I’m so sorry. Such a terrible thing to wake up to ( lost 2 to a possum myself over the weekend) Terrible isn’t even the word unfortunately the predator will be back. Once they know where they got their meal they will come back. If possum or raccoon first thing I would do is put a cover on the run. Raccoons especially are crafty. Great nigh vision they can dig, climb, squeeze through surprisingly small areas and unlatch door latches. I am so so sorry.
Oh, it was. There was just a somber, dark cloud on my heart all day.
I caught one at 4:30 a.m. today. I got a baby monitor with sound and a night vision camera. At 4:30 this morning, I was wakened by noise in the pen. It sounded like they were trying to open the door latches. I opened my eyes just in time to see a raccoon walking in front of the camera. I scrambled out there like a colonial Minuteman! By the time I got out there, it seemed to have vanished. I thought I scared it off. Just as I was about to leave, I looked up and saw a coon looking down on me from the rafters. I went on the attack. He got away. I was standing there thinking what I was going to do next. I looked up where he had been and saw something suspicious. I jabbed at it with a lawn implement and, sure enough, it was a second coon!! This one was not so lucky. I hated, hated, hated to do it, but I got him. Also...I found Minnie's body. They tried to drag her out of the pen through the roof rafters. They got her as far as the top of the roof of the hen house. As I was working to strengthen my defenses on the house, I looked up and saw her little feet hanging off the roof of the hen house. Poor baby. Poor, poor baby. She has been partially avenged.im sorry for your Loss
i wish you could catch the killer
Thank you for your kind words of sympathy. I have 1/2 inch hardware cloth. The pen has a roof and the hen house has solid walls, floor and a roof. Thanks to all of you, I learned these things through my research here.I'm sorry for your loss
Some things you can do to prevent future losses in the coop:
If you have chicken wire, switch to hardware cloth. A coon can easily reach through the holes of the chicken wire. Hardware cloth is much safer.
If your run doesn't have a roof, put one on.
Check your coop for any places where predators could get in and patch them up.
Good luck with your flock, and once again, I am so sorry about your hen.
It/they (2 coons) were back last night, and I was ready! Posted my story in this thread. I found Minnie on the roof of the hen house. She was completely in tact except for 1/2 of her breast and body cavity.
It was 2 coons. They came back last night. I got one of them. The other got away.
It was absolutely devastating. She was just precious.
Thanks! I enjoy sharing my land with wildlife, not my chickens. I am wondering if the one that escaped last night will be back tonight.
