Hey, Will Raccoons Eat My Chickens?

[Not-so Slick Chicken]

Unfortunately, there is a possibility that a raccoon will attack or eat your chickens.

Good news is, raccoons are really only a problem at night or early mornings. They're generally not known for hunting around during daylight hours naturally. (At least not where I am.)
If you have a secure chicken coop that the raccoon cannot get in, and lock the birds in every night, your birds should be safe. However, you'll really want to make sure there's absolutely no way for predators to get in. (Especially since your birds would then not be able to escape an attack as they're locked in.)
Raccoons are strong, have dexterous "hands", and are excellent climbers. And apparently can jump several feet.

Just to clarify, when I say "coop", I'm referring to the fully enclosed "house" the chickens go in at night or lay eggs in.
It would be a bonus if your chicken run was fully predator proof, but for night time predators like raccoon and skunk, it's just the building where they roost and nest you need to secure.

- human access doors must be secure
- windows and ventilation must have wire that cannot be pulled out or pushed in
- chicken door should not be able to be pulled out or pushed up from the outside (raccoon nails/hands)
- no way to dig in
- walls, roof, floor, cannot be pushed in, pulled out, dug through (like dirt), or have gaps for skinny raccoon arms to sneak in to grab a chicken
- "chicken wire" will only hold chickens, and is utterly useless for protecting against raccoons, skunks, mink farm, dogs (*only mentioning because I've come across too many people who are shocked when their cats or chickens or rabbits get got.)

Raccoons can do anything a cat or dog can do, but much better.

You don't need the most secure coop in the world. (And I'm certainly not good at explaining stuff.) But with the exception of this past winter, we've never had a raccoon break into our chicken coops... for over 30 years.**(edit. Just did the math, we haven't had these coops for 30 years. I hadn't been born when the first coop was around. Of the current coops, 1 was converted to a coop ~10 years ago. Second coop ~15 years? However, we didn't have raccoons break into any coops until recently. We only lost birds when they voluntarily stayed out at night.)

I've never weighed a raccoon, but 40-50lb is highly unlikely I believe? I say that strictly because of what I looked up online after we had a run in with a massive raccoon recently. I don't doubt ours was 20lb+ (which the internet says is very large for a raccoon). But I can only compare an animal's size to cats or dogs, that I'm more familiar with.
That being said, our good puppy who alerted me to the raccoon intruder (this was months ago) is a very muscular dog over 100lb, and I would NOT want him to be going up against it. Even a small one. He'd probably be able to kill it, but they are wild animals that will absolutely fight to the death and he would have ended up horribly harmed, with no vet to call on. Fortunately he didn't get attacked...

Also, because some messages have mentioned trapping it... I don't know about where you are, but where I am (and I assume this is the same for most places) it is very illegal to move an animal to a new area to release it. For good reason.

My local area's animal control/sheriff will not help with raccoon or skunk. Since they aren't protected species here (plentiful), and are a nuisance to farmers, you either have to dispatch them yourself, or release them ON your own property where you trapped them in the first place.

 

[townchicks]

Thank you. I hate this, but we may need to shoot it. Don't know how word spreads in the raccoon community, but if it gets out that there is a nice chicken meal to be had....gotta put a stop to that raccoon gossip now!

The thing is, there is never just one raccoon. I agree with Twilia, lock down your coop and your garbage. Bird feeders draw them too. Talk to neighbors about not feeding cats outdoors. Read the pests and predators forum. Millions of posts about raccoons. Also, keep your windows closed. They'll come in and rummage through your cabinets.

 

[CityslickerHomestead]

Even if you kill it, more could show up. Why? If you make your coop an easy target, then it will always be targeted.

For raccoon management, the best offense is a good defense; secure your coop and run so the raccoons (and anything else that likes easy prey) can’t get in.

A secure coop and run means using hardware cloth instead of chicken wire, somewhat sophisticated locking mechanisms on ALL access points (including pop doors and vents), covering the run from above and below with hardware cloth, and ALWAYS locking the pop door at night. There’s more to add but this should be the basis for all coops in areas with predators extending beyond domestic dogs and cats.

