Raccoons and Skunks

[Rhoni T]

When we moved further out into the country 4 years ago, we had two cattle catch pens on our property. We enclosed the smaller one close to our house with chicken wire. 4 years without loosing one hen to predators. We had a small flock of chickens, 10 hens & 1 rooster. Had! Over the last month we have been missing hens, finding dead ones heads missing and gutted or missing altogether. Not what you want to find in the morning. We set up a game camera, caught raccoons climbing all over the totally enclosed pen. One had gotten between the chicken wire, where we had hog clipped the wire together. Spent 3 days redoing the bottom of the fencing, burring cement blocks and reclipping wire. We now think we have the Fort Knox of hen pens. Ha. At this time we are down to 4 hens & 1 rooster. Went out one morning at 3 a.m. with shot gun in hand and flash light, got a shot off at a raccoon and there was a little skunk wondering around as well. I think we scared off the raccoons, at least for awhile, I have always been told skunks will only steal eggs (that is a lie). Back to the game cam, caught a decent size skunk wondering around outside the pen, then inside the pen. What the What! Back to the pen, it had gotten through an opening the size of a brick. Now we have 2 hens & 1 rooster. Problem fixed, or so we thought. ZERO eggs in well over a month, I mean come on why would you want to lay eggs when your life is endange. This morning the husband catches a skunk in the hen house eating a chicken!! I now have 1 chicken & 1 rooster.

 

[Folly's place]

Sorry for your losses, and for your poor chickens. You need a safe coop and run ASAP, before you get more birds. Meanwhile, protect your two survivors! Live trap and shoot your current varmits, and realize that more will always show up, because chickens are tasty treats to a long list of predators out there. Mary

 

[Folly's place]

I too started with chickens underprotected, and had many sad losses, and learned. It's hard, but doable, and there's lots of good advise on this site. Mary

 

[Sara Ranch]

I am sorry for your losses.

Thank you for sharing your story with us.

 

[centrarchid]

The chickens are protected. The protection is simply like all single methods geared for a narrow range of threats. The going out with a firearm is considered a form of protection by many as you can find posting in many threads.

I would look into using hotwire around perimeter of existing pen which is likely to be the least costly adjustment. A dog working perimeter would be another approach although is will cost more and require more time to get things up and going. A more targeted approach can use traps that will catch some of the offenders, possibly enough to get them to back off. Look into making so roosting birds are harder to reach as that may buy time for chickens until you can get the bad guys out.

Odds are the predators had been coming in for some time before they took any chickens. I am betting they were coming first for the feed, especially if it got wet and particularly sweet smelling.

 

[dekel18042]

Sorry for your losses, and for your poor chickens. You need a safe coop and run ASAP, before you get more birds. Meanwhile, protect your two survivors! Live trap and shoot your current varmits, and realize that more will always show up, because chickens are tasty treats to a long list of predators out there. Mary

The predators you have mentioned are usually easy to catch in a live trap. Bait it with cat food or tuna fish and raccoons, skunks and opossums are often caught. That way you don't have to go out at night.