New owner in CT... raccoon

[CT2018]

We are new chicken owners, only had 4...they are the sweetest little ladies! I am truly devastated because a raccoon came in to their coop through the craziest spot, so crazy that it couldn't get back out! It must have gone in overnight and I found 2 of my 4 just destroyed!! It was awful! We had to kill the raccoon, because it was trapped under the coop, that was also awful. My question is, should we try to get 2 more chickens next year? Or will my other 2 not accept newcomers? My poor ladies....

 

[Pork Pie]

Hi and welcome to BYC. Sorry about your loss, but yes, your girls will accept additional flock members. I would personally wait until next year. I'm assuming that you live in a northern temperate zone, so winter and confinement to a coop is not the most ideal situation for integrating new birds.

This link is should give you a good grounding on what is involved in integration -
http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/introducing-new-chickens-using-the-see-but-don-t-touch-method

This is a useful link of BYC guides to take a look at announcements-feedback-issues-guides.3 I’d suggest including your location using the guide in that link, if you have not already done so. You can use this link to contact members in your area - Find your State's thread.

Best wishes

Pork Pie

 

[ChickenLeg]

They'll accept them just make sure they arent too young especially if its tight living courters.

 

[N F C]

Sorry for your losses, raccoons can do so much damage. Before adding any more birds to your flock, be sure to tighten up the coop to prevent a repeat. Here's an article about raccoons from the Learning Center that will give you more information on them:
raccoon-chicken-predators-how-to-protect-your-chickens-from-coons.47709

Best of luck to you, it's nice to have you here!

 

[007Sean]

Howdy and Welcome to Backyard Chickens.

Glad to have you here with us. Enjoy your time here at BYC!

Thanks for joining our community!

 

[DobieLover]

Hello and welcome to BYC! Glad you joined.

So sorry for your loss and that you had to kill the raccoon. I know I would not want to have had to do that but I think for the safety of your remaining girls, you did the right thing.

I'm sure you will be thoroughly going over your coop/run today to ensure you will not have a repeat attack. That coon may have buddies lurking nearby.

I agree with @Pork Pie to wait until next spring to get new additions to your flock. There are plenty of threads here that will teach you the correct methods of introducing new birds to your flock. Your current birds also need to recover from the stress of what happened in the coop. I'm sure they were quite traumatized as well.

Good luck to you!

 

[TwoCrows]

Hello there and welcome to BYC!

Oh I am so sorry! Coops need to be built like Fort Knox. Predators are brutal.

Mix new birds in slowly over a couple of weeks from behind an enclosure or wire. They see each other for a couple weeks, but can't touch each other. On mixing day, watch closely for too much fighting and aggression. If one of them refuses to get along, cage them within the flock for a couple of days. Put put extra food and water stations so the new birds don't get starved out.

Good luck and welcome to our community!

 

[GC-Raptor]

Yes, make sure you secure the coop before getting more Chicks.
My coop was attacked over a month ago and the coons I suspect were here again this week. I will check my Game Cams this weekend. You can see two in this pic. One looking for a way in from above and one below.

They did not get in. GC.

 

[Kiki]

Welcome to BYC!
We are glad you joined our flock!

Sorry you are having raccoon troubles.
This video will help you learn how to navigate this site:

Coop Ideas:
Chicken Coops
There are a couple of links in my signature that are worth the short read.
BYC has an APP

 

[alexa009]

Welcome to Backyard Chickens! We are glad you joined the flock! BYC is a helpful site providing all the information you need to know about poultry! There is always space for more members on the BYC roost! I am sorry to hear about your raccoon attack! Integrating chickens can be a problem since there will be fighting and feather picking going on for a while. Hope you enjoy it here as much as we all do!