Raccoon help! Please help settle an argument with my husband

[centrarchid]

Well. I don't know about some of y'alls carpentry abilities, but unless I see a racoon out there with a reciprocating saw and a crowbar I am not going to go on a racoon killing spree.

They may be using plastic explosives and legend has it there is some running a key making shop.

 

[happyfrenchman]

Watch out for Falcons. They have been sighted.

 

[Akrnaf2]

New to chickens - our second summer with them - and new to country living. We have recently discovered a large raccoon hanging around the chicken coop every night. My husband thinks he is there to eat food that the chickens have kicked outside the run. I don't think it would stop there if it had a chance. Coop is pretty secure - hardware cloth all around, etc, but not in perfect shape, getting a little loose about the joints here and there.

I want to get rid of the raccoon. Husband does not want to. He sees trails, lots of raccoon poop, thinks this has been going on for awhile and that the chickens are safe. Thinks he can just keep checking the coop for any signs of chewing, damage, etc. I disagree, think that damage sufficient to get the raccoon into the coop could be done all in one night.

So what do you all think? Try for peaceful coexistence or get rid of the thing?

Shalom
IT WILL EAT YOUR CHICKENS IF IT WILL HAVE THE CHANCE!

 

[ChickenRelatedUserName]

Well. I don't know about some of y'alls carpentry abilities, but unless I see a racoon out there with a reciprocating saw and a crowbar I am not going to go on a racoon killing spree.

You're probably right. I'd say that as long as people aren't building their coops out of wood, fiberboard siding, shingles, or metal, then they are safe from raccoons.

 

[centrarchid]

You're probably right. I'd say that as long as people aren't building their coops out of wood, fiberboard siding, shingles, or metal, then they are safe from raccoons.

I took the time to back track the image presented. It was pulled off the internet. Several other images also shown in association with it. A common feature with the images was the conditions the wood is in. Most appears rotten. Secondly, storms are also capable of pulling off shingles and siding. You need to be making coop tougher than that so the critter can not rip things up as if attached to a rotten base. Your coop design needs to be designed to keep chickens in and critters out which differs markedly from what a roof is designed to do.

 

[DuckingLost]

I'd hate to kill the coon but I have to agree...he is looking for a place to get into.

 

[ChickenRelatedUserName]

I spent over an hour looking through my own personal photos of roof damage for the raccoon ones. I inspect structures for damage for a living and have been on thousands of roofs (no exaggeration). I couldn't find my own photos and I pulled one from the internet that demonstrated what I was talking about. Let me be perfectly clear in that the condition of the wood plays zero part in a raccoon's ability to breach a house. They don't do it often, and usually when they get that desperate they are looking for a place to have their litter, but it does happen. The cases I've seen it have been perfectly fine building materials.

One case a raccoon chewed through the siding on 3 sides of four different chimneys before realizing that there was an open flue and she climbed down and had her litter in the chimney that the home owner hadn't been using.

A second case a raccoon that breached the home straight through the fiberboard siding into the wall. That is through the siding, through the wall sheathing, then navigated through the insulation down to a void between an interior wall and the crawl space. I have a picture of one of the young raccoons in a live trap on site, but no photos of the damage.

A third case was on house where the raccoons breached straight through the roof right in the middle of the field of shingles. There were no penetrations, walls, flashing, or otherwise. They went straight through the shingle, felt, and decking into the insulation. It was a vaulted ceiling so there was no attic in which to take refuge. They tore two basketball sized holes in the roof, then left when they realized there wasn't room to live.

My point is not to scare people into losing sleep over the possibility of a raccoon breaching their coop, because the chances are low that it will happen, especially if you get rid of them. It doesn't really matter if more come (because they will), what matters is getting them to move on, either to softer targets, or the trash can, before an individual or group is allowed the time to make a breach.

If a coop isn't covered 100% by hardware cloth that is secured like subflooring (every 4" along the perimeter and every 8" in the field) then a raccoon can chew through it, given the time. Will it happen to you? Probably not, but if they can go straight through the side, that little weak spot you think they won't find will be exploited in a heart beat.

All that said, I built my coop just like everyone else did with OSB, fiberboard siding, 2x4's, shingles, and hardware cloth. I'm not worried about it, but I'm also no longer naive about raccoons and remove them when our paths cross.

 

[Kevin_87]

Wow, the level of violance towards racoons is impressive. They are correct kill it before he finds his way in.

 

[centrarchid]

Too many people can build coops that stand up to heavy raccoon pressure. We have some one pop up out of the wood work that takes a very aggressive one sided stance. Maybe you should consider hot-wire, even for your roofing jobs.

 

[happyfrenchman]

That racoon looked pretty comfy in that house.... LOL. I really think that if people did not put cameras out there, they would not know and it would not make a difference. Most racoons are not getting in my coop without some power tools. Not everyone is that fortunate. I would suggest that, if your coop is not strong enough to keep out a Bear.... yes, a Bear, than you need to be making it stronger. It is a learning curve. My first coop was definitely not Bear proof. But if you are not that great at carpentry, trying to make it Bearproof, should at least make it Racoon proof. I just think if there is no reason to kill something, don't kill it. And I have killed many a thing.