i hate racoons

[Johnnyboy922]

i hate racoons now. all this time i could have been trapping racoons or trying a little bit harder to smack them when driving my truck but no i figured that would be bad luck for my chickens.

guess not

my new policy is KILL KILL KILL

so im sitting at my computer tonight and i hear one of my 3 chickens freaking out(in my neighborhood more than three would be an issue) so i jump up and sprint out my back door. i start yelling at the top of my lungs and clapping my hands so hard im sure they will bruise by tomorrow. (im 18 years old with a wicked deep voice when i yell the faint hearted cry) as im making noise my dad is putting fresh batteries in the flashlight. he tosses me the flashlight i turn it on and run out to the coop. thats about when i see that racoons eyes light up and drop my hen ironically named mr. darcey. the coon struggles to get out and i thought it would be trapped long enough for my dad to get the .22 (residential area at 9 at night your lucky if you can get off a .22 without the cops comeing.) but the raccoon slips out through an impossibly small gap in the chicken wire.

mr darcey should be okay. my other 2 chickens were untouched and still roosting in thier sleeping coop(i have one eating coop one sleeping and an enclosed yard connecting the two) i hate the other two for not even moving. but im glad at least thier okay. mr darcey is missing alot of feathers by her tail and almost all of her tail feathers. there is alot of feathers missing from her body under her right wing. there is a chunk of her missing that is about the size of 3-5 m&ms i only saw one drop of blood on her but she wouldnt let me get near her due to my design flaws in the coop i couldnt either.


this is my first attack ever. theoretically snares may have been set and a live trap may be set tomorrow and hypothetically speaking if a coon was caught it may go for a swim.

im just glad i got outside as quickly as i did. im gonna spend my day tomorrow after school making the coop stronger. i already re stapled the whole thing tonight and mounded more dirt around the bottoms to discourage any digging and i pee'd around the coop to put human scent out there. i also turned on a lamp i have installed for winter months in the yard, hopefully thats the right thing to do.

i wont be posting pictures unless i have questions on aid that should be given to the chicken besides food fluids and antibacterial on her wounds.

however she is broody right now and an hour after the attack she was back on the nest. should i discourage this behavior or is it considered good rest since she will be sitting there all day and night.

feathers are everywhere...

*edited for language*

 

[sweetcorn]

Make sure you clean that wound well and stick some antibiotic ointment on it ! I agree , I hate coons. When I was a kid your age we had a coon that kept eating our rabbits and banties so one night my dad and I camped out in the barn, he with rifle , me with a flashlight , until we heard the critter coming. I spotlighted it with the flashlight while dad shot the buggar out of the rafters. Before that I would yell at dad even if he tried to kill mouse, shoot the ground squirrels , whatever. But that coon i wanted dead !

 

[ruby]

You and Mr Darcy have a uneventful night. I hope she's gets better. I have nursed chickens back from predator attacks. Have faith. Set some traps and get rid of the raccoons!

 

[TheNewMrsEvans]

Just as a warning...the racoons in my area can pull out staples! I switched to boards screwed in along fence edges, or use big nails pounded most of the way in, then bent over and smashed into the wood. They even undid one of those hook/hole type of latches 3ft off of the ground! I have lost a few very good chickens to those %*#$*%$%!!!
One of my girls was attacked by a coyote in broad daylight while we were eating lunch on the patio and the chikies were out for a romp. My dad threw a full sized shovel about 40 ft down a hill and scared him enough to drop her! Phew! She had puncture wounds on her big fluffy bum

I cleaned them, put on neosporin and gave just her eyedropers of teremycin for about 1 week. She was fine, lived a long time after that...thank god my dad is a professional shovel thrower!

Hope you get the bugger, but there will always be another one waititng to try it!

 

[timbofarms]

get u a live heart trap and put u a honey bunn in it. that's how i catch the many that try to raid my roosts. be sure to be polite to fellow poultry keepers by killing the coon. don't take it some where and release it to kill someone elses livestock. Good luck

 

[Johnnyboy922]

i went to menards and bought a live trap tonight. its set up near the coop. hopefully i catch one tonight and can dispatch of it befor school. then ill have a good day.

when i went out this morning darcey was like chilling by the food and water.she kept her left eye shut most of the time but would open it when i called for her it looked fine. the rest of her wounds are pretty minor/superficial. im not worried too much unless an infection sets in. hopefully she can regrow her feathers befor the colder weather sets in (i live in the midwest)

ill keep ya posted.

 

[BikerBabeRules]

Coons are very easy to trap. I catch them all the time in a have a heart trap in teh top of our barn. they have never taken the chickens, and always go for the bread or can of catfood in the trap. You'll get him if you set a trap. We keep the trap set at all times and rid the world of 5 of them in a 2 week period. I think we finally got em' all, now we're catching skunk outside. Always something...you'll get him.

 

[timbofarms]

good luck buddy

 

[jhm47]

Yes, coons are a pain, but mink are worse. If a mink gets into your pens (and they can get through the smallest of holes), it will kill and kill till there is nothing left moving. It will eat just a tiny bit and leave the rest to rot. I have lost many valuable birds to mink. Had a big Airedale dog once that would kill a coon in the blink of an eye. He hooked up with a mink once and had quite a tussle. The dog won, but lost some blood and nose tissue.

 

[RebelsHope]

First of all your teacher children would be rolling over in their classroom to see you type without capitals.

Also I find it rather odd that so many people get so mad at raccoons when those very same people eat chicken and other animals themselves. Like we have a right to kill and eat other animals because we own cars and pay taxes? It's okay if we go out in the nature and kill animals there but those animals in nature should not come onto our land and kill our animals. Odd, odd times we live in.

Don't get me wrong I don't like animals to kill my livestock and I try to protect my animals as best I can. I personally don't own a gun, but I don't blame someone for shooting an animal that is hunting/killing your livestock. What I don't understand is having such hatred toward the animals who is just trying to survive, much the same an you are.