Day time predators? I thought they were nocturnal???

[Willow's Meadow]

So we built a coop inside of our barn. The barn is wood lol with a cement floor. The coop is wood with hardware cloth. When I move my chicks out there I might have to leave them in for a week or so, so they know its home before I let them into the run. But I would like to leave them in the barn and not lock them in the coop....so it would be cooler and they'd have a TON of space. Would a racoon, coyote etc. attack them during the day while there in the barn? I thought they were nocturnal so I didn't think daytime would be a problem but now I'm not sure. Would the raccoons or coyotes even be brave enough to venture into a barn?

 

[twentynine]

Not know what your place looks like, I don't know how secluded the barn is.


BUT----

Remember predators are masters of oppourtunity. That's how they make their living.

 

[Cindiloohoo]

You never know. Especially since these two preds often carry rabies, making them do things out of charachter..it COULD happen. Not saying it will, but the risk is always there if they are not super secure.

 

[cafarmgirl]

That really depends on where your located, what your property is like and how much activity goes on in the area during the day. We frequently see coyote at any hour of the day around here but there is so much activity around our house and barn that they don't come close in daylight hours.

 

[aprophet]

Willow's Meadow :

So we built a coop inside of our barn. The barn is wood lol with a cement floor. The coop is wood with hardware cloth. When I move my chicks out there I might have to leave them in for a week or so, so they know its home before I let them into the run. But I would like to leave them in the barn and not lock them in the coop....so it would be cooler and they'd have a TON of space. Would a racoon, coyote etc. attack them during the day while there in the barn? I thought they were nocturnal so I didn't think daytime would be a problem but now I'm not sure. Would the raccoons or coyotes even be brave enough to venture into a barn?

Animals are not nocturnal as much as most people cease activity at night. Animals seize the opportunity to eat when they are not bothered / interrupted by people . I worked nights in various grocery stores I got to watch animals raid dumpsters with 1000's of watts of lights turned on ( just like day time ) just no people to speak of just construction workers remodeling food stores most of the workers were inside most of the night the animals always left when they saw the people.​

 

[gootziecat]

It can depend on how hungry they are. Some years ago we had racoons after our chickens at high noon due to scarcity of food for them that year. It never happened before or since. As a general rule, I'd say they won't bother during the day, especially if there's acitivity about.

 

[naked_heels]

3 days ago i killed 6 raccoons 4 during the day and 2 during the evening. Raccoon come out anytime the like too, not just night.

 

[swordgeek]

I stopped thinking of my local predators as nocturnal years ago. We regularly see foxes, coyotes, and the dreaded fishers (AKA fisher cats here in New England... nastiest things around!) in broad daylight. While the raccoons do tend to come out at dusk, I've seen them in the daytime as well, and once found a large pile of my Polish rooster's feathers lying just OUTSIDE the run, obviously by something that had "hands" and yanked him against the chain link while it pulled.

Then there are the numerous hawks nesting in the neighborhood, and all the owls... My poor birds live under a constant state of siege, and it makes free-ranging really problematic. One of us has to be with them at all times when they're outside the enclosed run, and they don't always want to stick together. My poor cat has been house-bound for the past 6 years, and is not at all happy about it - but at least he's still alive (unlike my neighbor's cats!).

Bloody predators march right up to my back porch sniffing around for food, nuzzling the gas grill. These animals are brazen, and I doubt that a nice, quit barn would deter them. Maybe you have kinder, gentler predators, but I doubt it.

 

[junglebean]

I have learned that around this time of the year, these predators are feeding babies and hungry moms. I have had coyotes snatch my girls in the middle of the day. I don't think that coyotes would go inside of a barn, but, you never know. The coyotes around here are really used to humans, and come up on the porch. They also sit in the yard in full view. With all predators, if they get one chicken, the word gets out and you will be stalked. I would be more concerned with snakes, who would go in a barn and can slip through 1/2 inch gaps. It sounds like you have prepped really well, though. Good Luck!!!

 

[woodmort]

I had a problem with a weasel this passed spring--really nasty as they just kill--that killed off most of my flock until I finally determined he was getting in through a small hole under the chicken coop door. Once I repaired that the nightly slaughter stopped and I then managed to live trap him during the middle of the day when he came in through the chicken's door to the chicken yard.