Euthanizing predators

[Folly's place]

Hardware cloth! And electric fencing if it's legal where you live. Drowning is NOT humane! Here we have a 22, and living in the boonies is the best!
How about taking the trapped critter outside the city limits, preferably to a friend's, and shooting it there?
Pest control companies will handle it all for you, for a price.
Many of us started with chickens, and learned the hard way about what it takes to protect our birds. Hardware cloth, right over your welded wire, all very well secured.
Our run section of the coop has a concrete floor and foundation, hardware cloth, and woven wire over the lower 4'. All with fence staples into the framing, and boards screwed in over that. Only a bear could get through it all!

Also, don't have any food items outside of the coop and run, because it will attract critters, especially at night.
Mary

 

[bobbi-j]

Ive got welded wire under chicken wire and reinforcement. But still lost 2. The neighbors security cam saw an army of maybe 20 or 30. They surround the coop and scare them to one side while another reaches between the wire and grabs a neck. They then pull off little pieces of chicken little at a time. There are no predators or trappers of coons in my area and i think people feed them too. And lets not forget what they do to the garden, trash cans, etc.

Right. If you have electric fence around your run, it will deter them. Welded wire is good for keeping larger predators out of the pen, but as you learned, it doesn’t keep them from reaching in.

 

[KingD]

Just make them sniff the exhaust

 

[Magnumchicken]

Right. If you have electric fence around your run, it will deter them. Welded wire is good for keeping larger predators out of the pen, but as you learned, it doesn’t keep them from reaching in.

The neighbors kids would get zapped and we aren't allowed by zoning. The kids come over and feed them a few times a week.
The coons even reached through the chicken wire and got 2. When there are 20 of them its 40 hands at a time i guess.

I watch coon trapping videos on youtube like it was netflix. Mental satisfaction seeing a pickup with 50 of them loaded in the back.

 

[cmom]

If you’re in town and can’t humanely kill them, I think you’re better off reinforcing your coop and run instead. Electric fencing is your friend.

Put some electric wires up around your coop and pen and once they connect with the electric wires they won't test them again, or put smaller mesh wire that the coons can't grab through to get at your birds, or do both. Good luck...

 

[cmom]

Hardware cloth! And electric fencing if it's legal where you live. Drowning is NOT humane! Here we have a 22, and living in the boonies is the best!
How about taking the trapped critter outside the city limits, preferably to a friend's, and shooting it there?
Pest control companies will handle it all for you, for a price.
Many of us started with chickens, and learned the hard way about what it takes to protect our birds. Hardware cloth, right over your welded wire, all very well secured.
Our run section of the coop has a concrete floor and foundation, hardware cloth, and woven wire over the lower 4'. All with fence staples into the framing, and boards screwed in over that. Only a bear could get through it all!
View attachment 2565455
Also, don't have any food items outside of the coop and run, because it will attract critters, especially at night.
Mary

Mary, is your electric fence up against the hardware cloth?

 

[cmom]

The neighbors kids would get zapped and we aren't allowed by zoning. The kids come over and feed them a few times a week.
The coons even reached through the chicken wire and got 2. When there are 20 of them its 40 hands at a time i guess.

I watch coon trapping videos on youtube like it was netflix. Mental satisfaction seeing a pickup with 50 of them loaded in the back.

Let the kids turn off the power when they are out there with the birds. I guarantee once they get zapped they will learn. I have been accidentally zapped by my wires. Lesson learned.

 

[chickentrains]

can you take it off your property and shoot it?

 

[TOR]

a .22 or .177 pellet gun at point blank will penetrate the skull and kill a coon. A.22 short rimfire makes very little noise.
Very fast efficient.

I have drowned them not as efficient. I used to years ago trap them when they were worth something. Mostly shoot them in the head.

Mary has a nice set up there great example

 

[DouglasB]

A good pellet rifle either co2 powered or pump will do it . I have one to scare off unwanted visitors without being deadly IF i dont pump it up too much. Pumped to the max 10 pumps the pellet travels 850 ft per second. From 2 feet, thats deadly, and quiet.