American Gamefowl

[SOHC-FTW]

Gotta prep the yard for turning chicks loose.
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Necessity right there folks I don't care what anyone says nor if they say they have a "secure" coop/lot. I have a decently powerful electric fence now and still rely on trapping. I couldn't agree with this post more.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

Necessity right there folks I don't care what anyone says nor if they say they have a "secure" coop/lot. I have a decently powerful electric fence now and still rely on trapping. I couldn't agree with this post more.

Indeed.

I have a “secure” coop ... but I still trap chicken eating critters that surf the yard ...

But I’ve been pretty amazed at how few raccoons I’ve had since removing over a dozen last winter/spring ...

I fed corn to yard deer all winter, and have a big mulberry tree next to the coop.., so I know I’m “creating my own problems” in this regard ... but the raccoons have stayed away... can’t quite figure it out ... maybe they’ve been warning each other on raccoon facebook or something?

But I totally agree with keeping the numbers as low as you can...

I’ve gotta Coopers hawk that’s been getting fat off the mourning doves in the yard all winter and now I keep seeing it by my coop/run watching the chickens...

I haven’t seen it go after them ... but I think it’s tried because I’ve seen them acting stressed a couple times.... but I’ve gotta plan

I’m always amazed at the way some folks let their birds get terrorized by chicken eaters... but give those critters special “sentient being” status... apparently the chickens don’t rate as “sentient beings”

 

[SOHC-FTW]

Their is zero shortage of coons here I stopped counting at 30 last season and up to 10 this season. They are cute on TV but in the real world they will wreck a chicken man or woman's flock in no time.

 

[OhZark Biddies]

Their is zero shortage of coons here I stopped counting at 30 last season and up to 10 this season. They are cute on TV but in the real world they will wreck a chicken man or woman's flock in no time.

I know there was a big fat sow and a big lanky boar I never did get... and I still see coons around... just not around the house... of course now I’ve jinxed it...

I was just saying on a different thread how I used to have a few young “pet” coons that I’d feed every night ... I didn’t have chickens at the time...

... but I learned a lot about how and why coons feed the way they do by watching them...

... filling their bellies is only half of the motivation... hunting and exploring (getting into things) was the other half.... I think they have a prey drive about as strong as cat or a husky...

 

[roosterhavoc]

Indeed.

I have a “secure” coop ... but I still trap chicken eating critters that surf the yard ...

But I’ve been pretty amazed at how few raccoons I’ve had since removing over a dozen last winter/spring ...

I fed corn to yard deer all winter, and have a big mulberry tree next to the coop.., so I know I’m “creating my own problems” in this regard ... but the raccoons have stayed away... can’t quite figure it out ... maybe they’ve been warning each other on raccoon facebook or something?

But I totally agree with keeping the numbers as low as you can...

I’ve gotta Coopers hawk that’s been getting fat off the mourning doves in the yard all winter and now I keep seeing it by my coop/run watching the chickens...

I haven’t seen it go after them ... but I think it’s tried because I’ve seen them acting stressed a couple times.... but I’ve gotta plan

I’m always amazed at the way some folks let their birds get terrorized by chicken eaters... but give those critters special “sentient being” status... apparently the chickens don’t rate as “sentient beings”

The general rule is if you see 1 there’s at least 10. I stopped counting how many raccoons I’ve caught in the 10 yrs I’ve been here. It’s way way up there though. At least 25-30 a year sometimes more plus I’ve caught a little over a thousand trapping for fur. Caught another 15-20 trapping that beagle club, I didn’t keep count.
It’s easy to catch a few but not so easy to really make a dent in the population. Eventually the few that are left won’t go within 20 yds of a cage and won’t even stick their hands in a dp trap. Snares will get them all though around the den trees if that’s really what your after.
Hawks aren’t an issue here either.

 

[roosterhavoc]

Their is zero shortage of coons here I stopped counting at 30 last season and up to 10 this season. They are cute on TV but in the real world they will wreck a chicken man or woman's flock in no time.

People’s biggest issue is they wait for something to happen before they start trying to catch them. They feel bad killing something since it’s just trying to survive. BS raccoons are more wasteful than an other animal I know of. They go nuts in a group and will just keep killing. They fight with each other like crazy and chew on each other. Ripping tails off etc.. These people that lose birds constantly to raccoons are just foolish.

 

[SOHC-FTW]

 

[OhZark Biddies]

The general rule is if you see 1 there’s at least 10. I stopped counting how many raccoons I’ve caught in the 10 yrs I’ve been here. It’s way way up there though. At least 25-30 a year sometimes more plus I’ve caught a little over a thousand trapping for fur. Caught another 15-20 trapping that beagle club, I didn’t keep count.
It’s easy to catch a few but not so easy to really make a dent in the population. Eventually the few that are left won’t go within 20 yds of a cage and won’t even stick their hands in a dp trap. Snares will get them all though around the den trees if that’s really what your after.
Hawks aren’t an issue here either.

“See one got 10” I get... see zero is the part I’m puzzlin...

I have little solar charged motion lights over the yard deer feeding spot and it’s about 40 yds from the back of the house... so when the lights come on we glance out and see who’s visiting... never a coon all winter?

Same thing with cameras... and tracks in the snow... nuthin...

I’m not complaining... I just find it odd.... it’s like they know to stay away from the house...they’re still around just not up by the house...

I feel like I accidentally discovered a cure for a disease, but don’t know how I did it, lol

 

[roosterhavoc]

“See one got 10” I get... see zero is the part I’m puzzlin...

I have little solar charged motion lights over the yard deer feeding spot and it’s about 40 yds from the back of the house... so when the lights come on we glance out and see who’s visiting... never a coon all winter?

Same thing with cameras... and tracks in the snow... nuthin...

I’m not complaining... I just find it odd.... it’s like they know to stay away from the house...they’re still around just not up by the house...

I feel like I accidentally discovered a cure for a disease, but don’t know how I did it, lol

I keep traps set in my yard year round. That raccoon is the first I’ve caught in my yard in awhile. If I go 10 yds into the woods near the creek I’ll catch a couple right off the bat. Then it’ll die off for a week or so then pick back up again. The problem is you can bet they’ll brave the yard when they hear peeping from the trees in the morning just before dawn.
Distemper can wipe out a coon population pretty quick too. I’ve killed two with distemper in different areas. One in my yard and one way back in the woods 70 miles away. Both were holding their heads with their hands while their brains cooked. I wish all the animal rights idiots could see that kind of stuff so they would understand more.

 

[SOHC-FTW]

^^ True story you can't fix stupid. I've got 8 DPs set at all times in a full circle around the house and birds i also have two box traps, my furthest trap is about 400yds away. I have snares from a fella havoc trapped with, but I haven't used em yet I would love to have them thin down, but that doesn't seem to be the case here I believe they could survive the apocalypse.