Raccoon Problem?

[SmashleyReece]

I arrived home later than usual last night to find one of my silkie hens killed. She was dragged out of the coop and run from what the trail of feathers told me. The head was ripped off, belly open with entrails spilled out, only one foot that I could see. No sign of the head or foot... Distraught, I buried the hen at the back of my property in the dark. There was an obvious space under the outside fence where a predator could've entered. It's my fault as the coop wasn't yet closed and the outer fence is really just a fence to keep deer out of our garden. This morning I saw obvious raccoon prints in the dew on top of the coop And the buried hen had been dug up and taken. Will the culprit come back again? What is the best course of action? This is my first experience w this kind of thing and ive only had my chickens since the end of April.HELP

 

[shmccarthy]

Yes he will be back again. Unfortunately he now realizes how yummy chicken is and will want more. :/ I would fill in the space with rocks, not dirt. It knows where it got in and will try again. I suggest going to the store and getting hardware cloth and wrapping it down the wall and out, kind of like a skirt, and bury it. That way it can't dig on the fence line without hitting the hardware cloth. Check your coop for any other weaknesses and fix any you find. It may even be back tonight to try its luck, so I would fix it asap. In the mean time, you may want to also set up a game camera on the coop or get a love trap to see if you can catch what has been coming. If you catch the animal, at least you can get some closure about your lost chicken. :/ good luck to you, I hope you can solve your problem. Losing them to a predator is really sad, I know. I lose 7 pullets, including my favorite BR, to a fox in the middle of the day. Still haven't caught the darn guy but it was my fault for not watching them better.
Keep your babies locked up until then, it could even come back in the day. Again good luck, and I hope you get the animal that took your silkie.

 

[SmashleyReece]

I dug around the whole coop and outer fence about 4-5 in deep. Placed a foot wide strip of small-holed wire around it. Used u-nails to fasten it to the coop, then buried the wire- like a skirt. I did the same to the garden fence around the coop area. The fence is 6 ft high. The coon will probably climb the darn thing! Is hardware cloth like canvas? It seems like a raccoon will get in there regardless if its really determined.

 

[shmccarthy]

That sounds like really good job. That will help deter digging predators.
Raccoons are very determined and a sturdy roof is a must. I'm not sure if hardware cloth is like canvas, I've never used canvas but it must be able to hold the weight of the animal, and not be ripped or taken apart by their crafty hands. They're really good at messing with things with their hands and getting them undone. I have a mixture of wooden beams and chicken wire on my roof. I heard that chicken wire isn't good to use to keep predators out after I did the roof, but before I could replace it, a tree fell on the coop and the run held...surprisingly. Now the coop is covered in vines and is almost naturally strong. I would just make sure that the roof is strong. I shot one off the roof of my coop and it was 26 pounds! They get to be heavy little..pests.

 

[SmashleyReece]

Thank you for the advice. We put down large stones and some heavy logs around the fence too. My dog, husband and I peed around the coop and fence. I attached a latch onto the roof to hold it shut... if the chickens get it tonight ill at least know I did all I could.

 

[wayne hulgan]

unless you have a coon proof roof on your enclosure, the coon will just climb the fence. I am working on a coon problem now and have caught and dispatched 2 of the critters so far. You too will probably have more than one. the best thing is make sure the place your chickens sleep in coon proof. Get a live trap and start trapping. I borrowed one from a friend, he had a problem too. His advice, first dig hole large enough for 2 or 3 marshmallows, next anchor trap over the hole with the marshmallows ( this keeps the little buggers from just reaching in and grabbing the goodies.) add 1 or 2 goodies inside the trap. come back the next day and dispatch your coon. repeat until no more coons. that's my plan and I am sticking to it. good luck with your coon they are really nasty little buggers, don't let the cute little face fool you. nasty, nasty, nasty.