A Careless Mistake

[dominiques]

That is so sad; thank you for sharing your loss to help us. You said you patched things up. Where were the racoons getting in and how did you patch it? What type of protection/fencing did you use? Thanks for letting us know. Good luck with your new girls.

 

[JimyCrakKorn]

My original design was tight 1/2 inch hardware cloth (you see one of the 4' x 50' rolls in white plastic in the pic) that would surround the sides 6 feet in height and 2 feet under the surface of the ground buried in a trench, one foot down and one foot out (my wife called it a moat). The top of the pen was covered in two materials, first, 2 inch "chicken wire" (the mistake; since the rolls were 4 ft wide I had to "sew" each run together which created seams) but the pen was also covered totally with the second material, a shade cloth that was secured with 1/2 in screws through grommets along all sides. (The top of the pen was braced by the 1x4s running between 4x4 posts that were buried into the ground.) The weak spot was that the coon climbed the side of the pen, pulled out two screws holding down the shade cloth, got under the cloth but on top of the chicken wire (got between the two, [another area for a mistake as the cloth was not attached to the chicken wire which left it too loose]) and walked to one of the seams. He found where there was a hole in the seam, dropped down to the top of the coop and was now in the pen (another mistake was the top wire was close enough to to the top of the coop that he was able to stand and reach the wire to make his escape via the same opening).

My mistakes as I see them: 1st, not covering the top with hardware cloth; 2nd not using longer screws to secure the shade cloth; 3rd sewing the chicken wire with seams that were not tight enough; 4th not having a secure door to the front of the coop opening; 5th not knowing /underestimating my enemy.

I have since covered the top with 1/2 inch hardware cloth which I overlapped each 4 foot section and secured with wire ties, secured the shade cloth, built a new door for the coop, added a couple of stronger locks and continue to set the trap. I also have covered the back-fill around the outside perimeter of the pen with sand and dried grass clippings so that any night visitors that come calling will leave impressions as to where they tried to get in as an area that needs my attention.

Finally, I will never underestimate coons. Especially after seeing some of the videos on youtube.

Thank you for allowing me to share.

 

[dominiques]

I just finished our run with almost all your same mistakes We have welded wire on the top of our run. Over that we have chicken wire and a tarp. Tarp is not secure at all, just tied down at the corners. Chicken wire and welded wire are strung with a wire throughout their seams. From what I hear from neighbor chicken owners our problems are fox and skunk. Oddly enough no one has ever dealt with racoon. Thank you for posting such details. On my way back out to the run to check connections and tie tarp down more.

 

[JimyCrakKorn]

You are most welcome. It sounds like you will be good against any foxes.

 

[MeatKing]

oh those raccoons, I'm sorry for your loss!! We too just had our first go with raccoons, we've had chickens now a few years.. But it was this year, that our problem first started.. With the loss of all our baby turkerys, baby hens, and 2 older hens.. Sucks!! We've got 2 adults so far.. In live traps, with Tuna!!
I wish you the best, Thanks for sharing, It's good to know, I"m not the only one, that has made this mistake.

 

[theoldchick]

So sorry. A Story like yours keeps me on my toes. I never take my chickens' safety for granted.

 

[JimyCrakKorn]

The sad part is that I built the pen thinking they would be safe; feeling nothing could get in. I still remember friends saying that I was going overboard with security. Nothing was taken for granted, or so I thought. Thanks for the reply.

 

[JimyCrakKorn]

Yeah, seems like a lot of folks are seeing more and more coons this year. They are nasty varmits. How did they get yours? What did you do with the coons? Thanks for your reply.

 

[TeamChaos]

JimyCrakKorn- I am so sorry for your losses, but the love you and your wife had for your birds is apparent in the energy you put in to handling the problem! I will never forget the sight of the predator aftermath in our coop either-- when I think about it, any "coons are just doing what they're made to do" empathy goes right out of my head and I think "yeah, and I'm just doing what I'm made to when something messes with mine". I shored up the banty coop (where our attack happened) and I've set various traps every nite for a week now, I want to know it's safe, safe, safe before I let another chicken near it.

 

[MemesChicks]

Thank you for sharing this so we can all learn from your experience. I'm am sorry for your loss.