Need advice regarding city raccoon problem

[sriston]

We live in town. Chickens are not legal here, but we live on the edge of town with no close neighbors and we have six 4 month old chicks. (I guess they are still called "chicks" even though they look like grown birds.)

We have a very large yard (our property is 100x250 feet). The part of our yard that we use is also the part where our girls (the chickens) live. Most of our property is enclosed by a 6' chain link fence. The part of the yard that we use (and that the chickens live in) also has a 6' wooden privacy fence in place behind the chain link fence. We have neighbors, but they are down the street a way- our end of the block is just our house.

Our chickens free range in the yard all day. We put them up at night. My husband converted a part of our shed into their house. It is open on one end (the part that opens out into the shed) and has a screen door on the end going out into the yard. We did not use chicken wire, we used hardware cloth as wire. I think the chicken house is pretty secure from just about any kind of predator other than humans.

We have recently (this past week) seen a raccoon (possibly two different ones) on our patio eating the cat food. We have some outside cats but we have no outside dogs- our dogs live inside. We have seen a raccoon late at night (after midnight) and today we saw a mama raccoon at 1 in the afternoon eating the cat food. It was obvious she was nursing babies as her teats were hanging.

We don't want to lose our chickens or our cats to these raccoons. To the best of my knowledge the raccoons have not been anywhere but on the patio yet. My dilemma is that since we live in town, it is illegal to shoot a gun. We don't own a gun anyway. We also don't own a live trap. If we can afford it, we will look into buying one soon.

I have removed the cat food from the patio- the cats can come inside to eat. However, now I am wondering if since I have removed the raccoons food source, will this make them look a little harder at our chickens when they get hungry?

Should we consider installing electric predator wire around our property? I have also seen mention of predator lights and I was wondering if anyone has used them with success? We also have opossums and coyotes, too. The opossums have not been in the backyard to my knowledge- they seem to prefer to eat under our birdfeeders at night which are behind our backyard in an un-fenced area of our property. The coyotes like to hunt our cats.

I appreciate any advice. I have spent an hour or so searching through the forum and reading on raccoon/predator problems and there were so many threads that I had a hard time sorting the ideas out in my head.

Susan

 

[Wolf-Kim]

If it were I in your situation. I would invest in an electric fence around the coop. Or even if you wanted to, run it all the way around the chainlink fence. A strand at the top and a strand at the bottom. This should keep anything from digging into your yard or climbing over your fence. BUT if you have trees, it may provide a means to climb through the trees all together.

If it were I, I would fence both the chainlink and the chicken coop/enclosure that you lock them in at night. By doing this, you protect your chickens from night time raccoon raids, and it also helps keep any loose dogs or coyotes from digging under or climbing over your fence while the chickens are freeranging during the day.

Feed the cats inside from now on.

Lock any trash and food sources up tight.

Since the raccoons have made it a habit to eat from your porch, I would let the dogs out at random times of the night for about a week. Assuming they are large dogs, more than one, and currently vaccinated.

If all this fails, you can always look into live traps or a firearm. A livetrap will be more "low key" in a neighborhood. Once trapped you can ask a friend with a firearm to dispatch it at their place(assuming they are legally allowed) or you can drowned it in a trashcan of water, then simply bag it and throw it out with the trash or simply bury it in the yard. Relocating is illegal and it only makes problems much worse for someone else, because now not only do they have a coon with a taste for chicken, but now it is trap wary.

-Kim

 

[citrusdreams]

You need to build Fort Knox for your chickens, so that if a raccoon has any interest in them, they will be as safe as you can make them. That means well secured henhouse at night with a locked door, barred windows, and no gaps that a raccoon can squeeze though, as well as a well secured pen. Since you're ranging them in the backyard, you may be able to just confine them to the henhouse at night. I'm assuming you don't want a chicken pen in the middle of your yard, but if you do, that should be made predator proof too.

As for the raccoon, your options are limited within city limits. You can set a trap and trap him, and have animal control retrieve him. Animal Control would be able to relocate them legally.

If they don't service your area or won't, you can drown him in a garbage can full of water. Make sure that they whole entire cage fits in it. Or you can check your ordinances and see if you can take the trapped raccoon someplace else to shoot him, or have someone else shoot him. Some ordinances don't allow you to bring a trapped animal more than XXX feet.

It's not just your chickens at risk from raccoon attacks, but your cats as well. And if they are carrying rabies, you, your chickens, your cats, your dogs and the rest of your family is at risk.

