Raccoon

[EarlJ]

Did head count one night, was a chicken short.
Next night, another chicken was missing.
Yesterday, a third chicken was gone, and and our rooster was missing most of his upper half. At the back of the coop is a long metal nesting box. The rooster had his legs sticking out the wire bottom of it.

I removed the nesting box - I don't think they ever used it - and covered the spot with plywood, and covered the eaves with more plywood, leaving enough gap for ventilation.

Dug a hole, put rooster's remains in.
Set trap on top of hole.
Set blocks on the outside of the trap around the hole to prevent access to remains via digging at sides, and a cinder block on top.

This morning, a raccoon was in the trap.
Euthanized it. Rooster helped catch his killer.
Will bury this one, and keep the trap baited and set at night from now on.

Had another raccoon here a few weeks ago (also euthanized) . It didn't take any chickens, just ate cat food. Didn't see any others, so I didn't think there'd be more. And I was thinking the missing ones might have gone broody on some hidden clutch.

I liked that rooster. He was a jerk, but he'd had his spurs removed before we got him, so his potential for mischief was limited. I believe at least two of the chicks he gave us are boys, so he'll live on. But for now, we are without a rooster : /

 

[Folly's place]

So sorry for your birds!
Raccoons come in families, so there are always more out there. Any openings larger than 1/2" will allow predators to get inside, and raccoons are very good at opening latches too.
We don't leave any food out anywhere; our barn cat eats meals, so there's not that full cat food dish outside either.
Pictures of your coop will help too.
Glad you dispatched your trapped critters!
Mary

 

[Howard E]

Have known for a few years that I have coons hanging out around the barn.....only thing available for them to eat is the small amount of cat food the cats don't eat.....(probably less than a tablespoon or so).....yet they come anyway. Nightly.....except in the dead of winter.

Seemed to be worse this year than most, so out of curiosity, I setup a bait station with game camera. For the past 3 nights, I have documented between 10 to 15 coons. Two loners.....probably adult males......plus at least 2 and possibly 3 different females with this year's now 3/4 grown young in tow. All this about 50 yards from the chicken house.

Yet I don't loose birds to them as they can't get into the chicken house....a sturdy, tightly built Woods house. Sanctuary.

So word of advice......assume you have coons aplenty........and assume they will find your birds, and unless you do your part, they will get in and kill your birds. Take that as a given......and build accordingly. No half measures......cute doesn't factor into safety. Cute and flimsy have gotten a lot of birds slaughtered.

What is sanctuary? For coons, it is a 3D enclosure (ceiling, floor, and all walls and openings) made of sturdy materials......strong tamper proof latches..........openings covered by welded wire.....no larger than 2" x 4" 14 gauge wire.......and 1" x 2" in 14 gauge wire is better......and if you are concerned about rats and weasels too, 1/2" x 1" 16 gauge cage wire.....or 1/2" x 1/2" - 19 gauge hardware cloth is required. And all of that has to be securely fastened along the edges to they can't pull it up. Coons can rip apart any and all chicken wire......so forget that for anything but an internal divider. Chicken wire offers no protection from coons at all.

Coons can and will reach through the larger openings....like the 2" x 4" wire....or even chain link fencing.........assume at least a foot......and if they can grab it, they will kill it.

Runs with solid roofs are better than netting or chicken wire. Those are no match for coons.

An open topped run is the same as no run at all.

That is ALL openings, even including any vents that are high up......if there is an opening, they will find it.

So get it right and you can keep chickens safe from coons.....and do it anywhere. Make a mistake, and the birds will pay the price. Trapping may help stop the carnage and buy you some time, but isn't the long term solution to the coon problem. Sturdy housing is.

 

[Howard E]

BTW, on the topic of trapping.......my bait station is over traps of several types. All of them set up, but not armed, so not going to catch anything. Goal was see who was hanging around, plus to watch them interact with the traps.

Given time, most all coons will enter a cage trap for the bait. But initially, they are very cautious when doing so. Not so with the dog proof foot traps. They seem almost eager to check those out. Virtually every coon that comes to the bait site will shove his hand to the bottom of those looking for a morsel to steal.

So here are a few other factors to consider. The standard Havahart 1079 or 1085 cage traps will run about $50 to $60 on Amazon. With that, you can catch one coon at a time. Caught live and unharmed for you to do something with. That is assuming the coon you catch doesn't tear it up and escape. The big boars often do. But if you have 10 coons to catch and you get them one at a time, you are going to be at this awhile. Meanwhile, the coons you haven't caught yet are going to continue reeking havoc.

