Raccoons

[HiddenBrookAcres]

My coop is as predator proof as I can get it. I have 2 persistent raccoons, is there anything I can do to keep them away? I am permitted to shoot pests if they threaten livestock but I am trying to find some natural deterrents. I would like to hear some ideas. Thanks

 

[bobbi-j]

Do you have electric fence around your coop? That's a good deterrent.

 

[gamelife]

Quote:
So would I.

 

[baldessariclan]

Are they able to get into the coop? If not, they'll go away eventually -- move on to easier pickings when they get hungry enough.

 

[ll]

I just read about spreading cayenne pepper all around.
Supposedly is burns their paws and nostrils?
Good luck.

 

[bakerjw]

They may not get in to the chickens but they will certainly make it part of their rounds. The night you might leave a door open might just coincide with the night that they wander by.

 

[HiddenBrookAcres]

Quote:
they should not be able to get in. It is a shed with double locks on doors and hardware cloth over windows and vents. They manage to get into the run by digging. They are eating whatever veggie scraps and pellets that were left over. I now make sure that I do not leave leftovers. I did bury the chicken wire but they managed to dig under it anyway. I put the hens in before dark and do a head count before lock down...I just want the coons to go away.
Thanks for the input everyone!

 

[Trish44]

They will go away when they don't find a snack waiting for them & move on to easier pickings.

 

[baldessariclan]

Quote:
they should not be able to get in. It is a shed with double locks on doors and hardware cloth over windows and vents. They manage to get into the run by digging. They are eating whatever veggie scraps and pellets that were left over. I now make sure that I do not leave leftovers. I did bury the chicken wire but they managed to dig under it anyway. I put the hens in before dark and do a head count before lock down...I just want the coons to go away.
Thanks for the input everyone!

If you can secure the base of the run so they can't dig under, then they will leave. Maybe try burying big rocks or paving stones on end all around the perimeter? Or a heavy gauge wire floor across the inside (attached to sides of run)? Anyways, if it's too much work or impossible to dig under/into, they'll give up and move on.

We occasionally find some signs that our local raccoons have tried to get in to our coop/run, but no luck for them so far. It would be a pretty tough go -- they'd have to dig under foot tall paving bricks buried in the ground (hard clay soil w/ lots of rocks and tree roots), or somehow chew through hardware cloth and 2x4's. Took some work to build it that way, but it's paid off so far.

 

[darkmatter]