California - Northern

[liz9910]

If you are wondering what raccoons are capable of . . one chewed through the side of a live catch trap and escaped

My friend in Michigan had one chew through the wall in her barn where the wall met the roof and then chewed through the inner wall to get to her chickens. This was after it broke through the chicken wire on her chicken house windows (replacing with hardware cloth stopped it) and killed all her bantam buff Brahmas, which were the parents of my birds. These are extreme cases though.

Hope you catch that sucker!!

Oh that dang raccoon had one of the girls I got from you; she screamed loud enough to wake me up and I saved her it didn't hurt her just pulled a bunch of feathers out. She and her sister are locked up tight in the coop. I am so scared he is going to get the chickens though.

 

[PetRock]

Omg. It's beautiful... my Wellie's first egg. My first Wellie egg. Wow.

Agree! I love Wellie eggs!!!

 

[chickee]

Oh that dang raccoon had one of the girls I got from you; she screamed loud enough to wake me up and I saved her it didn't hurt her just pulled a bunch of feathers out. She and her sister are locked up tight in the coop. I am so scared he is going to get the chickens though.

I thought it was one of the EEs from me. Glad you saved her! but sorry you lost one!

Recently a mamma raccoon and her 4 babies came onto our deck just after dark. I chased them off and worried about my chickens all night long! When a raccoon massacred our daughter's flock years ago we had to go clean up the mess because she was so traumatized by the carnage. It was horrible! It really scares me to think that could happen to my chickens!!

Hope you have good news tomorrow that the raccoon has been dispatched!!

 

[The Yakima Kid]

I didn't get a chance to get the wet cat food, is there anything else (besides Seramas) that will work?

I've had good luck with canned tuna fish and marshmallows.

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Great that's where I'm headed also, is hardware cloth half way up the run enough to deter the raccoon or should it go the whole way up? The run is over 6 feet tall. For sure it's going on top.

Raccoons climb. A top is a good idea; a hot wire near the top is also a good idea.

My run is made of expanded metal and the top is also made of expanded metal; there are canvas covers to block the rain in winter, and I remove at least one in summer so they can sunbathe and still have some shade. Our flock consists of Dominique pullets and one Black Star hen.

Here is a picture of the Cirque des Poulets in our backyard; where chickens live under the bigtop:

 

[The Yakima Kid]

Thank you everyone, it was my fault as I didn't lock up the Seramas in their coop which is predator proof, I'd never had any problems with anything like this before. Stupid me. Now I'm proofing my coops, runs and everything else with hardware cloth and latches today. I know they will keep coming back since they know the chickens are here now. I have a trap, going to try to catch it tonight/and or shoot it. I'm almost tempted to borrow the neighbor's dog for awhile and let him patrol the backyard since all I have is a Chihuahua lol. What is the best bait for a trap for a raccoon? Anyone trapped one successfully?

Try Marshmallows and tuna fish.

A humane way to euthanize them in town is to place the trap containing the raccoon into a garbage can. Place a sheet of cardboard over this. Take a disposable aluminum roasting pan and put it on top of the cardboard. Place two blocks of dry ice in the roasting pan, and pour a cup of warm water over the dry ice. Cover tightly. You may have to pour an additional cup of water over the dry ice. Keep it covered tightly for a couple of hours. The raccoon should definitely be dead by then if the dry ice has had a chance to evaporate. Another approach is to put about a 1/2" of water in the bottom of the pan and then add the dry ice - if you do this be sure you do not inhale the vapor because the dry ice will begin to heavily evolve carbon dioxide. Cover the garbage can tightly.

Some people use one of those dry ice tanks people use for home beer kegs; but in that case you need to fiddle with tubing.

 

[Kikwi]

My dad and I didn't get the run completed today but we put latches on all the doors and I put a piece of plywood over the entrance with a huge rock over it so nothing can get in the coop tonight, I sure hope it's enough

I hope the Raccoon gets trapped tonight!

x2!! So sorry for the loss. I have two daily reminders on my phone to lock up the girls in their run by dusk. After forgetting to close them up twice, I realized a proper alarm was necessary. I hope you can get some sleep tonight!

 

[The Yakima Kid]

I am wondering if the first one died of Mareks. The other two look really nice though. she seems like shed be ok if she could get around better. we shall see

If she died of Marek's, she could have picked it up anywhere in transit to you or on your property or from contaminated clothing. I only allow immunized birds on the premises. Mealworms can carry Marek's. You might want to look at the Extension websites for more information and diagnostic help. There is a UCD poultry help hotline number where you can get help diagnosing your chickens, help learning to care for them, and so on; I'll repost it again.

~866-922-BIRD (2473)

 

[lawatt]

hello NorCal chicken peeps! i'm home from a week in New York, still dark out but it's good to hear the cockerels hollering in the morning -- can't wait to check on the chicks & see how much they've grown!

*waving to everyone*

 

[ronott1]

hello NorCal chicken peeps! i'm home from a week in New York, still dark out but it's good to hear the cockerels hollering in the morning -- can't wait to check on the chicks & see how much they've grown!

*waving to everyone*

Hi Laura!

Welcome Back!