I got a whole litter and mama! *Graphic Pics*

[Roccomanchickens]

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LOL That is the same gun I have! I have a Mossberg Plinkster

Just got another one. That is #3 in 2 days. Keepin' the traps set.

Wow! thats a lot of varmits! Can't say that guy was "cute" I guess you have to see them in action tearing apart another live animal to appreciate how mean they are. They will also kill your small cats and dogs if given the chance.

 

[hamilton3475]

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[chisNchickens]

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Ha! I think opossums are beautiful! They look like big, siamese rats (which I also like). I have had several that I have rehabbed or bottle fed until they were old enough to go. I had one longer and she was a sweetheart. She loved shiny material and would wrap her tail around clothing that was shiny/slick and drag them to her bed. I had to make sure my underwear drawer was closed or she would curl up and sleep there. She used a litterbox and loved bananas (they use their thumbs like us). People don't give the opossum enough respect. They are our only marsupial!
That said, if I found one in my coop I would shoot it.

 

[chickenlover54]

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Ha! I think opossums are beautiful! They look like big, siamese rats (which I also like). I have had several that I have rehabbed or bottle fed until they were old enough to go. I had one longer and she was a sweetheart. She loved shiny material and would wrap her tail around clothing that was shiny/slick and drag them to her bed. I had to make sure my underwear drawer was closed or she would curl up and sleep there. She used a litterbox and loved bananas (they use their thumbs like us). People don't give the opossum enough respect. They are our only marsupial!
That said, if I found one in my coop I would shoot it.

I use to also think they were kinda cute, now not so much........

 

[calista]

Good for you for doing what you had to do to protect your flock. Think of the subsequent litters you prevented being born to add to your predator load...

I come from an old-fashioned farm family where any predator that was caught in the act of killing or worrying any of our livestock was shot. My Dad especially hated raccoons, who managed to outsmart him several times and kill some of our chickens each year by pulling out staples in wooden run fence posts, digging under pieces of concrete set around the outside perimeter, and finding the occasional small hole in the wire to squeeze through. He refused to let me have an orphan baby coon a neighbor offered to me to raise as a pet after the mother was shot raiding HIS (the neighbor's) chicken coop.

The final straw for Dad was being wakened in the wee hours of the morning by our black lab howling and growling at the end of his chain, an enormous male raccoon clinging to his head, squealing and biting the poor dog. Mom holding the flashlight while Dad trying to get a bead on the coon with his .22 is an indelible memory from my childhood -- along with the long recuperation our dog had to get well from his wounds when the horrible beast chewing on his face was finally killed with Dad's lucky shot.

Dad put a wooden sign over the coop door after that, one I grew up accepting as the natural order of things on our farm: "THE ONLY GOOD RACCOON IS A DEAD RACCOON." Not saying that philosophy works for everyone, but the OP -- and a lot of chicken owners -- can sympathize.

 

[Dogfish]

Good shoot in my book!

 

[chickenlover54]

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Thanks!

 

[aprophet]

good shot

 

[ChickenOnThePorch]

Raccoons seem to be a huge problem here for us in western PA too this summer. We had one break into our coop and every night come back and kill one of the 5 RIRs we had left (fox got two this winter). this was hard for us since by bf raised them since babies, the one was the kids' "pet", and they were all laying every single day. I cant believe the lengths that raccoon went to to get into our coop. This was just a couple weeks ago. Since we love having chickens we went down the road to a local farmer who is thinning out his flock due to failing health on his part. Got 8 hens and a nice big rooster. That same night, another attack! Even though we had just caught the raccoon that morning! So we reinforced the coop AGAIN and then after one night my bf was at work and his son and I heard commotion and ran to the coop and found 3 young ones inside the coop. Caught one that night, then set traps the next day for the two that got away. Ended up with two more babies AND momma in the traps. Got rid of them (if you know what I mean) and were content. That was shortlived since that was only friday, and last night we had another attack and lost one of our new girls. Set a trap with no luck. We can see the coop in our yard and are just about glued to the darn window at night watching it.
What is the deal with the raccoon issue this year?! We are very sad to see all our chickens shaken up and not laying and it is no fun to wake up to so much death and destruction! Any suggestions? We are just about certain its a raccoon since it has been every other time, but could it be something we are missing? My bf is perplexed because he's raised chickens his whole life and said he's never seen anything like this before (his folks live up the road from us and have a big fancy sturdy coop and last week it was broken into at night and they lost all but one chicken, which was attacked a day or two later)...

I'm new to the forum (and to raising chickens kindof lol), so hello, btw, and thanks for any advice you can give!!

 

[mtngrl812]

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Welcome to the forum, you'll find lots of helpful info here.

I recommend you keep trapping and "disposing". Don't relocate the coons to a different area. They'll either come back and continue to be a problem or they will be a problem for someone else and kill all their chickens. What you are catching now are probably last years litter and you better get them removed before they have kits too.

Good Luck. If you don't get enough help post another thread in the Predators and Pest section and you'll get opinions, or just read up on it. I have read enough on this forum to help me build a sturdy coop and run, heal a wounded rooster, process a turkey, trouble shoot a faulty incubator, choose the right kind of hens, introduce new flock members and more.