Dealing with racoons (graphic description warning)

[Blue Legs]

I keep hearing that these things just happen but it doesn't make it any easier. Last week my full grown (or nearly so anyway) rooster died fighting off a what I believe was a racoon. It was my fault, I left the coop open. It hadn't been a problem til that night. It was quite the battle: feathers strewn from a fight in a trail from the coop entrance for about 20yds where I found blood and then the bird was dragged through a hole in my fence about 4 feet off the ground another 10 feet into some swamp brush. I don't know that it was a racoon but besides a marten I can't imagine anything else being able to get it through the fence hole that high off the ground. I have been trying to trap it but thus far have only managed to trap several possums which I turned loose.

Questions:
Is it possible these possums are the culprits? Some of them have been pretty big, but I don't think big enough to drag a rooster over and through a fence.

Any suggestions on targeting coons over possums?

I can include a photo of the carcass and the crime scene if that would help determine the culprit. Thanks in advance for any insight

 

[Kirkwooder]

The possums are as likely to eat chicken as a coon. Destroy all you catch. Once you have taken care of the possums the coon will be easy to trap as well. Cat food, tuna, salmon or any other fish seems to work best.

Remember, both coons and possums will return to their home range from great distances, and are much harder to catch a second time. so don't think that you can relocate them. You will only have to deal with them again. If you catch them, the only way to be sure that they will not be back is if you kill them.

 

[Folly's place]

Definitely don't relocate any skunks! They like chicken too, and I forgot to mention them. Marshmallows and some fruit might get raccoons in your trap, and avoid some other critters.
When we had a secure coop and run, and stopped feeding anything outside of the coop and run, our predator visitations went way down. All chicken feed and treats need to be inside, not out side! And raccoons, opossums, and skunks are unlikely to catch free ranging chickens during the day. Then it's about canines and raptors, mostly.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

So sorry for your loss!
Predators spend their time looking for openings in your defenses, and everything needs to be solid all the time. Most of us have goofed at least once, not closing the coop in time, and having problems as a result.
It's illegal, for good reasons, in many states to relocate these critters. here in Michigan, relocation can only be on your same property, or on private land in the same county, with land owner permission.
If you trap it, shoot it! Opossums and raccoons especially will kill a lot of chickens, are disease carriers, and will become 'trap wise' so are more difficult to manage after being released, still looking for that chicken dinner.
Having a predator proof coop and run means safer birds, and many fewer reasons to trap and shoot anyone!
Mary

 

[Blue Legs]

Damn. I was really hoping I would be able to spare the possums. So be it

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Is your coop safe and secure when the door is closed? Whatever got your rooster will try even harder now to grab another chicken, but if your coop is secure when closed, the predator(s) will USUALLY eventually move on and find somewhere else to dine. Very sorry you lost your brave rooster, but not sure why u need to start killing any and all predators that pass by IF your coop is secure. Dont get me wrong; i become a momma grizzly bear if i think my feathered girls are in danger. My lgdogs do a great job of keeping predators at bay, although i did trap and kill a family of raccoons this past fall that refused to give up and move on after they killed my neighbors entire flock. I agree with you an oppossum likely isnt able to kill and drag away a full-grown chicken.
Oppossums Do kill chickens, but they consume chickens where they kill them. Good luck in keeping your flock safe, however you choose to do so.

 

[cmom]

Also, So sorry for your loss. I have electric wires around my coops and pens and nothing so far has gotten past the electric wires. I have seen where a predator has made an attempt but once they get zapped they don't attempt it again. Now I think the adult predators teach their young that a chicken isn't worth getting zapped for. Good luck...

 

[RoyalChick]

I am so sorry for your loss - I am not an expert on possums though I have seen a few, but I have a heavy raccoon load and I wouldn't put anything past them!
My suggestion is to get a trail cam out because my observation of raccoons is that they come back over and over again. I had one come every night for 10 days and test the perimeter of my coop. It was more thorough than the building inspector!
I am not sure trapping will solve the problem because others will just move in, I went the route of building Fort Knox. So far so good.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Sorry for your loss. A trap baited with cat food, tuna, sardines and the like will also attract skunks, so be careful if using these attractants. If you do catch a skunk, approach the trap carrying a blanket in front of you like a shield so the critter can't see you as you open the trap to release it. For this reason, many people prefer to bait their traps with marshmallows or graham crackers.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

Excellent point about keeping feed tucked safely away INSIDE at night so as not to attract predators. Same with kitchen scraps and/or compost. There are things chickens won't eat. Tossing it out in the chicken run is a good way to lure predators, who then discover chicken is also on the menu. Pay attention to what your girls eat and what they leave behind. Remove uneaten scraps well before dusk, or "raccoon-thirty." Our spoiled girls get almost no food scraps any more, just a little scratch and meal worms besides their regular balanced diet and what bugs and forage they find during free-range time. The payoff is practically no predators.