My Flock is being Aggravated

[ChickenLover172]

My flock was attacked about a month ago and two of my chickens were killed. We built them a new coop and now they are safe, but predators keep them awake at night by climbing on top of the run and pulling at the chicken wire. We have a trap set with all kinds of food (sausage, bread w/ bacon grease...) but the animals will not go into the trap. Does anyone have any suggestions to help me catch the culprit???

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[ChickenCanoe]

What kink of predator is it? That will tell you what to use for bait and what kind of trap is necessary.

 

[bobbi-j]

What kind of animal are you dealing with? Raccoon? I have never trapped one, but have read other posts where people have used marshmallows. You might want to reinforce your fencing if you are using plain chicken wire. That is no match for a determined predator.

Oh, and

 

[ChickenCanoe]

I've heard about marshmallows but I've had all my traps set with marshmallows for the last 4 days with no success. (good thing I bought the cheap ones). I've had the best luck with canned mackerel for raccoons.

 

[roosterhavoc]

If it was a raccoon you probably would have caught it by now withe the bacon grease and sausage. Marshmallows don't work all that well by themselves. It's more of a visual attractor used along with another scent or bait. Any fishy or bloody meat will work better than sweet stuff. Dog food (canned) works pretty well too.

 

[ChickenLover172]

I'm not sure what kind of predator I'm dealing with but the roof of the run is pretty high off the ground (at least 6 feet) so it's either a raccoon or possum.

 

[roosterhavoc]

I seriously doubt an opossum. They aren't hard to catch at all.

 

[ChickenLover172]

We caught two of them about 3 weeks ago but nothing else since then

 

[roosterhavoc]

A fox can easily jump onto a six ft roof.

 

[ChickenLover172]

Would I have to search different bait or move the trap to a different location???