Help Identifying Animal Droppings and Predator *Warning: poop pic*

[Calbear637]

Hi All

I love in the San Francisco Bay Area in Northern California. We recently got chickens and thankfully everything has been going great. Over the past week I have noticed animal droppings outside of the run and coop, which are secure and keep the predators out.

The chickens are safe and their food supply secure, but I am worried about any diseases these animals may bring to the flock. We had raccoons prior to chickens but mostly heard their activity on the roof until we closed up their entryway a year ago. The droppings I’ve been finding every morning

look different from the raccoon droppings I found before as they are smaller, however the droppings are definitely larger than a mouse. Any help identifying the predator and tips would be appreciated. I know we also have skunks and opposums in our area as well as feral cats, but the droppings I have found don’t look like any animal I have researched online.

 

[nuthatched]

Are they always in the same spot?
It looks like coon poop, or coatimundi. do you have coatimundi in your area?

 

[Calbear637]

Are they always in the same spot?
It looks like coon poop, or coatimundi. do you have coatimundi in your area?

Yes, same spot every morning - just outside of the coop and run area. We don’t have coatimundi. I’m guessing this might be the young raccoons that came from the family of raccoons we evicted last year returning to look for food and shelter.

 

[RosemaryDuck]

Not raccoon poop. Raccoons poop in several long pieces, like a dog.

 

[Calbear637]

Still a mystery as I mentioned in my initial post that it doesn’t look like the raccoon poop I found from the family that was living in our attic a year ago.

 

[Cattle dog Mom]

No idea as far as what animal you are dealing with. Just a thought, even though you didn't ask. Have you thought of trying some Repels-All. I have heard great things about it.

 

[Calbear637]

I do have some from the last time we had raccoons so I was thinking about using this as the next deterrent and possibly adding a motion light. I just reviewed the ingredients of Repel-All and I think it looks like this would be safe in case the chickens ingested it?

To give a better idea of size, each round dropping is only roughly half a centimeter but I’ve found them all over in these clumps.

 

[Cattle dog Mom]

I do have some from the last time we had raccoons so I was thinking about using this as the next deterrent and possibly adding a motion light. I just reviewed the ingredients of Repel-All and I think it looks like this would be safe in case the chickens ingested it?

To give a better idea of size, each round dropping is only roughly half a centimeter but I’ve found them all over in these clumps.

Do your chickens free range?

 

[Calbear637]

Do your chickens free range?

With the predators in our area, and the neighbor’s dogs where they could be attacked if they flew over, we just give them a couple hours supervised in the yard, otherwise they are in their run.

 

[Cattle dog Mom]

With the predators in our area, and the neighbor’s dogs where they could be attacked if they flew over, we just give them a couple hours supervised in the yard, otherwise they are in their run.

I was just wondering since you asked if the Repels all was safe for them. (If they were in a coop and run ONLY then it wouldn't matter.) What I meant be "free range" is do the EVER get to come out of the coop/run. So the answer in your case is YES. LOL It is supposed to repel birds too so I doubt they would try to eat it.