Possible Raccoon Problem

[HippieWolf]

I'm almost certain at this point that i have a raccoon problem. I had a nest of roughly 12 to 15 eggs in the corner of my coop that my hens was hatching i went to check on it the other day and it had been ransacked and i checked it when i woke up and the rest of the eggs had been busted open and eaten. What points me to Raccoon is we have ducks and since I'm the only one who eats the eggs i left a couple on the ground to see if it would take them and when i flushed out my duck pond i found the eggs at the bottom of it. My guess is he tried to "clean" them and they rolled away. Any Ideas on getting rid of my problem are welcome.

 

[centrarchid]

Trap and dispatch cheapest short-tem option. Electrified poultry netting or well placed hotwire around perimeter of roosting and nesting area cost more but give better control without killing. Most effective, most expensive, and slowest to get online are dogs.

 

[sunflour]

Are you sure a raccoon, they usually eat chickens rather than eggs.

 

[centrarchid]

Raccoons will eat both. Hen may be initial target but will not be passed up if hen gets away. Seen that numerous times.

 

[HippieWolf]

Cant use a trap as i have cats as well to help keep rodent population down. My chickens roost outside on the top of their roost so raccoon would have an easier job getting to eggs.

 

[centrarchid]

Cant use a trap as i have cats as well to help keep rodent population down. My chickens roost outside on the top of their roost so raccoon would have an easier job getting to eggs.

I have cats and still use traps. Practice catch and release. Cat confined for part of a night does not degrade rodent control that much.

Get those birds roosting under cover otherwise owls will be a bigger problem than currently experiencing with raccoons.


Look into the electrified poultry netting as it can keep critters away from nest area very well.

 

[HippieWolf]

They roost under trees so i dont think birds of prey should be an issue. As for the catch and release, got any advice for bait?

 

[Folly's place]

You catch and release your cats, and catch and shoot the varmits. I've used scratch feed, corn, fruit, or any leftovers successfully for raccoons. Meat, cat food, canned meat, all work well, and that type of bait is more likely to catch your cats. My barn cat sat overnight in a live trap once, and never again! Your current predator could also be a possum or skunk. Any of these critters will return until fenced out or killed. Mary

 

[centrarchid]

They roost under trees so i dont think birds of prey should be an issue. As for the catch and release, got any advice for bait?

Trees will not afford protection against any raptors with possible exception of bald eagles and gold eagles and falcons which are very unlikely to target chickens anyway. Wet / fermenting feed will be a very potent bait as is smells sweet to most omnivorous predators like raccoons and opossums..