Racoon in coop

[blueclip]

Found a racoon sitting in one of my nestboxes in the coop this morning. Luckily, all of my birds are fine. I chased him out and he went up a tree, my questions is do I have to worry that a racoon was laying in the coop? I'm obviously going to throw away the eggs that he sat on but is there anything else that I need to do to ensure cleanliness and spread of potential illness/disease? Or are racoons nothing to worry about?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

The short answer is - YES, you need to worry - not for the reason you are thinking, hygenic, but because you now have a raccoon who has found a very desirable place to sleep and, soon enough, eat -- eggs and birds. There was no need to throw out any eggs, if you were worried a simple wash would do the trick. The bigger concern is security - he has shown you that your coop is not secure, at all. Time to identify and correct all points of entry for this, and all other predators.

 

[carlf]

Disease is not a concern, the raccoon killing your birds is the only concern.

And YES! Be very worried.
Sorry to say it but you've now got quite a problem on your hands, time to get to work!

Quite honestly I am surprised it didn't kill any birds or even your entire flock.

Next steps:
Find out how it got in & fix it, secure the your coop and run.
If your run does not have a top, add one.
Make sure your coop doors are lockable. Hardware clothe on all windows, not just window screen.

Now that they find your coop, they will come back.
Get a cage trap and start trapping and killing raccoons. Marshmallow, dry cat food, sardines are all good bait.
If you cant bring yourself to trap and kill them, call someone who will or hire a critter control company.
DO NOT relocate raccoons, it illegal in almost every state and quite simply irresponsible. Trap and kill.

I also recommend an outside dog. My chocolate lab hangs out with my hens and keeps all predators out of the area. Only time I ever lost a bird is when she was away for a week at the kennel.

 

[bobbi-j]

I agree with the above posters - time to secure your coop! I would also suggest trapping and eliminating it, but not everyone is wired that way, and that's fine. A good, secure coop and run will help protect your birds. I would recommend putting electric wire around your coop and run. Several strands of it, starting at about 4" off the ground. I'd put at least 4 strands, 4"- 6" apart. That's what we do to keep coons and deer out of our sweet corn. I don't have electric around my chicken coops. Someday that may come back to bite me, but I am pretty confident that they are raccoon proof the way they are.

 

[pjs22]

We had raccoons kill all but 3 of our chickens. We have a coop like fort knox now

 

[aart]

Found a racoon sitting in one of my nestboxes in the coop this morning. Luckily, all of my birds are fine. I chased him out and he went up a tree, my questions is do I have to worry that a racoon was laying in the coop? I'm obviously going to throw away the eggs that he sat on but is there anything else that I need to do to ensure cleanliness and spread of potential illness/disease? Or are racoons nothing to worry about?

You're kidding, right?
Raccoons are one of the worst chicken predators there is.