My beloved Orps are gone...potential suspects!

[scbatz33]

Quote:
Not true. I lost almost half my flock last summer to raccoons. We ended up killing 5. A young family. They would kill a handful of birds but only eat one or two and leave parts - wings and such.

It was awful! Lost my best pullets, my young turkeys and ducklings.

To the OP - I am so sorry for the loss. It is devastating.

 

[scbatz33]

Quote:
I second this. As Cetawin mentioned, she came to my house several nights and we never saw one. I set multiple traps all over my barn and coop. We would not catch one every night. But we did finally catch them all. 5 raccoons, 1 possum and a feral cat. I lost over $300 in birds before it was said and done. They came over the walls, through the walls, under the floor, through the roof. They are nasty horrible creatures.

 

[shelleyb1969]

I am very vigilant during the winter in regards to looking for predator tracks in the snow. In my years of having chickens, I have NEVER seen anything other than dog prints in the vicinity of my coop and pens. Also, it's at least 1/2 mile to the closest wooded area, and all the terrain in between is very open. I'm not a coon psychologist, but I'm thinking that a coon would be very wary about crossing such an extremely open area with no chance of escape from other predators. Not sure...but that's my thinking.

I've always thought that's what has prevented my coops and pens from being frequented by 4 legged stalkers.

But when it comes to coons, anything goes.

 

[Katy]

Quote:
Coons probably prefer to have trees or brushy areas to travel thru, but if it's not there they're more than happy to travel in open areas. I often see them crossing open fields here where there's no cover for a long distance.

 

[yotetrapper]

Shelley I have a good deal experience with coons. I've hunted them with hounds, and have trapped them for over 20 years now. Coon have no qualms about crossing open areas. I live in a farming area, with huge open fields in between wood lots, and some of my best coon sets were beside the roads where coon have worn trails down to bare mud crossing wide open fields. While coon prefer to travel at night, they will also be about in the day, especially morning and evening. And, as others have said, they certainly will kill more than they eat. I lost 19 young chickens in 2 nights due to a coon, and in one week when i was on vacation, coons killed 24 half grown pheasants here. I believe I now have a coon aftger my pheasant pen again, and so I set a trap for it today.

Coon are not smart. They're pretty easy to catch. Most, but not all, will go into a live "box" trap. These (if you dont have them, sorry haven't read whole thread) can be bought at farm stores. Also look at farm stores or outdoor stores for something relatively new on the market.... the dog proof trap. Some of these are relatively difficult to set, but I'm sure most men wouldnt have much trouble with it. Theyre tube shaped, small metal traps that the coon reaches into to get bait (mini marshmellows!) and doing so eoither pulls or pushes a lever, which release a wire which holds him by his foot until you arrive to dispatch.

If you need any more advice on how to trap this fellow, shoot me a PM.

Angela

 

[annie3001]

just reading here now, so sorry for such a tragic loss.

 

[shelleyb1969]

I have a live trap...and have had it set in the pen every night since the attack. Every morning, the trap is still set, with bait inside, and no tracks anywhere within 300 yards of my pens and main coop. I wouldn't be so firm in my belief that this isn't a coon had I seen some evidence, mainly tracks, of one around my pens within the past 3 years (at least). But as I said...anything goes when it comes to coons.