Raccoon attack last night. Need advice.

[dogdollar]

Bad choices have consequences, even when a coon makes them.
Sorry for your babies.
DD

 

[nightcap]

<< Got one, in a 55 gal drum right now taking a swim.>>


Nice. I have a few 55 gallon drums. I don't know why but I didn't think of that. I was going to let mine swim in Puget Sound.

 

[Prodigal son]

Hello All,
I grew up on a family farm in west-central Nebraska. My mother ordered 100 birds every spring (always straight run of a white breed). She put the extra roosters in the freezer then, gradually culled over the course of the year, keeping the best layers and then starting the whole thing over the following spring.

One morning, it must have been around July 1, I came down for breakfast and mom was mad "as a wet hen" as she used to say. Turns out, when she'd gone out to feed her flock, she'd found around twenty five birds dead, only one had a couple of bites out of her, the rest were just killed and left. My dad, may God rest his soul, surmised it was a mama 'coon teaching her youngsters, mom was sure it was a weasel. That night, dad parked his pickup within 12 gauge range of the coop (which was pretty much directly under a yard light) and at dark, he and I took one of his shotguns out and sat in the truck. Turned out dad was right. At about 10:30 p.m., as my 10 year old mind was wandering to who knows where, dad said, and I can still hear him 38 years later, "There's your chicken killers." Sure enough, here came a large sow 'coon with six young ones with her, she made a bee-line for the window screen she'd come through the night before but she never made it, nor did 4 of the youngsters.

As an aside, since I always got stuck doing the plucking when butchering time came, it's a wonder I jumped back into chickens. I distinctly remember sitting on the back steps, over a metal trash can, plucking the same bird for the third or fourth time (after mom came back out with her stating "You're missing too many pin-feathers, go over her again." and saying under my breath, when I grow up, I'll NEVER have a single chicken, EVER! As of last count, we're at seventy two birds.....hence my screenname "Prodigal son" I've come back to chickens after all of these years and love them!

 

[nightcap]

Quote:
Hey, welcome back. Nothing like getting back up on the horse.

Oh, and good story.

 

[mike67909]

Coop d'etat :

I believe it's easier to make sure you have a secure coop than to go out shooting in the night, which usually means you have already lost at least one chicken. And I would discourage shooting a racoon even if it was quick, as that means you now have a racoon body with topical blood that has to be handled and disposed of, racoons are currently the wild animal most likely to carry rabies, and it's suspected that they can carry the rabies virus indefinitely without coming down with the illness and exhibiting symptoms. So forensically let's say you shoot a racoon and blood droplets land on the ground, and the racoon applies more blood to the ground and/or plants, fence, etc. it touches. See my point - it's safer for you and your chickens to have a secure coop than to have to dispose of a wild animal. Plus, you shoot one and there are ten more not far away, and a secure coop will protect against all predators. Good luck!!

I wouldn't worry about having raccoon blood on the ground. Rabies virus and most viruses for that matter need a host to survive and do not last very long exposed in the environment.​

 

[Cuban Longtails]

Quote:
This is why trap and release is not a good idea:

The home range of an adult male is about 4,800 acres, although this size can expand
during the breeding season. Adult females and young inhabit smaller areas and one male's home range often overlaps
several females' home ranges.

http://www3.northern.edu/natsource/MAMMALS/Racoon1.htm

Just sayin'​

 

[BHyder1]

Look out for the possums too! We have had to kill raccoons that literally ate holes in the cedar roof of our coop to get in. The only answer seems to be to shoot them, they do not scare away, and will come back night after night.

 

[charlieschickens]

As stated by Cuban Longtails, they do have a territory they maintain, so while more will move it, it will take a little bit of time. Every ground scurrying 4-legged animal that gets caught in the trap is dispatched. I absolutely refuse to have my chickens terrorized, mamed or killed because I "released" a coon or possum. Everyone that I catch meets their maker. Once they have identifed an 'easy' source of food, they will return time and time again to feast on your chickens, chicks, and eggs. As posted earlier, wire doesn't even stop a coon. They will chew through if they can't, and if they can't they will reach in and grab the bird, stringing them through the wire. I have seen too many people post on this same topic.

As for the rabies, the actual number one rabies carrying wild species is the bat, but coons are a close second.

 

[happyhensny]

Guess Coons can't swim.

Maybe the next one won't be able to either.

 

[WV_Hillbilly70]

Growing up in the mountains of WV, I've learned theres a certain order of things....I am at the top of the food chain, and my food will not be terrorized or destroyed by things lower on the order...Deer in the garden....Deer meat for dinner.......Raccoon in the hen house.....dead, DEAD raccoons!! I'm sure if the roles were reversed and Mr. Rocky Raccoon had chickens that he had spent a lot of time raising and careing for in order to feed his family, he'd not take too kindly to me destroying them, and he'd probably shoot me!!! Thank God nobody has armed the raccoons yet!!!lol!!!!