Raccoons are EVIL.

[Ursuline Chick]

I know I sound like I think a rooster is the answer to all troubles, but we had no real predator problems for 4 years when we had a rooster. Once I was forced to re home him, 2 years ago we have had nothing but problems with possums. We have to put out traps everynight once the hens are in bed for the night and we catch possums regularly in the middle of the city. also have had hawks sitting on my fence, one brave little SOB was 15 feet from me.

 

[Folly's place]

Roosters die at night on their roosts just like everyone else; chickens are nearly helpless in the dark at night. Predators tend to go after smaller birds, or those in a better position in the coop, or it's just random. It was twenty years before I had a daytime fox attack, but he took out ten nice laying hens one afternoon. My one and only fox attack! Raccoons and opossums are easier to defend against, because having a safe coop and locking the flock inside every night saves a lot of lives, and grief. Mary

 

[CiceroXY]

Where I live there aren't racoons so I've never experienced what they can do but I liked them cause I found them funny and nice animals from what I could see on tv etc. Never imagined that!

 

[Top Rooster]

You wouldn't like raccoons trust me, be glad they aren't in Italy lol

 

[itsasmallfarm]

these are my thoughts on raccoons and how to deal with them.

when my grandparents raised meat birds, they lost year after year to the coons (this was back in the 80s) and they eventually gave up on chickens due to the coons,

i personally think a good defense will protect against coons, right now we have electric fence and hard ware cloth. hope that it will protect against coons (as well as coyotes and weasels)

now about killing them, am a new trapper just starting out, so of course i plan to trap them out (both to protect my live stock and to get some money) right now we have only used a havahart trap, but did some research and found out these are not the best, so am upgrading my trap line with dog proof coon traps (duke as there the only legal one where i live to use) last time i checked a coon was bringing about 15 dollars on the market (could be less now as those where for prime coons) not as good as a few years ago i was told but still that's a bag of chicken food if you ask me.

 

[Steve J]

Live traps are set constantly on my property and I shoot every raccoon I catch. They're easy to catch, with fried frozen chicken strips tied off the back of the traps and hanging down. The coons can't steal a tied hanging bait.

 

[herfrds]

I got 4 coons this summer. Caught one in my Big Giant live trap. Then started finding the trap tripped and the bait gone. Set up my game camera and found out the that the coon was able to get out. Got the duke hand traps. Set up 4 of them baited with bread, peanut butter and honey. Got 3 more!
Lost one trap due to not using an anchor.
I re-enforced my coop door too so there is no way for them to get in.

Got a new coop and when the builder called to ask how I was liking it told them great except! They needed to put either chicken wire or the 1/4" square wire they used on the back window over the front windows and under the trim. Asked why and I told them that coons can tear through the plastic window screen and get inside. They build a lot of coops, guess no one ever mentioned that to them.

 

[Top Rooster]

Glad you got those coons now your chickens will be safe.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

So far, what I have done is working. It's only been 2 weeks since the attack, so I'm not done yet.
Today my husband and I are building a run for them with hardware cloth and wood with latches and locks. The coop has hardware cloth all around it, at every opening and buried under ground.
Nothing we do will ever be 100%. But we are doing what we can to prevent another attack. The dogs are little to no help, I won't leave them outside at night.
I am going to be installing an electric wiring around the coop and run as well. I just have to find some place that sells them out here. If I can't, I will order it online,

The traditional style electric fence is all you need. It will consist of a fence charger, some single strand electric fence wire that will go around your chicken factory maybe 5 times, a collection of fence insulators, and a good ground rod to help the coon complete the electric circuit when he comes into contact with the wire. I don't know what you mean when you said ".... out here...." but electric fencing supplies should be readily available at any rural farm store. Just don't scrimp on the charging box, get one that will grab Mr. Raccoon's attention when he comes into contact with the wire.

 

[Kwarner12]

The traditional style electric fence is all you need. It will consist of a fence charger, some single strand electric fence wire that will go around your chicken factory maybe 5 times, a collection of fence insulators, and a good ground rod to help the coon complete the electric circuit when he comes into contact with the wire. I don't know what you mean when you said ".... out here...." but electric fencing supplies should be readily available at any rural farm store. Just don't scrimp on the charging box, get one that will grab Mr. Raccoon's attention when he comes into contact with the wire.

That is what I was looking for, just the wire strand electric fencing. I have looked at a few stores (feed stores and hardware stores) out in my area, wanted to buy locally, but none of them carry them. :/
When buying things online, you're never really sure you're going to get what you pay for. You know what I mean? I bought the coop online and won't do it again. It is OK for temporary use, and it was delivered quickly and easily put together, but it needed a LOT of work just to make it safe for them. Now looking at the impending winter months, I've asked my husband to build me a better one for the birds. I can't see leaving them in that one all winter. Way too drafty and would probably cost just as much to 'fix' it as it would to just build a new one.