Help! Is this a raccoon? UPDATE!!!

[Firefly1v]

I have been trying to catch this killer for a month now

. We cut down the trees around the pend so he couldn't climb in the pen re did the chicken wire around the bottom so he couldn't dig in and will now redo all the roofing to keep him out.

Anyway it eats the head/neck and the butt out of the chicken and leaves it. I don't think it can figure out how to get the killed chicken back out of the pen.

That is a raccoon that eats them that why right? I have a trap out to catch him, the biggest one they sell, and he gets out of it. I think he is too big for the cage.

Any other ideas on how to get this thing??????? Other than having to camp out all night. He doen't hit every night either. Sometime it is 2 nights in a row. Other times it is 5 to 7 day between his killings.

 

[ging3rhoffman]

They say rats do that also. I would have kept the trees for shade and put a wire lid on your run. We had to use galvinized rabbit wire. A bird cant even fit threw it to steal the chicken food. We also covered the top of the run so predators cant get it. It has to be like fort knox to keep predators out. Its sad we all have to learn that the hard way.

Think...Fort Knox

 

[~*Sweet Cheeks*~]

Goodness -

Instead of spending a month or more trying to kill whatever got your birds and continues to do so, you should put up hardware cloth to prevent your birds from being killed through the wire and then lock them up in a secure coop at night if you can.

Even if you get this one or several killers, there will ALWAYS be more.

Do the best you can protecting the ones you have.

 

[Firefly1v]

I have had chickens for 7yrs and this is the first time we have lost any to a predator. It is done in all chicken wire with metal tin roofing on the whole thing. They are 10x20 pens and the chickens sleep in the middle or in the hen house. We can't figure out how he gets in. He isn't pulling them out. He gets in and eats them in the pen. He can't get the chickens back out.

I mainly need ideas on how to catch or kill it. Other than the huge live animal trap we have. I can't put out poison because we have some barn cats that I don't want to eat it. Any bait they can't resist? I have tried canned cat food and marshmellows.

Also is this a raccoon? Do they only eat the neck and butt?

I tried to put out flour for foot prints but it rains to much here in Florida.

Thanks

 

[Bizzybirdy]

Sorry for your loss. Chicken wire is useless for keeping predators out or protecting chickens. If they are not locked in at night something will eventually kill them one by one or all at once.

If you don't want to or cannot run hardware clothe around the bottom of your pen, at least run one or two strands of hot wire around the perimeter and then sit and wait for whatever it is that has already killed...may even be a possum. Is it climbing over the fence or do you think it is coming through the chicken wire?

I have sat out endless nights and killed quite a few racoons and possums. Takes alot of patience.

 

[Firefly1v]

I got one of them!!!! Put everything back out to catch another one and fixed the weak spots in the roof. This was a female with big milk teets (sp?) so there are probably more. But man is it great to finally get one and not loose any chickens tonight...