racoon disaster

[terry the teacher]

My 2 month old chickens were attacked by a racoon the other night. At least we think it was a racoon. The poor chickens' heads were pulled through the wire. So now my "dirty dozen" is down to 7. 3 hens and 4 roosters ( I think ) I'm a new chicken owner so I'm not sure which is which.

 

[justusnak]

Oh Terry, how HORRIBLE! Do you just have chicken wire up for a fence? You might want to invest in some hardware cloth....those pesky coons will come back untill all of your babies are gone. They are great climbers as well....hope you have a top on that run. Do you not lock them up at night? Might be a good idea to lock them in the coop, and make sure that pesky coon can not get inside. They are very good at opening certain latches as well. Time for a trap....relocate that monster. Hope you dont lose any more....and above all, be safe!

 

[S n M Poultry]

So sorry to hear that. I just lost 3/4 of my flock to a bobcat...

 

[picklespickles]

 

[lacyloo]

:aww aww terry im soory
i would be happy to come trap it for you.
But if you happen to get a trap to catch the coon use
hickory smoked raw bacon , That should catch him.

 

[silkiechicken]

Sorry for your loss, heads pulled though sounds like coon to me. Time to use that hardware cloth to circle the runs to make them more pred proof, and also put in a "skirt" so it can't dig under as it now knows where food is.

 

[Poison Ivy]

Sorry to hear that I've had the same thing happen to several of mine a few years back. I would set the trap and get rid of it for good!

 

[SpottedCrow]

That's a bummer...my only loss so far was to a raccoon...knock on wood...there won't be anymore...

Chicken wire isn't worth the money...It's good for keeping chickens in but nothing else out...
Hardware cloth or welded wire is best...
Raccoons have lovely opposable thumbs just like us and can use their little hands to get in all sorts of trouble.

That's not a splendid intro to chickening, but it does happen.
Welcome to BYC, by the way...feel free to ask us anything. The search here works quite well too.