PLEASE HELP: What killed almost my whole flock? 17 dead.. :( (WARNING: GRAPHIC)

[TSB531]

I am so sorry for your loss! I would say raccoons. I use a locked pad lock on my coop. It's a pain, but worth the little bit of trouble.

Seems like a good idea, I will be changing the locks tonight and keep an eye out. Any suggestions on deterring the coons away?

 

[TSB531]

Without a doubt, yes.

For tonight, I would physically screw the door closed while you watch the cameras to see what you are dealing with.

Suggestions on how to get rid of the raccoons? And any specific cameras that i should consider?

 

[BastyPutt]

Suggestions on how to get rid of the raccoons? And any specific cameras that i should consider?

Home improvement stores are going to have a lot of options if you don't want to wait on Amazon. Id suggest a batter powered one. But you'd need Wi-fi to reach the coop with a lot of them.

Where we live, we can kill the raccoons - which we would trap and either shoot, or drown in a garbage can full of water (slide the trap in) but you will absolutely want to check local ordinances to make sure you aren't committing a felony in doing so. Sometimes local fish and game will want to trap them themselves, or you may not be able to do anything at all, legally, aside from defend your coop.

 

[BastyPutt]

You have no idea . I never thought i would cry over chickens

I felt the same way and cried all the same. Our first incident was a neighborhood cat who we trapped and sprayed the heck out of with a garden hose, and he never came back.

Then we had an owl, which was picking some of our more free spirited birds who roosted in the trees overnight. And a raven who picked off some pullets.

Aside from that we have been fortunate to not have had any other trouble in 15 years.

One thing we do have are motion lights in the coop. We just bought a 5 pack of battery powered lights from Amazon. Id like to think those help, but can't say for sure.

 

[South Dakota Guy]

I am sorry that this happened to your flock. I am talking to my wife about beefing up our security. Living in the city, I have never seen raccoons in our neighborhood but since they are nocturnal, I suppose that they could be around. I certainly see enough dead raccoons on the highways in my state.

 

[Tumbleweedlynn]

What a terrible tragedy, it is jarring to go to bed and everyone’s fine, then wake up to that.

I would totally be laying traps outside the perimeter, and if you think they’re getting in through the roof, I would put tacks on it. Raccoons carry rabies, and I have a grand baby and a yorkie and my dh that I would be acting to protect. And my chickens, too The raccoons can be relocated, or game and fish can come pick them up. Those things can be aggressive.

I’m so sorry for your losses. Good luck with however you move forward with this, and stay safe

 

[DLA]

Suggestions on how to get rid of the raccoons? And any specific cameras that i should consider?

I am so sad for you. That's awful. Probably raccoons if they opened the latch. Cheap trail cam should work to see what's lurking at night. Motion sensor activated lights for future deterrent and those seem to work quite well for me. Don't leave any food out overnight to draw attention of predators, make chickens are in the coop and secured before dark. Big wire mesh pressure plate activated trap with peanut butter or some other tasty morsels, then if you have a gun shoot it and bury it, wash the trap and repeat till you've gotten them all. If you don't want to/not possible for your area to catch and shoot them then you may want to look into electric fencing as deterrent. In fact electric fencing may be a good idea either way. I used to have bird feeders for wild birds out that was really drawing in the raccoons, I stopped filling those.

 

[TSB531]

Thank you everyone for the support and kind messages. As a small update, the raccoons tried to get in the coop again last night. My wife was able to buy latch locks with padlocks and secure the entire coop so no casualties fortunately! I appreciate all the suggestions you all have provided and in my area (Ohio) we are allowed to trap and humanely euthanize raccoons. Considering that i will be investing in some traps and making good use of my gun .

On the positive side, i was able to find an Amish farmer about 2 hours away from me who had 600 Speckled Sussex laying hens for sale @ $5 each so i restocked my flock. I know it isnt the same but it certainly eases the pain somewhat.

I am also considering an electric fence around my new coop thats currently under construction. Amazon has been really bad with getting me my hardware cloth on time, over 2 weeks and still waiting for a 4' x 100ft roll (Coop is large at 24' x 12' and 10' tall). Any suggestions on good places to get hardware cloth? Ive tried Rural King, TSC, Home Depot, Lowes and all of those are either pricey or don't carry the size i need (4 feet wide by 100ft long).

 

[CaliforniaMountainChicks]

Any suggestions on good places to get hardware cloth? Ive tried Rural King, TSC, Home Depot, Lowes and all of those are either pricey or don't carry the size i need (4 feet wide by 100ft long).

Critter fence! Got all of my hardware cloth from there!
https://www.critterfence.com/critterfence-black-steel-grid-4-x-100

 

[Chipmunk Chicks]

I'm glad you are able to restore your flock and fortify your coop. How many new birds did you add? Are you able to quarantine them before introducing them to the chicks?

We have a sticky bolt and use a caribeaner to latch it shut, but it sounds like you found a good solution with your padlock.

I'm very sorry for your loss. That's a horrible shock that I'm sure you won't soon forget. We lost two in one day to a fox, and lost our only drake to a mink. It's very sad to see them taken. Best of luck with your new flock.