Feeling like a total idiot

[M Brennen]

I raise my own meat chickens, turkeys and pigs. But I don't butcher them myself i have a butcher do it. I used to do the turkeys and chickens myself, but I don't anymore. I just raise them.

We raised pigs with our neighbor a few years back, but I couldn’t feed them or I would get too attached. My neighbors raise their own beef, pork and chickens. I have a local source I can buy from. That works for me.

 

[Yep I Talk To Chickens]

We raised pigs with our neighbor a few years back, but I couldn’t feed them or I would get too attached. My neighbors raise their own beef, pork and chickens. I have a local source I can buy from. That works for me.

I get my beef from a local farm as well. The pigs tge reason we don't get atached we dont name them we look at them as food. But we thank them for giving us food before we butcher them.

 

[RShayne]

While getting a firearm is your right (unless you are a felon) and I am not going to say you should have one but... (think of the alien guy) . As far as trapping coons and disposing of them, you have the same results using a bucket to empty a creek (if it is a good area another group of predators is just going to move in). It is something you will have to do constantly, with our ducks I have to trap snapping turtles at the pond constantly, just no way around it.

You may be better off predator proofing your coop and / or brooder. You mention a tote in your first post they make great brooders if it is a big one, just build a frame for the HWC so you can put it on top and sets some rocks on it and around it so predators can't get the HWC off or knock the tote over.

My brooder setup is made out of 2x4 studs ripped down to 2x2 and left over poly roofing, no floor but my feed room is concrete, with 1/2" HWC on top. The Sledge Hammer head is covering a hole I had for running a cord to one of those brooder plates (no one used it and it just took up room).

Excuse the mess but ducks will be ducks.

One last picture just for the cuteness factor.

 

[neo71665]

You can compare pest removal to whatever you want but if you just let them roam around they leave scent trails that bring other pests to the area. One animal might not get in but a pack of them can do some real damage. Protection involves more than just putting more and more fencing up.

 

[PFZ in KC]

Electric fence maybe?

 

[RRRescue]

Dam I work til 6. Idk if I can get a trap tonite

Rat trap might work....simple, fast fix...

 

[RRRescue]

					They should sell box traps get a small ish one. Do you know how big it is? If not start lf with a small one then get a bigger one if that doesn't work after a while. They are tricky to catch. I will post a pic of the trap I used. I would set up a game camera as well. Also you can get prededer light its a red light. Prededers don't like it. Could it be a rat? Rats eat there feet and they will eat chicks/ keets heads of like weasels. Rats will come around not because your nasty but because of the chicken feed. I have had one before. If it is a weasel get this size trap. If its a rat get poison.View attachment 2284159 NEVER USE RAT POISONS!!! You are killing any natural predators of rats secondary if thy eat the poisoned rat...Killing off natural predators such as Owls & snakes, Possums just makes your problems worse....use rat traps or one of the many bucket traps on Utube....The hardware cloth keeps out all the natural rat predators just fine....let them live to do their job

 

[RRRescue]

Yes. Underneath is the only place with 1/2 inch. Every other wall is 1/4 inch so it had to be through the bottom. Could have been a rat. Or a weasel. Or even a coon. I reinforced the brooder floors with tiles just now, and tripled the depth of the pine shavings. Also set some traps. Hopefully this can catch it or at least deter it. Sleeping with one eye open tonight!!

Not a Coon!!!! More likely Rats...

 

[RRRescue]

Just got a raccoon in the havahart trap. That is the first animal I have ever trapped! Don't know if he is the original culprit or not but, one less predator in my woods. I don't have the firepower to responsibly dispatch it so relocation it is. There is a state park nearby should be perfect. My dog(husky/sheperd) alerted me chuffing at the window as soon as it was caught. She is a lazy house dog but she knows whats up. This is crazy I'm wide awake!

Raccoons are territorial....once removed another will move in...NEVER RELOCATE NURSING MOMS, Starving the babies...build your coops raccoon proof, and every other predator proof too!...

 

[M Brennen]

Raccoons are territorial....once removed another will move in...NEVER RELOCATE NURSING MOMS, Starving the babies...build your coops raccoon proof, and every other predator proof too!...

This is great advice. We have spent a lot of time (and money) on our coop this year. We have raccoons. We killed one years ago, but that hasn’t stopped them. We regularly catch them on the game camera exploring the outside of our coop. I am feeling comfortable that the birds are safe locked up at night and that’s about all I can do. I know that I need to be very diligent with inspecting often. Hopefully they will learn, “Nothing to see here.”