- Jan 28, 2011
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Spouse and I just bought a new house and we want to build a small chicken coop/run with just a few chickens. This coop will be located close to a large palm tree. We've heard noises coming from the upper reaches of the tree that an "expert" (my brother-in-law) said is raccoons. I've generally gotten along with raccoons except for when they eat my grapes and persimmons - we have a kind of live and let live arrangement. Now I'm concerned about how determined these beasts will be around my chickens. I know I can fortify the coop/run so that even a tank couldn't break in but I'm not into doing more work or spending more money than I need to. So, my questions are, aside from providing sturdier wire fencing for the sides of the run and installing raccoon-proof latches, how far down do I need to dig for a wire barrier? Do I even need one? Do raccoons dig to get under the walls? Do I need a wire floor in the run? I was really trying to avoid that if possible. Or, I could try to discourage the raccoons from the yard by keeping them out of the palm tree - might that be easier?
Many thanks in advance.
Many thanks in advance.