Raccoon Pack Casing Our Yard

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

You're probably right. No peace offerings of cat food.

So today i'm working on reinforcing all my coops. i bought some solar string lights the other day, so putting those up around all the coops. Not sure that will help, but they do seem to try to stay out of the light. i have a motion flood light somewhere. Need to find that and install it. i'm also thinking of putting the baby monitor out tonight pointing towards where i saw the raccoons last night. i had seen this one guy before. But it honestly floored me to see three more huge raccoons waltzing across the backside of our yard. i want a clearer picture of what is going on outside in the dark.

 

[WoodlandWoman]

I would look at new latches for your coop. I'm not sure what your snap latches look like, but I know slide latches are pretty easy for them to open. They're good at fiddling around with latches.

The best thing is a hasp latch with a lock on it. It's more of a nuisance to fiddle with, but totally secure.

Also, it wouldn't hurt to use a few wood screws with washers on your hardware cloth, if it wasn't originally secured that way. Screws won't pull out of wood like nails or staples do.

 

[ronshoney]

I would say shoot them as I am having a similar problem. If you live in the city limits you will have to trap them,

 

[kkaymci55]

If you are smart you will either have nothing larger than half inch hardware cloth on your coops and you will get something to kill with, a high-powered pellet gun would maybe do the trick. I had a coon come in after 8:00 in the morning after I had gone to work, killed all ducks except one. I fixed the hole where it came through. It came back that night, killed the remaining duck and all the Cuckoo Marans in that pen. Then it was back the next morning trying to get into another pen of chickens that were younger but the wire was half inch hardware and it couldn't get in. The bodies of his previous victims lay only 12 feet away. He never even ate them, just killed them and kept coming back to kill more. Any coon I find will get no mercy. Karen

 

[orbirdman]

so everyone says to shoot em, im fine with that. but i have 3 neighbors that share my b-yard. i have one guy here that says he uses a silencer on his h-gun. ive seen the proof of a 25lb coon that he shot between the eyes. other than that what is a silent weapon that can be discharged legally within city limits that has enough power to go thru a coons skull? hand gun or long rifle....

 

[Enchanted Sunrise Farms]

i just talked to Larry, the Federal trapper assigned to our area. Other than being quite the card, he suggested i spend my time and money on reinforcing my coops. He said if i think i have 4 raccoons, put a zero behind that. He said our area is loaded with raccoons. So, i guess i continue creating Fort Knox. Maybe i can post pics of my coops later today and get some suggestions?

He also recommended a good rat abatement program. He said rats will get into coops, bite the jugulars on the chickens and they bleed out. i have seen big rats running on our power lines at dusk. No evidence as yet that they have been in our coops. Goody, one more thing to worry about. But i guess it's better to prepare for, rather than react to a pest problem.

At least we don't have bears . . . that i know of.

 

[AngieChick]

We live in a neighborhood with large trees, and like you we have many raccoons that canvas the neighborhood. Killing them would only open up room for more to move in. Every night at least one raccoon comes by to "check" the defenses of my coop. They haven't been able to get in.

https://www.backyardchickens.com/web/viewblog.php?id=12104-Our_Coop

It still frightens me, but I think for those of us in neighborhoods riddled with raccoons having "fort chook" is the only way to deal with predators. Hardware cloth is our friend. Also, I recommend locking all doors in your coop with padlocks that are keyed the same, you can hang the keys from the lock with a chain.

Good luck.

 

[mark3208]

Kill them,and dont stop killing them,open up a space for five more to move in,and then kill them too. Once raccoons find you have chickens ,they will never stop coming back until they find a way to eat them. I lost a nest of hatching eggs to them last night,luckily it was a game hen ,and she got away safely. There is a big plate of poison waiting for them now.