Raccoons are savage

[ChickLOVESChicks]

animals don't really chew there legs off on purpose, (its just a lie anti-trapping groups like to spread) the reason animals used to chew there legs off was due to the old traps (with the teeth and full metal jaws) would cut the blood off therefore cutting off the feeling and when the animal chews the trap they would chew there leg not noticing due to loss of feeling.

this is what i have been told and read from different sources.

Oh wow, that makes sense... Thanks! I admit I haven't done much research because this kinda thing can make me a bit emotional, lol...
But when my small flock/coop was attacked I had to buck up and change how I do things around our backyard... And to convince my husband not to shoot them, lol.
It's been hard since I had become friends with a particular coon with one blind eye, who came every single night. He still comes even though I stopped feeding him long ago.... Turns out it was a SHE and she came by with her 3 baby coons a few days ago.
Because this is an old neighborhood with tons of coon populations, it would be dumb of me to go on a murder rampage, even though I was devastated when I lost 2 birds... because more would always come.
So now I have a beefed up coop/run, and "visitors" can come and go without worry.

 

[ChickLOVESChicks]

I'm happy to live and let live too, but not always. Sometimes the right thing to do involves that 22g.
My coop and run are now very safe, except that the old concrete floor is no longer secured from mice, and last year a couple of rats. It was poison, or having dead chickens, and more mice than birds!
Sick foxes, opossums, or raccoons are a menace and need to be eliminated ASAP also.
Mary

I agree sometimes it might be the only option, especially with sick animals... it can be a hard balance to live with nature... But it sure is worth it!!

 

[Glorybee]

Sorry for your loss. That is a lot of chickens to lose in one day. How did they get to them again? Was it in the run/free ranging or in your coop? What is your pest deterrent like where they were killed? Asking to help build mine as secure as I can.

 

[Beer can]

Good luck, get that sucker!!

Lost my first chicken in the coop ever the other night to a racoon. I've lost a few through the yrs free ranging to hawks or fox but never in the coop.
Set a havahart style trap from TSC it was the same price but came with a extra smaller trap. First time it dragged it through the bushes and pulled all the bait through the holes in the trap at about 11:30pm. So I set it again with a big rock on it and blocked the sides with boards hoping it was dumb enough to come back again. 12:30am success!!

 

[nightowl223]

I agree that since some places do not let you release without certain precautions, rules and regulations, etc... that it is a troublesome solution. But I myself, do not kill anything regardless. I don't like punishing animals for being animals. And I don't feel it solves anything, as other predators will come.
But that's just me. I feel the best way to combat them is to live with them the best we can, by not encouraging, (left out food, attractants, etc.) and having an iron-clad coop and run.... Because once you get rid of one predator, there's always another... so always be prepared.

It's a lovely thought, and one I lived by for a long time. However, there is NO coop that is completely raccoon-proof. They will chew through wood or siding or wire or whatever they can chew through to get to your birds. To me, the only good raccoon is a dead one, if it steps foot on my property. I held my favorite little hen (a fantastic momma!), a beautiful little Blue Frizzled Banty Cochin, as she suffered and died from such horrific wounds from a raccoon attack, knowing that it was a lost cause, but trying my best to help her, or to at least comfort her, as she died in my lap. That was the last straw. I went to war with them. And I won.

 

[Stepnout]

Good luck, get that sucker!!

Lost my first chicken in the coop ever the other night to a racoon. I've lost a few through the yrs free ranging to hawks or fox but never in the coop.
Set a havahart style trap from TSC it was the same price but came with a extra smaller trap. First time it dragged it through the bushes and pulled all the bait through the holes in the trap at about 11:30pm. So I set it again with a big rock on it and blocked the sides with boards hoping it was dumb enough to come back again. 12:30am success!!
View attachment 1437462

Keep the trap set...this one has acomplises, no doubt they will be back

 

[David McMahan]

The electric fence is my favorite,but I also use the wire cage traps have caught 2 at a time. I drown them in a 50 gal. barrel of water. That way I don't have to clean blood out of my cages. Oh yea a 12 gauge works wonders.

 

[jacksonsquare]

One raccoon killed 19 chickens at one time? Are you sure there is not any other possible predator working with the raccoon?

I’d be looking for a fox as the culprit. That’s a lot of chickens to lose in one night

 

[nightowl223]

I’d be looking for a fox as the culprit. That’s a lot of chickens to lose in one night

I've lost that many - more, actually - in one night to raccoons, but there were over a dozen of them coming in, from multiple directions, aiming at multiple coops, all at the same time.

 

[Magnolia Ducks]

I found that if you Have one raccoon you have fifty. I trapped and trapped and they kept coming. I keep my ducks and geese in horse stalls at night. Went to TSC and got goat fence. Put it all around the outside secured tight all the way to the ceiling and have had no problem with raccoons since. Sigh, lost three to the bobcat this week. She only takes what she eats, usually not more than one, but she must have kits. I free range in the day and she comes for duck buffet from noon till three. You read they are nocturnal, not true. I have not figured out how to solve this one as free range for my girls is a quality of life issue. They start clamoring to get out about 8:30. She runs by grabs a duck and is gone. She is too fast for m e to shoot her and my dog doesn't like the heat in the middle of the day.