explain why the coons were trying to get in. Most predators won't attack during the day (most), so coop saftey is (in my opinion) a bit more important than run safety. If they keep coming back, just shoot em and make a couple coon-skin caps out of them

 

[ShrekDawg]

They've been sleeping on the roof since about May unless it's really cold or bad weather because I wasn't wanting to wake up really early to let them out but I think I might start locking them in at night. Right now even when I put them in, the front door is left open and that's when they realized their freedom and started sleeping on the roof. But once I put them inside after dark, they stay inside. But I think I'll lock them in. The roof is dangerous because the run is 6 feet high and the coop is maybe 3 or 4 feet high at the highest so they're really close to the top and an easy target so I guess it is even more dumb.

The new coop is a lot more secure and they won't be able to sleep on top.

Unfortunately I don't think we can shoot them in town but we could always get a BB gun or something

 

[ShrekDawg]

Hard to see with the netting squares and chain link, easy to see in person, but I think this is the hole.

From below

Basically they had just sort of separated the netting where it connected which as you can see is really close to the roof and an extremely close call. I think what saved them is A. Gator noticed immediately but also, B. Coons are smart and probably knew they would get tangled in the netting and had no escape route. So in the time spent trying to find an escape route rather than attacking, Gator noticed and the birds meanwhile flew out of reach.

Put this on top for now. (Second ladder, more wood near gate, fence thingy).

I know it's only temporary but I figure it will at least help a little bit or delay them some for now until we can come up with something more permanent.

But I think the girls put themselves inside the coop already, must be scared