Illinois...

[Faraday40]

Heard strange noises last night @ 2am, so I ran downstairs. Family room was quiet, so I ran down to the basement. Dogs seemed OK, so I opened the back door & soon discovered the strange noises were coming from out back!!!

I woke up DH to go outside with me. When he rounded the garage back corner, he saw something scurry away. I saw rustling up in a tree in the front of the garage, then I caught a glimpse of an ear as it climbed down. I'm pretty sure it was a raccoon - or multiple raccoons & I only saw one. Thankfully the flock was safe.

Do raccoons keep trying like foxes or would the multiple blindings from our flashlights deter them for a while? Do they normally make that much noise? We've lived here for 21 years. We've seen them occasionally walking across a yard and have also seen their prints in the snow, but never "heard" them.

 

[Molpet]

Heard strange noises last night @ 2am, so I ran downstairs. Family room was quiet, so I ran down to the basement. Dogs seemed OK, so I opened the back door & soon discovered the strange noises were coming from out back!!!

I woke up DH to go outside with me. When he rounded the garage back corner, he saw something scurry away. I saw rustling up in a tree in the front of the garage, then I caught a glimpse of an ear as it climbed down. I'm pretty sure it was a raccoon - or multiple raccoons & I only saw one. Thankfully the flock was safe.

Do raccoons keep trying like foxes or would the multiple blindings from our flashlights deter them for a while? Do they normally make that much noise? We've lived here for 21 years. We've seen them occasionally walking across a yard and have also seen their prints in the snow, but never "heard" them.

The young fight each other and make a ruckus... They have a route and will be back...quiter though... borrow a game camera... LOL

 

[chickendreams24]

Heard strange noises last night @ 2am, so I ran downstairs. Family room was quiet, so I ran down to the basement. Dogs seemed OK, so I opened the back door & soon discovered the strange noises were coming from out back!!!

I woke up DH to go outside with me. When he rounded the garage back corner, he saw something scurry away. I saw rustling up in a tree in the front of the garage, then I caught a glimpse of an ear as it climbed down. I'm pretty sure it was a raccoon - or multiple raccoons & I only saw one. Thankfully the flock was safe.

Do raccoons keep trying like foxes or would the multiple blindings from our flashlights deter them for a while? Do they normally make that much noise? We've lived here for 21 years. We've seen them occasionally walking across a yard and have also seen their prints in the snow, but never "heard" them.

The young fight each other and make a ruckus... They have a route and will be back...quiter though... borrow a game camera... LOL

Raccoons can be very bad. Also this isn't your first encounter with them.

You lost a broody chick last year or maybe two years ago, found the chick missing it's head. That's typical raccoon behavior. They'll reach into a run or coop and grab whatever they can. They're known for taking heads off birds. If the bird can then be reached they will tear it apart in order to pull it through the fencing.

We lost several quail last summer/fall remember when that sickly seeming raccoon showed up and I had to shoot it. It was a mess of a coon and had no fear but wasn't foaming at the mouth. I wasn't taking any chances with the chickens and the dogs. And myself.

Make absolutely sure your chickens are 110% safe! Raccoons can easily tear chicken wire. They will be back. If you saw a baby(which seems a bit early in the year to me) but if you did the mother will be teaching the babies about the world including what to hunt/eat.

I believe I've told you how much trouble the raccoons are out at my Grandma's and yes raccoons fight and it can be very savage. Although I'm not sure I believe the males may attack babies that aren't theirs similar to tomcats. We hear them fighting throughout the year especially this time of the year. While we haven't witnessed the fights I have seen a mother raccoon carry her babies up into a building and then run back down in a hole to fend off what was attacking her babies. Yes Grandma's raccoons aren't in trees.

They will definitely be back. You can try a radio etc but if you don't change the station and even then they will eventually get used to it and destroy the radio if possible.

An electric fence is maybe the best deterrent.

 

[Faraday40]

Raccoons can be very bad. Also this isn't your first encounter with them.

You lost a broody chick last year or maybe two years ago, found the chick missing it's head. That's typical raccoon behavior. They'll reach into a run or coop and grab whatever they can. They're known for taking heads off birds. If the bird can then be reached they will tear it apart in order to pull it through the fencing.

We lost several quail last summer/fall remember when that sickly seeming raccoon showed up and I had to shoot it. It was a mess of a coon and had no fear but wasn't foaming at the mouth. I wasn't taking any chances with the chickens and the dogs. And myself.

Make absolutely sure your chickens are 110% safe! Raccoons can easily tear chicken wire. They will be back. If you saw a baby(which seems a bit early in the year to me) but if you did the mother will be teaching the babies about the world including what to hunt/eat.

