2 night slaughter

[CLSranch]

After losing 30 in a wkend while I was gone. I became rather vigilant. And oh yea like Gargoyle said don't forget to tie the to something.

 

[TominWa]

The only thing I fear around here. Racoons are smart, determined, and powerful. nasty little things. Trapping and a .22 I built my coup to be raccoon proof, they get shut in at night. Just saw a momma with two young skirting the treetops like monkeys yesterday. I assume they are watching my flock.

 

[Eps32]

I always keep a trap out re bait it every few days cause the ants get to the bait in 3 years I've probably put down 15 raccoons but I've found the best solution and easiest was premier one electric fencing surrounding my coop I also have a German Shepard that stays out there most nights she can come in if she wants through are dog door I've trained her since a pup but she would rather stay out there with the goats chickens and ducks then come inside most nights only when it's raining does she usually come in even though she has a huge dog house out side she doesn't really like the storms but again the best protection is electric fencing I promise you it's worth every penny

 

[Eps32]

I surround my entire coop with this then turn it into a nice run as well it's the best stuff since canned milk

 

[Eps32]

This

 

[Sublight]

The only thing I fear around here. Racoons are smart, determined, and powerful. nasty little things. Trapping and a .22 I built my coup to be raccoon proof, they get shut in at night. Just saw a momma with two young skirting the treetops like monkeys yesterday. I assume they are watching my flock.

EEK. That is a bad omen.
Ive got a silencer for my .22, or my .17. 600 bucks
When that is paid off, im going to drop about another 600 bucks for a night vision scope.

Im going to handle whatever comes my way, and ill do it quietly.

 

[RoosterCogburn7]

We finally put our 16 hens in our coop. They were 6 weeks old.

On night #7, I woke up to find nine of them still alive in my yard, feathers and a chicken leg in my coop and my pullet shut door was pried open with muddy paw prints on the door. Nine dead with no carcasses.

The next day, I screwed in a 2x4 over the pullet shut door since they were not using the run quite yet. The next morning I awoke to another slaughter. We have no chicks left. I need help identifying predator(s) and rout of entry. View attachment 1030735 View attachment 1030736 View attachment 1030737 View attachment 1030738 View attachment 1030739 View attachment 1030740 View attachment 1030741 I have pictures of the evidence.

The floor of the coop has 3/4" plywood which is still intact.

Photos:
1. Coop
2. Print
3. Predator poop
4. Crime scene
5. Scratches climbing inside of coop
6. Prints inside the coop
7. Prints on roof

Definitely coon sign.

 

[GGBEAR]

sorry for your loss I experienced something similar a few years ago but mine was a fox attack as I'm from UK it slaughtered all 5 of mine took the 3 smallest with it and bit the heads off the 2 biggest there was no blood anywhere but it looked like feather pillows had been ripped open

 

[PD-Riverman]

I wanted to tell you all what I have done and it helped a lot back before I got my GP dog. My chicken yard is about 3/8th's of a mile from my home so a baby monitor will not work for me, but might for a lot of you----if you are in range set-up one---for sure monitor during the night---always have a gun(if you are in a area you can) light, slip on pants and shoes ready if something starts happening in your coop. you might have to cut it off in the early AM when the roosters start crowing---LOL so you can sleep a little longer. Being mine is so far away I set-up a CB radio at the chicken yard with a flip flop timer I made. The timer turns the cb on with a power mic that is tied compressed so I can hear everything in the area of the coop/pen. The cb stays on 10 seconds and off 30 seconds 24/7 7 days a week. Most everyone that knew me knowed I had this set-up on a base antenna up in the air. CBers----some as far away as 30 miles in neighboring towns say that some nights they turn to that channel and just listen to nature---the frogs on the lake close to the chicken pens, listen to the crickets and for sure the roosters crowing in the early am. I could be riding to the local town to do somethings and could monitor the chicken pens from miles away with the CB that was in my truck----Sure would have not done any good if I had a attack when I was miles away but at least I knew what was happening and did not have to wonder and could rush home if needed.
For those of you that are out of range for a baby monitor, you can go get you a GOOD rechargeable set of GMRS radio's with VOX(voice activated) put one in your coop and carry the other on your person any where around your home or even to the neighbors or a local Store several miles away(with a good set). When you are in the house or At night set the one on your person in the charger to recharge, then once a day when you visit the coop switch the batteries(I set mine up using a small solar panel to recharge a bigger battery that I had attached to the GMRS radio at the coop so I did not have to switch the batteries). These can help so much allowing you to hear what is happening. I have had to rush out the door several times to get to my coop and have got the predator before he slaughtered a chicken, have lost a chicken or two too, but eliminated the predator.
I had a Good Pitt bull that lived with me in the house or out---every where I was(kinda) if I had a problem at the coop, he would hear it on the monitor and would be at the door waiting on me----When I open the Chicken run he would do a quick sweep and most of the time grab the predator and "take care" of it---He was a Good Dog!!! So far with the GP dog I have not lost any chickens to predators in over 2 years and some of you know that I have had as many as 1232 at one time in the pens in her patrol area. She(GP) has me a possum or a raccoon or a stray cat, even some snakes laying there some times when I get there in the mornings. She is a Good Dog!

 

[TinyBirds]

Raccoon bodies are like jello and they can squeeze through tiny openings. They will rip limbs off small birds even through 1/2 inch hardware cloth and once I had a silkie's leg get ripped clean off through a door crack she was sleeping next to. I used needle and thread to sew up her opening where the leg used to be and she learned to hop around like that once she healed. Raccoons even clawed a hole in a plwood floor of a raised house i had. I now use fencerwire coated hardware cloth 16 guage and 1/2 inch mesh, zip tie every 3 inches at overlapping seams. (Includes cover of their run and apron outside bottom). No problems since, other than daytime attacks on free range birds if unsupervised. Raccoons are talented predators and smart, similar to humans but less humane in their killing.