Without doing the bare minimum to protect your flock, you’re going to constantly be dealing with predators.

Besides, not all predators are legally allowed to be killed. So you’re better off being proactive instead of reactive.

 

[littlecoopnextdoor]

Make sure your coop, where they sleep overnight, is fortified. No holes, no easy access into it. I use two locks on the door, including a caribeener. Same on egg box. Keep them safe! I see raccoons stalking the coop some summer nights but they do move on unless they find a way in. Check your coop daily for any weak spots.

 

[pearlbluebantam]

Our dogs were barking at the grasshopper farting in the grass. At least, that's what we initially thought. Then, my husband spotted a bandit with stripes peering into our 2nd floor window, straight across from the top of his garage...he was LARGE!!! He told me with baited breath about the size of this interloper staring back at him, and thought of the different colored eggs that I collect everyday. Now, a raccoon might eat these eggs, but now I'm wondering, could a large raccoon devour my beautiful bird babies? Just asking for advice and information from some of you long time chicken mommies, if this may be a threat? If so, shotgun is handy....my husband says that this furry character is probably around 40 or 50lbs. and our dogs are not big enough to handle him. Ignore, trap or shoot it?

If trap does not work you may have to put it down, if you do catch it make sure you go at least 2 miles away so he does not find his way back . Raccoon came in every afternoon around 4 pm i just happened to look out window and saw the game of chase and my hens were loosing.

 

[Al Gerhart]

This has already been mentioned but buried in a very large (and informative) post. Don't dare miss this advice.

Raccoons can rip through chicken wire like a paper bag. The wires are just twisted together, not woven like chain link.

A big coon is more than a match for a sixty pound dog unless the dog is experienced in hunting coons and even then it is usually a pack that dispatches the coon. Not like kung fu movies, the dogs all go in at once, the only shot they have at killing a coon.

 

[AGeese]

First somewhat warm night, and I looked at the hardware cloth I have over the window and just couldn't let myself leave the window wide open. I think I'm going to reinforce it with a second layer.

Even though a coon likely can't get up to the window since it's sheetmetal siding if someting where to jump up there and then start working on the hardware cloth it's over.

Even hardware cloth can have flaws that can allow it to be exploited. But also it's only as good as you fasten it down.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

So, yes, a raccoon will eat your chickens.

A raccoon will reach through some fencing and grab a careless chicken with its little troll hands and try to pull it through the fence. It won't be able to do so, so you will find a headless chicken lying beside the fence and wonder what happened to your poor chicken. A raccoon happened.

Trap the little bugger, by all means. And once you have it in the trap, shoot it. Do not relocate it onto somebody else's property brcause now it is trap-wise and will not allow itself to be caught a second time. And it knows what chicken tastes like, yum yum. Do not dump it out in a wlderness area either, thinking it will get along with all the other wild creatures in the forest. It won't. That forest is some other raccoon's territory and that raccoon will fight to the death to defend it. Or your just-released raccoon will starve to death trying to avoid being killed by the resident raccoon.

I will not shoot a raccoon just because it is a raccoon and is in my area. It has a right to live here too. But once it develops a taste for chicken, all bets are off.

 

[Birdinhand]

Yes, they eat chickens and as people have said, are clever with their hands. I went with the two locks advice, two different styles of locks, one up toward the top corner and the other toward the lower corner. If they are the same, they will be more likely to develop a technique for opening one and apply it to the other. Years with two lock types and no raccoons. Also, hot dipped galvanized, heavy gauge hardware cloth with galvanized “U” nails as fasteners is critical.

Seeing them around in the day is generally concerning, possible distemper. Seeing them at night doesn’t automatically mean they are a problem. If they can’t get in your coop they are not a problem. Killing them wont solve a coop security problem, as people have said. Secure your coop and rest well at night with nature in all its glory around you.

 

[StacyT]

When I 1st moved to the property I’m on there were a ton of raccoons around. I got a couple of LGD’s and since they have kept the raccoons away. They’ll kill a coon if they can catch it. Another good method to deter them is poly wire around the coop or perimeter. I just purchased a new electric setup just to add some extra protection to the coops. I plan to eventually electrify the outside perimeter fence once I finish getting the fence up.