I believe I've told you how much trouble the raccoons are out at my Grandma's and yes raccoons fight and it can be very savage. Although I'm not sure I believe the males may attack babies that aren't theirs similar to tomcats. We hear them fighting throughout the year especially this time of the year. While we haven't witnessed the fights I have seen a mother raccoon carry her babies up into a building and then run back down in a hole to fend off what was attacking her babies. Yes Grandma's raccoons aren't in trees.

They will definitely be back. You can try a radio etc but if you don't change the station and even then they will eventually get used to it and destroy the radio if possible.

An electric fence is maybe the best deterrent.

It was a friend who found some headless bodies. We just "lost" a chick w/o any evidence. Never found a body/feathers. It happened twice and could have been anything. Last summer we even found 2 possum arms. (Technically the chickens found them, so our chickens were eating the possum instead of the other way around.)

I know we have raccoons, fox, coyotes, hawks, feral cats & opossums. (Reports from neighbors of some type of large wild cat seen a couple blocks away.) The coop / run has hardware cloth. Digging their way inside is impossible unless they can dig more than 18" below ground level. The latches are all pretty secure but we have one reg door knob - no lock. I'm also a little worried they may try pulling off a roof panel. I had a radio going late last summer & will have to pull it out again. We have 3 blinky, red, solar predator eyes and a motion activated patio light. I think our protection is "good" but it could be better. The electric fence won't easily work for us. (It would have to be attached to neighbors' fences on the inside, so the critters would get zapped only AFTER it dug under the fence. Also we'd be shocking the chickens as well.)

Keeping the dog outside during the day has been working OK. He usually likes it and is a decent predator deterrent. He loves to chase things. Can't put him outside at night b/c he can't resist playing with the skunks. Ick!

 

[chickendreams24]

Oh whoops I guess I've gotten my brain waves crossed lol.

Yes I know electrical isn't easy for you. I actually was referring to putting it only around the coop and runs and then only turning it on at night. Or if the birds were locked in.

Possum will kill chickens we've had it happen here but unless it was a hawk or owl my first guess is raccoon or rat. Particularly since something obviously got a possum at your house. It's odd it left the legs. I remember that, kind of funny and a little morbid.

I thought you were joking with the first leg pictures. LOL

In my experience cats are afraid of full grown possum so I don't think a feral cat did it unless you do have a large cat roaming about.

3 chicks out so far this morning!
Only one looks the way I expected it to! I will post pictures later when I pull babies out. They're so stinking cute!

Eek!!

Okay and in other news our great Dane's belly is making entirely unwholesome noises right now and I'm worried for the future. *Gulps*

Please not have gotten into anything that disagrees with your stomach.

 

[Faraday40]

3 chicks out so far this morning!
Only one looks the way I expected it to! I will post pictures later when I pull babies out. They're so stinking cute!

Eek!!

Okay and in other news our great Dane's belly is making entirely unwholesome noises right now and I'm worried for the future. *Gulps*

Please not have gotten into anything that disagrees with your stomach.

What a crazy dog you have! So, of course, she got into something! Let's hope Bella only got into some chicken feed or other misc. organic matter.

Danes LOVE to eat whatever they're not supposed to. Our Great Dane was very demanding about her dinnertime. Doppler knew she got to eat breakfast at 6am. It didn't matter if we wanted to sleep in on Sunday; she began howling outside our bedroom precisely at 6am. Doppler also knew that she ate dinner right after we finished our dinner. If we were taking too long chatting at the table, she would often retrieve our other dog's plastic bowl from the basement & bring it upstairs to drop into our laps. She was never subtle! We thought it was humorous at the time. (She could not pick up her own metal bowl.) One day she must have thought.... "Yummy things go inside the dog bowl, so maybe the bowl itself tastes good." Yes, she seriously chewed up and ate 1/3 to 1/2 of a medium sized dog bowl. The vet said it was too dangerous to have her vomit the jagged pieces, so she had to eat a specialty dog food to cushion the rough pieces. I was teaching at school & missed the worst of that miserable day after. DH got to deal with a giant flatulent dog. There was no where to escape because the stinky dog felt icky and needed reassurance. LOL


Oh and congrats on the chicks. Plz post pics.

