Raccoon Help!

[Kmdejesus116]

I have two ducks. The have a coop and a pen in my backyard. For a whole year we were raccoon free. My ducks like their night swims, so they would sometimes stay out until 10, then we put them in their coop for the night. However, today I opened the backyard light and there it was, a fat raccoon. My poor babies weren’t harmed (thank goodness). I frightened the raccoon away and quickly locked the ducks up safely for the night. What do I do? Sometimes our schedule does not permit us to put the ducks in their coop until after dark. I don’t want to harm the raccoon but I certainly do not want the raccoon to harm my ducks. Any advice?

 

[Echilde]

Secure the pen and coop to keep the raccoon out, trap and kill the raccoon or make sure they are locked up before dark. Those are pretty much the only options, unfortunately.

 

[Folly's place]

Your visitor will return, and bring friends and family.
Keep your ducks in a SAFE coop and run unless you can supervise them! They are at risk, especially at night. If they can't fly, seriously at risk.
After disasters here with our chickens, those 'cute' raccoons aren't cute any more, and we are willing to trap and shoot any that lurk nearby the coop during the day. At night everyone is locked in safely.
Mary

 

[Echilde]

After disasters here with our chickens, those 'cute' raccoons aren't cute any more.

Exactly! I've been lucky and my neighbor would take care of them for me after I trapped them, but a couple of weeks ago I had to shoot one. He was cute, but when I saw the dead baby laying on the ground, the cuteness didn't even matter anymore.

 

[GC-Raptor]

Raccoons are persistent and can work in pairs to find a way in.
I had raccoons try to get in my coop several times over two weeks last year.
I still catch them on camera once in awhile. Ducks/chickens need to be in a secure coop or pen before dark till sunrise.
The other option is to dispatch the predators.
My coops are secure when I close the pop door. So far I have not had to dispatch.
Pay attention to the dates and times at the bottom. Before I pointed the camera at the coop, I noticed paw prints on the coop. So they were around at least 5 times over 2 weeks. One on top and one on bottom in first pic.GC

 

[cmom]

I agree with the other posts. I have gotten coons on my cameras but so far they haven't bothered my coops and pens. Here it is mostly coyotes.

 

[Rammy]

My stupid ducks wont go into thier house.

 

[getaclue]

Electric fencing around your yard will stop a lot of the predator action, in case you can't get home early enough.

 

[cmom]

I have electric wire around my coops and pens and the predators know it's there. A coyote behind the coops. I see them quite often on this camera.