Lost another layer!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :he

[Orpingtonman]

Well, it happened again. i killed one raccon last week and now i guess a family has moved in. i went out last night cause i heard a ruckus and there it was, a coon dragging one of my black sex links over the privacy fence.

guess im going to have to stay up a few days and see if i can get this one too. maybe some traps put around too on the nights i can't stay up. from the looks of it, the coon grabbed a leg and pulled her through a weak board in the fence. it's staring to get frustrating. All of my black and red sex links are relatively young and i just got them comfortable to where they started laying. not to mention the dog i got from the pound, slept right thruogh it. Back to the grind stone and 20 guage again.

 

[swampwander]

We have coons out the ears here because my idiot neighbor refuses to put up their trash. What are your chickens staying in?? If their coop isn't secure, you'll never stop fighting them or possums, for that matter.

 

[gumpsgirl]

I really hate that for you. So sorry you are having this problem. The best thing to do is to get some traps and keep setting them until they sit empty for a few weeks along with the chickens all being accounted for. If after a few weeks, no one has gone missing and the traps stay empty, I think it would be pretty safe to say at that point, your problem will have been taken care of.

Good luck to you!

 

[LynneP]

The greatest chance of success is with separation of livestock from predators. If your birds had a secure barrier reinforced with hardware cloth sides, above and below, the predation would cease immediately. Trapping is fickle and you'll lose more birds. Not only that, but the raccoons you trap will be replaced by others. You have a chicken buffet and word is getting out.

 

[Duppydo]

I agree, build a strong defense,the protection of your hens is only as good as the soundness of your coop. Raccoons are strong and smart, and determined when hungry,even more so with young to feed. I have a pretty good coop, and i still trap and destroy. I set my traps within 10 ft or so of my coop, any coons caught are goners.I bait with a stinky can of cat food. I figure if thier that close to my coop and i trap them, their asking for trouble. With a strong, sound coop and ridding the area of " to close for comfort" chicken eating critters, you should be successful in keeping your hens safe. Now free ranging in open area is another story...!!

 

[Orpingtonman]

I went through AGAIN and re enforced everything with hardware cloth and reset all the privacy fence panels with deck screws and set out 3 traps around the coop and caught a coon at 3:30 this morning. looks like i have a family goin here. i think i caught the dad or one of the brothers. when i went out there, he was chattering and you could hear a couple outside my fence so it'll be along road ahead to get these critters under control. i left the brother in the trap until i get home today. im still deciding whether i want to dispatch him like i did the other one or relocate him. leaning more toward dispatch. more updates to follow

 

[swampwander]

Do you have wonderful neighbors like mine who feed them by storing their trash in the open or leave feed for their cats/dogs outside??
I hope you got it under control. This is one of a few times when I will say to destroy the coon. Coons have done well by humans and are a real problem in MANY areas.

 

[Duppydo]

I use to relocate raccoons, but they find their way back. I know a guy who put some pant on a raccoons back and relocate almost 1 miles, he caught the same coon, reconizing the paint on its back.
Keep trapping and putting them down or you'll never get rid of them...!Remember, sometimes a raccoon wipes out a whole flock in one shot, thats alot worse than one here, one there...Good luck.....

 

[Duppydo]

My above post was suppose to say 15 miles, not one...sorry...

 

[onecent]

oh no!! so sorry for your loss again!! i hope you can fix that situation!!