The ubiquitous Duke dog proof traps, along with a staking system, will run about $15 each, so you can buy about 3 to 4 dog proof traps for the price of a single cage trap. That means for the same money, you can catch 3 to 4 coons per night instead of just one. And the catch rate may be higher. Coons caught in an encapsulated trap of these types are also alive and unharmed......but unless you are experienced doing it, you will not be releasing one of these......at least not without a fight. So assume coons caught in these will be dispatched, which is OK.....and if trapping, ought to be the plan anyway. If not......don't trap them to begin with.

But if trapping is part of your strategy, look into the dog proof traps.....and don't forget the staking system.

 

[Big Doggie]

Did head count one night, was a chicken short.
Next night, another chicken was missing.
Yesterday, a third chicken was gone, and and our rooster was missing most of his upper half. At the back of the coop is a long metal nesting box. The rooster had his legs sticking out the wire bottom of it.

I removed the nesting box - I don't think they ever used it - and covered the spot with plywood, and covered the eaves with more plywood, leaving enough gap for ventilation.

Dug a hole, put rooster's remains in.
Set trap on top of hole.
Set blocks on the outside of the trap around the hole to prevent access to remains via digging at sides, and a cinder block on top.

This morning, a raccoon was in the trap.
Euthanized it. Rooster helped catch his killer.
Will bury this one, and keep the trap baited and set at night from now on.

Had another raccoon here a few weeks ago (also euthanized) . It didn't take any chickens, just ate cat food. Didn't see any others, so I didn't think there'd be more. And I was thinking the missing ones might have gone broody on some hidden clutch.

I liked that rooster. He was a jerk, but he'd had his spurs removed before we got him, so his potential for mischief was limited. I believe at least two of the chicks he gave us are boys, so he'll live on. But for now, we are without a rooster : /

You’ve gotten some good advice about trapping raccoons. I’m more interested in total protection and nothing can top good 1/2” hardware cloth and solid construction. But the insurance to all that is an electric shock system.
My hens have had 2 attempted break-ins in the last week. Something, probably a raccoon was able to bend the deer fencing wire but still couldn’t get in. I had an old “Fido” dog zapper system that I wired around the run and coop on a timer. Ironically I got zapped pretty good when I forgot to set the on and off times on the timer. Both hands got juiced and I can tell you with full confidence that it is VERY painful. You can try that yourself and I’m pretty sure you won’t see the same raccoon try anything twice.

 

[Kaesi2020]

Have known for a few years that I have coons hanging out around the barn.....only thing available for them to eat is the small amount of cat food the cats don't eat.....(probably less than a tablespoon or so).....yet they come anyway. Nightly.....except in the dead of winter.

Seemed to be worse this year than most, so out of curiosity, I setup a bait station with game camera. For the past 3 nights, I have documented between 10 to 15 coons. Two loners.....probably adult males......plus at least 2 and possibly 3 different females with this year's now 3/4 grown young in tow. All this about 50 yards from the chicken house.

Yet I don't loose birds to them as they can't get into the chicken house....a sturdy, tightly built Woods house. Sanctuary.

So word of advice......assume you have coons aplenty........and assume they will find your birds, and unless you do your part, they will get in and kill your birds. Take that as a given......and build accordingly. No half measures......cute doesn't factor into safety. Cute and flimsy have gotten a lot of birds slaughtered.

What is sanctuary? For coons, it is a 3D enclosure (ceiling, floor, and all walls and openings) made of sturdy materials......strong tamper proof latches..........openings covered by welded wire.....no larger than 2" x 4" 14 gauge wire.......and 1" x 2" in 14 gauge wire is better......and if you are concerned about rats and weasels too, 1/2" x 1" 16 gauge cage wire.....or 1/2" x 1/2" - 19 gauge hardware cloth is required. And all of that has to be securely fastened along the edges to they can't pull it up. Coons can rip apart any and all chicken wire......so forget that for anything but an internal divider. Chicken wire offers no protection from coons at all.

Coons can and will reach through the larger openings....like the 2" x 4" wire....or even chain link fencing.........assume at least a foot......and if they can grab it, they will kill it.

Runs with solid roofs are better than netting or chicken wire. Those are no match for coons.

An open topped run is the same as no run at all.

That is ALL openings, even including any vents that are high up......if there is an opening, they will find it.

So get it right and you can keep chickens safe from coons.....and do it anywhere. Make a mistake, and the birds will pay the price. Trapping may help stop the carnage and buy you some time, but isn't the long term solution to the coon problem. Sturdy housing is.