 

[Wolf-Kim]

I too, at first suggested turning a trapped coon over to animal control, but then I edited and erased the suggestion. I figured since chickens are illegal where you live, you dont' want to have to explain to animal control WHY you are trapping raccoons... 0 *innocent whistling*

 

[citrusdreams]

lol, I see what you mean. Well, when I lived in a big city, we'd get an occasional raccoon, skunk or possum. We didn't have chickens, but we did have dogs. And it was a big drama in the city where no one sees animals. Having cats or dogs would probably be enough of an excuse (if you actually need one). Just make sure there are no chickens in sight when they come out

 

[Wolf-Kim]

There ya go! You were uh, trapping coons because they were getting into your trash, chasing your cats, and harrassing your dogs, you were just protecting your property and pets. Just make sure your chicks are locked away tight in their building and any other evidence or their presence is out of sight.

Electric fence is a great way to protect the chicks, but as citrus pointed out, your chickens are not the only ones at risk. Just read through some of the raccoon threads, in one a raccoon corners a cat and pretty much gutted it alive and killed it.

-Kim

 

[CityChook]

Seems like as soon as you add chooks to your backyard, the predators are never too far behind.

Gads, the fact that you saw mama raccoon at 1 in the afternoon is of concern to me. They can be extra brazen when they have little ones to feed. I know.

Definitely keep the cat food put away. No reason to invite them. But if you think they haven't eyed your chickens already, you are probably fooling yourself.

Don't know if there is a wildlife management company that services your area. We have one here in the Cities, but it is extremely expensive. Because it's not through the city services, I don't think you'd have a problem with them tattling. Don't know.

Electric wire would probably help, unless you have trees in your backyard.

It's not difficult to purchase a trap at any farm store. But once you have the coon trapped, you'll have to determine how you're going to dispatch it. Some drown them, which seems horrifying to me. But legal in the city. Shooting it seems the most humane.

Unfortunately, if your chickens don't have a run and are unattended free ranging all day, eventually you will probably have an attack. I hate to say that.

I am also in the city and had the unfortunate opportunity this spring to shoot our first raccoon. It spurred a heated discussion here on the BYC since discharging a firearm is not legal in the city. But we were desperate and took many many precautions. She was a mama, and I felt AWEFUL when we discovered the babies. But when asked to choose between my chickens and a wild animal that would kill them, the choice was pretty obvious.

Good luck in whatever you decide to do.

 

[Bizzybirdy]

>>It's not just your chickens at risk from raccoon attacks, but your cats as well.<<

Ya...a racoon will kill a cat too! Lost two of mine over the years, the last my poor old long haired pet cat that was sleeping in his house by my front door.

Was TERRIBLE.

I had watched this racoon eat with my cats close by and it didn't show any aggression towards them...until one rainy early morning.

I caught it in a trap and shot it the next night!

 

[sriston]

Thanks for all of the advice and ideas. I really appreciate them.

I have taken the cat food off of the patio. When I see a stray out there, I take out a bit of food for it- just enough for it to eat and any that may be left I bring right back in. My own cats can eat inside at the food bowl- they just won't have the luxury of having food in two places any more.

I have been letting our dogs out to patrol a whole lot more at night. We have four large dogs and I am hoping their presence and so much activity will spook the critters away. We also are now opening up our entire property to the dogs for patrol (our property is sectioned off by fences and normally we keep the garden gate and the other yards closed to keep the dogs out). Two of our dogs are great with the chickens, the other two I wouldn't trust. If it were cooler I would leave the chicken-safe dogs out with the chickens, but in this heat I can't.

The chickens free range all day in the yard, but we do check on them every hour. We do not leave them out when we go somewhere, we put them in their house which is as secure as a chicken house could be. We do have a tractor that is super-secure, but since the chicks have grown the six of them do not fit in it any more and also with the hot weather and no trees for shade we do not put them in it. (We have a honeysuckle covered pavilion where they rest during the heat of the day unless they go back in their chicken house which is always cool because of the way the shed is built.)

There is no animal control here, or in any community around us. Gosh I hate the idea of trapping those critters, LOL. Those things can be fierce. I think I will install electric fencing soon. However, for now I will just have to depend on increased human activity and increased dog activity and hope that is enough to make them stay across the road in the woods and fields where they belong. When we have spooked away the raccoons these past few days, they have crossed the fences and ran across the road into the woods, so I am sure that's where they live. (Where are coyotes when you need them?)

Again, thanks so much for the ideas. Hopefully the increased human and dog activity will convince the critters to stay where they belong until we get the electric fencing in place.

Susan