Racoon rampage

[Outpost JWB]

Set traps with a can of tuna or sardines inside every night by the coop. Once they discover they can get food there, they will just keep coming back. I shoot them. But I'm sure if you don't want to, maybe someone could relocate them. We have coonhounds and actually built the new chicken coop next to where they sleep, and no problems since lol.

You don't live too far from me, so just want you to know, it's illegal in Ohio to relocate raccoons. You are allowed to catch it and release it right where you caught it......which does what good? Unless you let it sit and starve for days, then you release a famished possibly diseased animal to go attack your chickens, or other animals or even people. It makes no sense to me. Don't bring any raccoons my way. They are worth the $1 bullet hubby puts in their heads. We have a few lots of unkept land around us (9 acres next door) and we are out in the country. I'm pretty sure people dump off their stray coons, opossum, feral cats, whatever. Know the laws in your state

 

[carlf]

FarmerTony, I like the way you think!

 

[speckledhen]

Yeah, those window screens always should be replaced by properly constructed hardware cloth screens that can be latched. "Properly constructed" means no wimpy staple-gun staples, but screws backed by washers or the strong hammer-in type staple. We removed the window screens on the new steel barn we had built to replace the various coops (which also had hardware cloth screens over every opening) and replaced with these tight, framed, hinged screens on the inside. Nothing has ever gotten into any of our wooden coops or the barn since we started with chickens about 11 years ago. We live in the mountains on rural, wooded property with every predator you can think of. Of course, bears go where bears want, but we have bears, too.