Loving chicken killed by a racoon

[cmom]

I had a fox that killed my special bird during the day. I did catch the fox by letting it take the bait then setting the trap.

 

[bobbi-j]

I forgot to mention that I would advise against trying to poison it. Too much chance of unintended target.

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

It is possible that the reason your raccoon is so cage wary, is because it was caught in someone elses trap. Then that person relocated the raccoon far from THeir property, & now it has found and killed Your chicken. The above scenario is exactly the reason i would Never relocate a predator i caught in a trap. Because i would never wish on anyone the heartbreak you have experienced. Very sorry for your loss.

 

[cmom]

That has happened to us. We are rural on a dead end road. We have been the recipients of other peoples catch and releases, then I catch and eliminate if they bother my birds.

 

[Cee]

We were devastated to find the remnants of our eight month old dear chicken, Trio, on Monday morning.
We had raised Trio from just an egg.
I cant seem to get the image out of my mind. I have not slept much since I find myself up checking on the the remaining 4 chickens.
I am a first time chicken owner, and this was our first chicken to die, and hopefully last to be killed.
One of our children accidentally saw the scene as well. This is a very sad week for us, even though I understand it is a natural part of life.
We were very lucky that our other four were not killed even though they were also in the same dog run.
My question is about what steps have others taken to protect their chickens.
people have already confirmed my suspicions that this racoon is smart and strong.
Up to this point, I had been successful with trying to outwit it. It has been trying for several weeks.
This time, the racoon managed to push his body under tarps that were secured in several placeS with tight bungee cords. Then, it pushed up the latch, killed our Trio, drug Trio out, and etc...
I can’t understand how it fit into such a tight space, or even how he took Trio out while seeming to hold up the latch while also under the tarps!
Night one, We quickly put out a trap out but it escaped.
Night two, which was last night, it avoided entering a different trap that had been placed by a pest company. There is evidence that it did scratch at the trap though. We fortified the dog run for now but now it is hard for me to get into the cage in the morning!
My question: Any suggestion for the next steps to take to deal with the raccoon/raccoons ?
I would prefer to not poison it, but I am also very angry. Is poisoning justified? Some say to not concern myself with animal cruelty since raccoons carry diseases.
However, even though we loved Trio very much, I feel that poisoning is cruel. I would rather re locate it.
But we also can’t afford the $200 removal fee every time a raccoon is trapped .
Are raccoons more prone to continue to return once they have already attacked?
We are in the process of buying a 10x12 garden shed ( with floor and windows) to be their new home,
But that will not be delivered for several more weeks.
Thank you for any feedback.

Please post pics of your current coop and run so that others can give you some solid advice on how to predator proof it until you get that shed.
Oh, when you get that shed post pics of that too so it becomes predator proof too?

 

[Moonkat]

I really, really, appreciate all of your input and information, and for the sincere uplifting poems and quotes.
a different trap finally caught and relocated the raccoon...( we have a camera set up recording at night and so we know it was the same raccoon that killed our chicken). I finally figured out that screws had fallen out of the latch, allowing it to be easily lifted.
We are in Texas ,and I do not know the regulations about relocation, but we hired a pest company that relocates raccoons.
We caught on camera ,a few nights later, two other smaller raccoons that seemed to be looking for their mama, possibly... and have also seen a fox now too.
A stray cat is now coming on our property during the day...
are stray cats a concern as predators of chickens?
Regardless, I will look into the suggestions that you all provided.
thank you, and I am sorry to you all who have also experienced the loss of a chicken or other loved pet....

 

[Allsfairinloveandbugs]

Glad the chicken-killing raccoon has been removed, & also hoping the pest control company "relocated" it to the "great raccoon happy hunting grounds in the sky." (So it wont find and kill anyone elses chickens). Sounds like your area predators have unfortunately discovered your potential chicken buffet. And yes, true feral cats that have learned how to survive in the wild will hunt and kill chickens. Others on this forum use electric fencing to keep the predators at bay. If thats not an option for u, and/or u dont want to shoot them, research the various traps used for each targeted predator. Tho trapping may seem intimidating to u at first, there are lots of good "how-to" videos on youtube, and traps are cheap.

 

[Guernsy]

We put wet cat food in a used water bottle with holes in it to entice the raccoons into a “Have a heart” trap and successfully trap them. We removed 2 from our property this way. Sadly we lost our partridge Cochin and a buff Brahma chick before we finally got it to stay in the trap and not escape or get the food without setting the trap off.

Do you put that cat food water bottle in the trap? Why not just a can of cat food? What does the cat food in the water bottle do to catch the coons? Thanks, I am curious.

 

[Guernsy]

Try chocolate ex-lax in a bucket. Once it eats the ex-lax it won't be back. They also like marshmallows. If you are using a live trap cover it with something and put the marshmallows inside. If you let it take the bait for a few nights then set the trap, That has worked for me but I also eliminate it because it will keep coming back especially now since it made a kill. Predator proofing is best. I have electric wires around my coops and pens and nothing so far has gotten past them. Good luck...

Are we still talking coons or rats here? Sorry, I am confused. Do the rats like the chocolate ex-lax? How do they get into the bucket? Does the ex-lax kill them? Is the marshmallow just bait for them to come back? I am new at this and I thought we had the coop pretty predator proofed. However, rats always find a small opening to get in, do to the roofing. During the day we have too many neighbor cats (which are not doing their jobs with the rats) trying to mess with my free-roaming chickens. If I let them out too early or not close the coop early enough at night the coons come running too. Argh, so many critters to watch out for.

 

[cmom]

Excuse me, I though it was about coons.