Coons wiped out my girls..

[pkloop]

Yes kitty that's about as ass opposite end of the country as you can get! As far as chicken math goes we first bought 6 to get 3-4. We ended up with one peep not making it past the "I could die any minute" stage. So this morning I scaled it back to five thinking that if they all survive chickhood thats ok or if 1 or 2 die (natural causes not COONS!) thats ok too. We are looking for 3 strong layers anything else is bonus..

 

[fancbrd4me02]

Sounds like the easiest cheapest fix for predator proofing your pens might be electric.

 

[aprophet]

Quote:
find out what they are feeding them whatever they are feeding makes a good bait for traps

 

[morrisandy]

We just returned home from a 4 hour trip to return the grand kids and get some plants in Spokane ,Wa.
On our inspection of the pen we found a pilse of feathers and 6 feet and a carcas that was missing the head and main body.
We lost 5 RIR ,1 PR and 2 red sex links----they were hatched 2 days before Mothers Day.
I cant tell what it was--no prints in the dirt--no hair on the fence--Im stumped and it happened between 10AM and 4 PM.
My coop is made of chain link fence with chicken wire 18 in up from the ground.
Monday it will get a wire roof and if the murdering POS comes back it will surely die of lead poisioning(#2 --12 ga goose loads)
Any info or suggestions would be appriciated---- replacing the girls starts tomorrow.

 

[chick4chicks]

I am so sorry about the loss of your girls, it seems like such a waste. and is heartbreaking.

 

[ellieroo]

morrisandy... coons are so everywhere this year! We are south of you, Tri Cities area. What looks like desert holds more racoons than I ever imagined. We lock n load and dispose of but the only way to really be safe is build fort knox!

 

[ellieroo]

pkloop so sorry you and your girls had to go thru this

one night alone my dog treed 6 coons in different trees! The first gun DH grabbed was the 243 very loud over kill but at least those 6 won't get the cats and chickens!

 

[isabrownmom]

Predators must be awful this year! Each evening as the sun goes down, I think that I can just once forgo shutting up the coop for the night so that I can sleep in in the morning and then I read all of these sad stories of chicken killing coons. Thanks for the reminder!

 

[Nifty-Chicken]

Sorry for your loss. Hopefully stories like this will help those in coon country to make their coops extra super secure.

We read stories like this and made our coop and run like Fort Knox... nothing could get in. Well, that plan only works if you remember to close up the doors every single night. The few times that we forgot, or got home late, the coons came and were able to get a few of our girls before we were able to chase them away.

Thank goodness that we have an auto coop door opener / closer now.

 

[Cetawin]

Coons are useless really...there are other animals that do the same jobs and are less of a pain in the butt. I kill them on sight around here...no questions, no second thoughts. A good bait for them is cat food...

I am so sorry your girls were lost and I understand how hard it is on your daughters....a daughter's tears will break a parent's heart.