- Apr 22, 2011
- 14
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The last few nights we've been getting a meat bird picked off picked off per night by what I assumed was a raccoon.
So I put electric wire around the coop and boarded up the shed well. While these murders were quite an annoyance,
I wasn't crazy upset because it was just a few "meaties" and not one of my sweet little 9-week pullets. We keep our
pullets in a separate little coop outside in the run.
Last night around 11:30, I decided to just go out and check on the "kids." I wish I would have prepared myself
physically and mentally for an encounter with what had been killing my birds. I went into the run and there was the
biggest fattest raccoon I had ever seen. The only thing I could think to do was yell and swear at it at the top of my
lungs. I scared the crap out of him and he ran head-first into the fence. Then he ran right past me and head-first into
the other fence before finally climbing out and scampering away. If I had been prepared at least mentally, I probably
would have punted that jerk right off the ground and smashed its head with the rock that was right next to me.
I thought I had the little coop boarded up well, but that jerk weaseled his way in and chewed off the leg of one of
my barred rock pullets through the chicken wire. I found her this morning laying in the coop with her foot gone and her
thigh bone completely bare. She seemed to be saying "help me" and it broke my heart to take the ax to her to put her
out of her misery and I am still pretty shaken up by it.
My question is...what is the best way to deal with this raccoon. I was thinking that I could either stake out in the run
tonight with a shotgun ...or... I was also thinking that maybe I would stuff the carcass of his latest victim full of rat poison
and leave it out in the run after all the birds are put away for the night.
What do you guys think I should do?
So I put electric wire around the coop and boarded up the shed well. While these murders were quite an annoyance,
I wasn't crazy upset because it was just a few "meaties" and not one of my sweet little 9-week pullets. We keep our
pullets in a separate little coop outside in the run.
Last night around 11:30, I decided to just go out and check on the "kids." I wish I would have prepared myself
physically and mentally for an encounter with what had been killing my birds. I went into the run and there was the
biggest fattest raccoon I had ever seen. The only thing I could think to do was yell and swear at it at the top of my
lungs. I scared the crap out of him and he ran head-first into the fence. Then he ran right past me and head-first into
the other fence before finally climbing out and scampering away. If I had been prepared at least mentally, I probably
would have punted that jerk right off the ground and smashed its head with the rock that was right next to me.
I thought I had the little coop boarded up well, but that jerk weaseled his way in and chewed off the leg of one of
my barred rock pullets through the chicken wire. I found her this morning laying in the coop with her foot gone and her
thigh bone completely bare. She seemed to be saying "help me" and it broke my heart to take the ax to her to put her
out of her misery and I am still pretty shaken up by it.
My question is...what is the best way to deal with this raccoon. I was thinking that I could either stake out in the run
tonight with a shotgun ...or... I was also thinking that maybe I would stuff the carcass of his latest victim full of rat poison
and leave it out in the run after all the birds are put away for the night.
What do you guys think I should do?