 

[webbysmeme]

Me and my granddaughter (1),2- my son in the fire ladder,3

Hi ya'll,
I just found this thread. I've been on BYC for a couple of months now. I didn't know there were forums for each state. Very cool! If any of you are near or in the Pontiac/Odell/Cornell area I would really like to talk to you. It would be nice to have someone close to me that knows something about chickens.
I bought 3 hens and a rooster a couple of months ago. I was afraid of getting baby chicks, it all sounded so time consuming and complicated. I've learned the hard way that isn't true.
I'm now mommy to 12 three week olds! I love them! And to my surprise, they love me too. I'm keeping them in a prefab coop that I got from Big R. I think they are going to outgrow it real soon! You can see them growing daily! When I open the door and say good morning babies, they are all fighting at the end that I always open to visit with them. They all want to be first to get picked up. It does my heart so much good to see this. It's all so much fun.
Anyways, I'm here just outside of Pontiac, if you would like to visit, I've always got coffee and a big pitcher of sweet tea! (I'm from the south, Jackson, TN.) us southern folk always have sweet tea!
I'd really appreciate you getting back to me. I could use a friend. I've been here in Illinois for 14 years, I don't have any friends. I just can't seem to get into any of the little clicks around here, so I've just quit trying. I stay home now and take care of my 15 chickens, my 2 dogs, my 6 cats and my garden. All the cats are not in my house! LOL
We bought this little farm last May, there was a mama cat and kittens left in the barn. So, I'm an animal lover. I feed them and made sure they had a warm place to stay in the winter. They won't come to me but they get awful close when I'm putting there food and water out for them.
Well, I just wanted to introduce myself, not tell my life story! LOL I hope to hear from someone soon. By now.

 

[Faraday40]

View attachment 1389356 View attachment 1389357 Me and my granddaughter (1),2- my son in the fire ladder,3View attachment 1389358 View attachment 1389359 View attachment 1389360 View attachment 1389361 Hi ya'll,
I just found this thread. I've been on BYC for a couple of months now. I didn't know there were forums for each state. Very cool! If any of you are near or in the Pontiac/Odell/Cornell area I would really like to talk to you. It would be nice to have someone close to me that knows something about chickens.
I bought 3 hens and a rooster a couple of months ago. I was afraid of getting baby chicks, it all sounded so time consuming and complicated. I've learned the hard way that isn't true.
I'm now mommy to 12 three week olds! I love them! And to my surprise, they love me too. I'm keeping them in a prefab coop that I got from Big R. I think they are going to outgrow it real soon! You can see them growing daily! When I open the door and say good morning babies, they are all fighting at the end that I always open to visit with them. They all want to be first to get picked up. It does my heart so much good to see this. It's all so much fun.
Anyways, I'm here just outside of Pontiac, if you would like to visit, I've always got coffee and a big pitcher of sweet tea! (I'm from the south, Jackson, TN.) us southern folk always have sweet tea!
I'd really appreciate you getting back to me. I could use a friend. I've been here in Illinois for 14 years, I don't have any friends. I just can't seem to get into any of the little clicks around here, so I've just quit trying. I stay home now and take care of my 15 chickens, my 2 dogs, my 6 cats and my garden. All the cats are not in my house! LOL
We bought this little farm last May, there was a mama cat and kittens left in the barn. So, I'm an animal lover. I feed them and made sure they had a warm place to stay in the winter. They won't come to me but they get awful close when I'm putting there food and water out for them.
Well, I just wanted to introduce myself, not tell my life story! LOL I hope to hear from someone soon. By now.

.... and to the Illinois thread.
My sis used to live on a little farm in Kemptom / Collom, so I recognize those towns. I'm up in DuPage Co (about an hour away), but we drive past your area at least a couple times a year. Once we even drove down to Odell just to buy some misc. hatching eggs for one of my daughter's projects.

We live in the suburbs, so we can't keep as many chickens as I'd like, but we do have wonderful neighbors. Both my kids are in 4H, so that opened the door for us to keep chickens. (A loophole allows 4H kids who are enrolled in poultry to keep backyard poultry.) These days many suburban towns allow a few hens. Of course our neighbors were very supportive back when we got started and still are. They helped build the coop, donated materials, and even babysit our flock when we go on vacation. They get paid in eggs!

