Raccoons have wiped out my flock completely.

[Pumpkinpup]

My birds started to disappear a couple at a time. I put out live traps and caught one raccoon and one possum. Then several at a time would go missing and there would be feathers everywhere. The traps became useless and after a while of failed attemps to control the problem a neighbor got pictures of a family of raccoons with a bird! I give up! No more birds til I can figure out how to build a much more secure coop!

 

[Mikee1948]

I 've lost two flocks to coons, but have finally got it right (I hope!). Start the run with a frame construction (I used 2x4 pressure treated lumber. My old fencing was 2x2 inch wire. Over that I placed hardware cloth. Raccoons can't reach in through hardware cloth (it is a must!). Next I built a roof over the entire run and covered it with wire fencing. I hope your coop is secure and they are not getting in that way. Put a door on the coop and lock it at night. Raccoons are nocturnal. After you think it's secure, go over every inch of your coop and run and look for any openings. I had a coon squeeze through a 3x5 inch opening. If you live trap, DO NOT RELEASE them. KILL them. A .22 pistol is effective, and so is a long walk off a short pier. Oh, and if you want to free range, get a good watch dog.

 

[flowerchild59]

Coons are smart and once they know you have an all night smorgasborg, they will stop by again and again to sample the dinner items. If you catch one, kill it without hesitation. You could take them 10 miles away and they would be someone else's problem. They also bit and claw and you don't want to risk a confrontation.

 

[SilkieBantams]

I'd suggest putting out leg traps and nite guard to raccoon height.

 

[iajewel]

The best thing I ever did was to buy a Large Guardian dog. I now have several. I have not lost a bird since I bought my first big white dog. I have Akbash and Great Pyrs.

 

[Pumpkinpup]

I killed the one that I trapped and managed to shoot one other but the remainder of the family of 8 are still at large

It will be quite a while before I try again, most likely next spring. I will build a totally new coop with much more predator safe design features.
I have shifted my thinking over the past year to a much more self sufficient gear. I got completely away from horses which seem to be a bottomless money pit and gone back to cattle (which I have had before when married to my first husband) pigs which are not much trouble and produce nice freezer filler, nubian dairy goats and a jersey for milk and added income and of course the chickens which I have loved my entire life. I don't ever see myself permanantly fowlless, lol. I still have plenty to keep me busy so the birds can wait til better weather gets here.