Raccoon IN my coop

[Dar]

My son went to close the chickens last night and found a raccoon IN my coop!

Coon had front paws and head in the chicken pop door and my big rooster Fred was protecting his girls. He was all puffed up squawking away jumping at the coon. My son slammed the pop door closed, thank goodness its on a pull cord so he didnt have to enter the chicken area to close the coop so he was safe.

Time to call the trapper!

 

[Ridgerunner]

Talk about good timing and a good rooster! I've found a possum and snakes in the coop before but never a raccoon and I hope I never do. Those things are vicious.

I'm really glad your son is OK. And good luck on the trapping.

 

[Leah S]

something similar happened to me too. Went to put my ladies away for the night and there was a raccoon hiding under the coop (there is a fully caged area attached to the coop where I put the ladies in). I locked the raccoon in and ran get hubby. He came out with a .22. Took care of the raccoon, but scared the poor chickens. they still will not go near him!
I think your rooster deserves some yummy treats!!

 

[2 britts]

It seems like racoons are getting to be a big problem everywhere! Night before last one got into amy outside brooder and snatched one of my 4wk old NH chicks. My son set 2 conibear traps last night and I woke up this morning to have 2 dead racoons. These traps are 20 ft. from our house. I live in the country and I know that critters are everywhere but I haven't seen this many racoons in the 28 years that I've lived here.

 

[snugglebird]

We had rarely seen any raccoons around here until this past year. We've become inundated with them it seems. They hadn't bothered my chickens until this past winter. Coons got my 2 roos and we trapped and killed 2 coons. Well, Sunday morning we found one of our new Brahma cockerals had been killed by a raccoon. I'll spare you the details but even a small 1/2 inch crack is enough for a coon to reach through. I just feel bad for my DD7 who happened to find it. I found one raccoon in the trap yesterday and we got rid of it. The chickens are locked inside of their coops at night but I've found that the coons are still getting inside one of the runs. I've got to figure out where and how these things are getting in. I have beefed everything up and reinforced everything I can find. We will be gone for a week around the first of July and my MIL will be checking on them but cannot let them in/out of their coops everyday. I'm going crazy trying to get everything fixed just right so my chickens are as safe as possible. I hate that they won't be locked in at night. That worries me but I don't have a choice. We have several traps set for the raccoons and I've heard that putting a radio in the coop can help scare off predators. I'm going to try that. Just kind of frustrated right now.

 

[speckledhen]

Way to go, Fred!

 

[simplegirl1970]

Last nite I went to lock the chickens in for the night and we had three coons in the coop. One was sitting on the roost next to my sleeping chickens! I think they've been getting in to drink the water since it's been so dry. I can tell because the water has been empty the last couple of days (usually is not empty) and the tray is very dirty. I think the coons are washing their food in the water.

Wondering how much of a threat they are to grown chickens. I have rhode island reds, a barred rock and a colombian wyhotte. They are all hens, no roosters. Will the coons kill or harm them? They were all so calm when I found them last night. I hate to kill the coons, but the needs of my chickens comes first.

I fixed the door where they were squeezing in, but even though I lock them in at night, I'm afraid they'll find another way in. Please advise!

 

[Greyfox Farm]

Simplegirl, the answer is "YES" they WILL kill full grown chickens. They now know that there is a food source there, and they WILL be back and THEY will kill your girls. Please do yourself a favor and trap and kill the raccoons. Don't relocate then since they will just be someone else's now trap-wary problem. They're cute, but they are killers. Kill them first, or it will end badly.

 

[sourland]

Simplegirl, the answer is "YES" they WILL kill full grown chickens. They now know that there is a food source there, and they WILL be back and THEY will kill your girls. Please do yourself a favor and trap and kill the raccoons. Don't relocate then since they will just be someone else's now trap-wary problem. They're cute, but they are killers. Kill them first, or it will end badly.

This is absolute truth and good advice.

 

[DougW]

This little bandit took me two days to trap. He buried the leg hold traps and tipped the live trap over the first night. I outsmarted him by putting logs on top of live trap and baiting it with smoked herring. He was trying to dig his way into their pen or get in through the gate.



The ducks are safe for now. They have been staying out all night on the lake since the raccoon tried to get into their pen.