Is this raccoon proof?

[wrathsfarm]

What about this area? I have two of these where I have about an inch and a half hole with an extension cord coming out. The cord is usually unplugged but still lays in the hole for when it's needed. (I have fans for really hot nights) Should I be concerned about them chewing through the cord and pushing their hands/arms through?

A piece of wood with a hole drilled in it the size of the cord, then rip in half and screwed around cord. Much safer than electrical rubbing on HC.

Same concept to something similar to this water line beauty ring for toilet.

 

[KyCoop]

If there is a place you have to have a hole or a gap make sure it's not somewhere the hand or arm can reach anything.

 

[avjudge]

What about this area? I have two of these where I have about an inch and a half hole with an extension cord coming out. The cord is usually unplugged but still lays in the hole for when it's needed.

Where I made a hole for an extension cord, I made a plate to cover it with. For the hole like yours, I took a little piece of cut off scrap, and just in from one side I drilled a hole a bit larger than the cord itself. Then I cut from the edge of the scrap in to the hole to make a slot. (I think I just used a hand saw for this small bit of cutting.)

The hole, big enough for the extension cord end, from inside the coop

And the cover, screwed to the outside to cover the hole. I leave this cord in place through the summer, but if I wanted to remove it I would just pull those two screws out.

I did something similar on my run to take an extension cord through hardware cloth in a corner. I did remove this cord last summer, but left it in place this summer. Particleboard wasn’t the best choice here, outside, but it was the scrap I had lying around that was the correct size! I could have made it more secure by overlapping & screwing to the framing on a 2nd side, but I thought this was good enough in my situation, and I was lazy and preferred to just drill the hole on the edge instead of drilling it farther in and cutting a slot.

Edit: and I see others have suggested the same since I started typing this reply last night, but I delayed posting to get pictures!

Also, I agree with the poster who doesn’t like the idea of hardware cloth against an electrical cord. That was really the major impetus for the board with cutout in my run, more than security.

 

[Ccort]

A piece of wood with a hole drilled in it the size of the cord, then rip in half and screwed around cord. Much safer than electrical rubbing on HC.

Same concept to something similar to this water line beauty ring for toilet.View attachment 4204755

Unfortunately I have nothing to cut the wood with

 

[Ccort]

Where I made a hole for an extension cord, I made a plate to cover it with. For the hole like yours, I took a little piece of cut off scrap, and just in from one side I drilled a hole a bit larger than the cord itself. Then I cut from the edge of the scrap in to the hole to make a slot. (I think I just used a hand saw for this small bit of cutting.)

The hole, big enough for the extension cord end, from inside the coop
View attachment 4204775

And the cover, screwed to the outside to cover the hole. I leave this cord in place through the summer, but if I wanted to remove it I would just pull those two screws out.
View attachment 4204773

I did something similar on my run to take an extension cord through hardware cloth in a corner. I did remove this cord last summer, but left it in place this summer. Particleboard wasn’t the best choice here, outside, but it was the scrap I had lying around that was the correct size! I could have made it more secure by overlapping & screwing to the framing on a 2nd side, but I thought this was good enough in my situation, and I was lazy and preferred to just drill the hole on the edge instead of drilling it farther in and cutting a slot.

View attachment 4204771View attachment 4204772

Edit: and I see others have suggested the same since I started typing this reply last night, but I delayed posting to get pictures!

Also, I agree with the poster who doesn’t like the idea of hardware cloth against an electrical cord. That was really the major impetus for the board with cutout in my run, more than security.

I dont have anything to cut the wood with though. Any other ideas?

 

[wrathsfarm]

I dont have anything to cut the wood with though. Any other ideas?

Just brainstorming ideas... you can cut a kitty litter jug, milk jug anything you can cut the same way to close the gap up. Even screwing 2 boards top and bottom, then screwing 2 more over them. If you can wittle a half moon in each even better.

 

[Ccort]

Update.....

For the time being, took out the cord and put hc over it. And here is a pic of one of the door handles/locks. I do always lock it with the key when I'm gone and at night.

 

[BigBlueHen53]

 

[Ccort]

Do we think that works ok?

 

[avjudge]

Do we think that works ok?

I should think that covering the hole securely with hardware cloth as you have will work fine for predator proofing, and buys you some time to figure out a clever cover for when you truly need the extension cord.

And now that I reread the thread I realize you are primarily worried about raccoons. For protection from them, I don’t think you actually need to seal up a hole of that size. Unless there is a chicken within a few inches of the hole, it’s not going to let a raccoon do anything. It certainly couldn’t fit its body through that hole. We have, among other things, weasels in our area, and that is the sort of thing I would worry about with a hole large enough for an extension cord plug.