 

[cavemanrich]

View attachment 1389356 View attachment 1389357 Me and my granddaughter (1),2- my son in the fire ladder,3View attachment 1389358 View attachment 1389359 View attachment 1389360 View attachment 1389361 Hi ya'll,
I just found this thread. I've been on BYC for a couple of months now. I didn't know there were forums for each state. Very cool! If any of you are near or in the Pontiac/Odell/Cornell area I would really like to talk to you. It would be nice to have someone close to me that knows something about chickens.
I bought 3 hens and a rooster a couple of months ago. I was afraid of getting baby chicks, it all sounded so time consuming and complicated. I've learned the hard way that isn't true.
I'm now mommy to 12 three week olds! I love them! And to my surprise, they love me too. I'm keeping them in a prefab coop that I got from Big R. I think they are going to outgrow it real soon! You can see them growing daily! When I open the door and say good morning babies, they are all fighting at the end that I always open to visit with them. They all want to be first to get picked up. It does my heart so much good to see this. It's all so much fun.
Anyways, I'm here just outside of Pontiac, if you would like to visit, I've always got coffee and a big pitcher of sweet tea! (I'm from the south, Jackson, TN.) us southern folk always have sweet tea!
I'd really appreciate you getting back to me. I could use a friend. I've been here in Illinois for 14 years, I don't have any friends. I just can't seem to get into any of the little clicks around here, so I've just quit trying. I stay home now and take care of my 15 chickens, my 2 dogs, my 6 cats and my garden. All the cats are not in my house! LOL
We bought this little farm last May, there was a mama cat and kittens left in the barn. So, I'm an animal lover. I feed them and made sure they had a warm place to stay in the winter. They won't come to me but they get awful close when I'm putting there food and water out for them.
Well, I just wanted to introduce myself, not tell my life story! LOL I hope to hear from someone soon. By now.

You are as close to us here as your keyboard. Ask anything you are not sure of. Your climate is very much like ours here. 100 miles north for me.
I might go to this event in Kankakee on June 3, 2018 It is only about 30 miles from you. 70 for me.
https://www.poultryshowcentral.com/TriK_Pigeon_Bantam_Fair.html

 

[chickendreams24]

View attachment 1389356 View attachment 1389357 Me and my granddaughter (1),2- my son in the fire ladder,3View attachment 1389358 View attachment 1389359 View attachment 1389360 View attachment 1389361 Hi ya'll,
I just found this thread. I've been on BYC for a couple of months now. I didn't know there were forums for each state. Very cool! If any of you are near or in the Pontiac/Odell/Cornell area I would really like to talk to you. It would be nice to have someone close to me that knows something about chickens.
I bought 3 hens and a rooster a couple of months ago. I was afraid of getting baby chicks, it all sounded so time consuming and complicated. I've learned the hard way that isn't true.
I'm now mommy to 12 three week olds! I love them! And to my surprise, they love me too. I'm keeping them in a prefab coop that I got from Big R. I think they are going to outgrow it real soon! You can see them growing daily! When I open the door and say good morning babies, they are all fighting at the end that I always open to visit with them. They all want to be first to get picked up. It does my heart so much good to see this. It's all so much fun.
Anyways, I'm here just outside of Pontiac, if you would like to visit, I've always got coffee and a big pitcher of sweet tea! (I'm from the south, Jackson, TN.) us southern folk always have sweet tea!
I'd really appreciate you getting back to me. I could use a friend. I've been here in Illinois for 14 years, I don't have any friends. I just can't seem to get into any of the little clicks around here, so I've just quit trying. I stay home now and take care of my 15 chickens, my 2 dogs, my 6 cats and my garden. All the cats are not in my house! LOL
We bought this little farm last May, there was a mama cat and kittens left in the barn. So, I'm an animal lover. I feed them and made sure they had a warm place to stay in the winter. They won't come to me but they get awful close when I'm putting there food and water out for them.
Well, I just wanted to introduce myself, not tell my life story! LOL I hope to hear from someone soon. By now.

Webby!!! I thought someone had told you about the Illinois thread in your first post about the naughty Mr. Red. Oh goodness so sorry. Guess I subconciously wanted to keep you all to myself lol



Well the Illinois thread on BYC is where I spend most of my time unless I'm trying to answer questions and help people. You won't find a better group of people!

8 chicks in the brooder, 2 in the Bator and two zippers. Time for me to go to bed.

DH2B may be starting in the fields again tomorrow afternoon after all this rain. I think we've had more than 4 inches in a week! He says he'll be home to help me with chores but we'll see if he is or not. I'm going to have my hands full.

No seeming resolution to the tummy rumbling Great Dane, Bella. What a pain in the butt. We still have no knowledge of what specifically has upset her tummy. She has a gut of steel. The only thing I can think of is yesterday I caught her with a great big ball of composted chicken poo(wet and smelling like... Ugh) well anyway she decide to gnaw on it. Got yelled at by Mommy, pouted to Daddy and generally felt sorry for herself because I took what is probably this dog's favorite "treat" ugh. Usually it doesn't bother her stomach though. Idk why she loves the nasty composted stuff when wet.

More tomorrow guys, it's passed my bedtime. Goodnight.