Feeding chickens raccoons

[No Coop No Problem]

What about rabies to chicken egg transfer?

Not possible, though I definitely wouldn't feed obviously diseased animals to my chickens to begin with. Those get buried

 

[ThatsMyPurseIdontknowyou]

My neighbor buried the raccoons he kills in a shallow grave then when there's maggots he digs it up and feeds it to the chickens .

I read a book one time by a reformed poacher that had tons of interesting advice.

One of the items was to hang roadkill from a tree over water, like a creek or lake. The maggots would fall off and into the water, attracting fish. Then go back in a few days and fish.

Perhaps you could do something similar here. Hang it from a tree above the chicken's run where they can't access but so maggots fall down into where they can forage?

 

[Squawkers]

Perhaps you could do something similar here. Hang it from a tree above the chicken's run where they can't access but so maggots fall down into where they can forage?

That sounds like a good way to introduce botulism

 

[Ridgerunner]

That sounds like a good way to introduce botulism

Botulism is from low oxygen environments. It cannot exist in a high oxygen environment. That's why the main human risk of botulism is from improperly canned products. Proper canning techniques are based on killing botulism so it cannot grow in canned products sealed away from air.

There may be other concerns with hanging a dead animal for the maggots (attracting predators to the run is one of mine) but botulism is certainly not on my list. Way too much fresh air.

 

[Squawkers]

Botulism is from low oxygen environments. It cannot exist in a high oxygen environment. That's why the main human risk of botulism is from improperly canned products. Proper canning techniques are based on killing botulism so it cannot grow in canned products sealed away from air.

There may be other concerns with hanging a dead animal for the maggots (attracting predators to the run is one of mine) but botulism is certainly not on my list. Way too much fresh air.

That’s interesting!

 

[Seaslug]

Regarding rabies... I just want to point out that people say that raccoons carry rabies... as if all raccoons are always carrying rabies. But, like all mammals, raccoons CAN carry rabies. Being awake during the day is not an indicator that a raccoon has rabies. Young raccoons especially are diurnal.
And I stand by my statement that having raccoons on your property does not mean that said raccoon is going to attack your chickens. Should your chickens have a predator proof place to live? Yes. I think that is part of providing shelter for them.
I also stand by drowning as being inhumane. If you are going to trap an animal, thereby causing it to be highly stressed for hours, I think that the only humane thing to do is to either release it or kill it as quickly and painlessly as possible -- a gunshot to the brain or severing the spinal cord.
As others have stated, if you do not wish to do that, then increase your coop protection. I have had chickens for at least five years now and we have numerous raccoons, opossums, skunks, and even bear and weasel on our property. We have only lost chickens to the weasel, and we improved coop/run security after -- rather than kill the weasel.

 

[Brenny]

Catch-transport-release is actually illegal where I am.

I live in very small rural town. Everyone feeds their dogs and cats outside, plenty of food after dark for possums and coons, yet they still attempt to break into my coops. Live trap and a .22 work pretty well, then bury and don't talk about it. 5 coons and 2 possums so far, from last fall till now.