Raccoon...A Dirty Word!

[Swissmiss989]

I never knew Raccoon would be a dirty word in my home! I have had my chickens going on 2 years now and all of a sudden I have started having coon attacks! I have a trail cam and I have seen him pass through the yard before because it has heavy cover with apple trees, flower gardens and privacy trees/bushes. Why all of a sudden he is ripping chickens off of their perches and out of the coop and eating them i dont know! I have lost about eight 3 month olds to this stupid thing! I have locked my birds in the coop at night but its starting to wear on me the DH and the poor chickens. I have tried traps. They triggered 2 of them last night but it didnt catch anything. I was thinking about rebuilding my fences (again) but they are already large dog proof. This is a huge boy. He must be at least a good 25 lbs. I think he can and will rip though anything I set up. What do I do? Any advice for me?? Can you poison something like that??

 

[LadyinRed]

Get a good live trap and a handful of cat food. Place the live trap where you've seen him walking, Bait it with cat food in a simi-circle around the outside of the trap, just sprinkled lightly on the ground works. And then make a trail of it into the back of the trap with the cat food. Dry cat food works best.

Even better if you can take a bowl and feed him cat food for a couple days before hand. And for the love of all chickens, DON'T TRAP AND RELEASE! Either dispatch him with a gun or put the trap in a trash can full of water and drown him as quickly as possible. Its not a nice way to die but its a lot better than letting a trap savvy raccoon loose on someone else.

 

[Swissmiss989]

The only good raccoon is a dead raccoon. I dont intend on letting someone have my heart ache. Ill try the cat food. I have lots of that laying around.

 

[Ted n Ms]

Dukes trap baited with marshmallow , put one under trigger and one just laying on top. They eat the first one then go for the other one under the trigger.

 

[centrarchid]

Dog is a long-term option that can augment any confinement upgrades.

 

[LadyinRed]

Dog is a long-term option that can augment any confinement upgrades.

But dogs can also turn into a predator themselves and a very big expense. Normally you have to start with a puppy which is no use against a raccoon killing birds now.

 

[centrarchid]

But dogs can also turn into a predator themselves and a very big expense. Normally you have to start with a puppy which is no use against a raccoon killing birds now.

I have had coons as well but not lost a single bird to any in nearly 2 years to them. Dog and I have killed three adult raccoons this spring alone and lot more oppossums. Dog does awsome against red fox and even keeps coyotes out of trouble. I still have live-traps out but dog does most of work.

A dog that kills poultry is like a garden tool that kills your tomato plants, learn how to use tool properly.

It does not always require starting from puppy since even an adult proven chicken killer can be brought into line. You could get immediate raccoon control even with a serial chickien killing dog if it is confined such that it denies raccoon access. Then break dog of being threat to birds which can be done without degrading effectiveness against coons.

Most important point to make is you likely intend have chickens in forseeable future. So if future coons are predicted a dog is a logical consideration. Agreed dogs not suitable for all parties owing to cost of upkeep. Upkeep cost is part of my reasoning for having dog serve multiple roles which includes hunting small game.

With poison applications, it is easy to get sloppy and take out animals not intended as targets.

 

[Mattemma]

Keep trying the trap. I caught plenty with my cheap-ish havahart one from home depot.Any way you can secure the birds better till you get all the coons?

 

[ChickPrincess]

We have had great luck in traps using marshmallows as bait. They can't resist them. Caught 3 coons last week!

 

[Swissmiss989]

Well my coop is located at my moms house (about a 1/2 hour drive from where I live) so the opening and closing the birds in is a real pain but thats what im currently doing. I have the DP traps out but they dont have any interest in them so I pulled out those large square metal snap traps. I have about 4 of them out. They are baited with hot dogs. I do have those giant marshmellows you use for the camp fire. Maybe ill try those tonight? Im keeping an eye on the coons with my trail cam so I can learn their behaviors better.