Reading your post was very disturbing! 15 raccoons over 3 nights? These are the things that keep me up as a new chicken owner. We have predator proofed our coop but I still worry regardless- worry that a raccoon will somehow destroy the hardware cloth or be strong enough to destroy the screwed in plywood doors with latches and caribiners. It just seems that they are so capable of damage to even strong structures. I've read so many horror stories. You're coop is completely secure- do you find you still worry though? Have you had any predator issues before? Thanks for sharing all this information with us.

 

[Kaesi2020]

Did head count one night, was a chicken short.
Next night, another chicken was missing.
Yesterday, a third chicken was gone, and and our rooster was missing most of his upper half. At the back of the coop is a long metal nesting box. The rooster had his legs sticking out the wire bottom of it.

I removed the nesting box - I don't think they ever used it - and covered the spot with plywood, and covered the eaves with more plywood, leaving enough gap for ventilation.

Dug a hole, put rooster's remains in.
Set trap on top of hole.
Set blocks on the outside of the trap around the hole to prevent access to remains via digging at sides, and a cinder block on top.

This morning, a raccoon was in the trap.
Euthanized it. Rooster helped catch his killer.
Will bury this one, and keep the trap baited and set at night from now on.

Had another raccoon here a few weeks ago (also euthanized) . It didn't take any chickens, just ate cat food. Didn't see any others, so I didn't think there'd be more. And I was thinking the missing ones might have gone broody on some hidden clutch.

I liked that rooster. He was a jerk, but he'd had his spurs removed before we got him, so his potential for mischief was limited. I believe at least two of the chicks he gave us are boys, so he'll live on. But for now, we are without a rooster : /

sorry for your loss.

 

[reddogmaster2]

Coon lives don't matter! Coons are lazy, thieving little thugs and they need to be dispatched on sight. That's what this chicken owner says!

 

[Howard E]

Reading your post was very disturbing! 15 raccoons over 3 nights? These are the things that keep me up as a new chicken owner. We have predator proofed our coop but I still worry regardless- worry that a raccoon will somehow destroy the hardware cloth or be strong enough to destroy the screwed in plywood doors with latches and caribiners. It just seems that they are so capable of damage to even strong structures. I've read so many horror stories. You're coop is completely secure- do you find you still worry though? Have you had any predator issues before? Thanks for sharing all this information with us.

For the record.......that wasn't 10 to 15 coons over 3 nights......that was that many EVERY night.

Do I worry? Not at all. Chicken house is tight.......in 4 years......nothing has every gotten inside and I've never lost a bird. And I know they are around as I've setup game cameras in the past to snap photos of them looking through the chicken house screening. They are good, but not that good. They can be shut out. So I sleep well and don't give them a second thought. The only bird I've lost to any predator was a month or so back when one hen got tired of being bullied and abandoned the chicken house where she was safe in favor of roosting in that barn. Coons got her the 2nd night.

BTW, I also confine birds by day inside a yard surrounded by an electric fence. Not on the house itself, but in the yard surrounding it. That filters out the other type of daytime predators.....like dogs, etc. Birds stay in, varmints stay out.

If you want the belt and suspenders approach.......putting up a hot wire on the coop will pretty much shut down all traffic around the coop.

 

[Kaesi2020]

For the record.......that wasn't 10 to 15 coons over 3 nights......that was that many EVERY night.

Do I worry? Not at all. Chicken house is tight.......in 4 years......nothing has every gotten inside and I've never lost a bird. And I know they are around as I've setup game cameras in the past to snap photos of them looking through the chicken house screening. They are good, but not that good. They can be shut out. So I sleep well and don't give them a second thought. The only bird I've lost to any predator was a month or so back when one hen got tired of being bullied and abandoned the chicken house where she was safe in favor of roosting in that barn. Coons got her the 2nd night.

BTW, I also confine birds by day inside a yard surrounded by an electric fence. Not on the house itself, but in the yard surrounding it. That filters out the other type of daytime predators.....like dogs, etc. Birds stay in, varmints stay out.

If you want the belt and suspenders approach.......putting up a hot wire on the coop will pretty much shut down all traffic around the coop.

That is what we want to do. We were thinking hot wire on the coop itself instead of netting around it. Probably will put it around the run too. We also are getting a game camera. We have not noticed animal tracks or signs of activity near the coop at night but like you have said, they are all out there. We free range without any precautions except supervision from me (not always a deterrent though as I have read on BYC) and changing up the times for free range so it's not predictable for predators.
I look forward to a night where I can sleep soundly and not worry about the chickens. I have a feeling that an electric fence might do the trick.