Racoons help!

[Curious Georgina]

Any help or advice appreciated. We have security cameras on the coop at night and 9.30pm just after dark we saw a gang of racoons in the run. We ran out with flashlights and sticks screaming and they ran off. But I know they’ll be back. I know racoons.. how they return..experienced them looking after feral cats in Japan. What I’d like to know is what anyone has found effective in deterring their return. Are there any success stories? All I read is gloomy murderous endings and that the scent deterrents don’t work as they will find a gap in them etc. Our birds have a combination lock on the coop. I don’t have lots of money - is there any thing we can do to get these racoons off the property? Before they kill our chickens. Worried.

 

[McChooky]

Any help or advice appreciated. We have security cameras on the coop at night and 9.30pm just after dark we saw a gang of racoons in the run. We ran out with flashlights and sticks screaming and they ran off. But I know they’ll be back. I know racoons.. how they return..experienced them looking after feral cats in Japan. What I’d like to know is what anyone has found effective in deterring their return. Are there any success stories? All I read is gloomy murderous endings and that the scent deterrents don’t work as they will find a gap in them etc. Our birds have a combination lock on the coop. I don’t have lots of money - is there any thing we can do to get these racoons off the property? Before they kill our chickens. Worried.

You need an electric fence. The pain of being shocked will stop them.

 

[Beamerz]

Any help or advice appreciated. We have security cameras on the coop at night and 9.30pm just after dark we saw a gang of racoons in the run. We ran out with flashlights and sticks screaming and they ran off. But I know they’ll be back. I know racoons.. how they return..experienced them looking after feral cats in Japan. What I’d like to know is what anyone has found effective in deterring their return. Are there any success stories? All I read is gloomy murderous endings and that the scent deterrents don’t work as they will find a gap in them etc. Our birds have a combination lock on the coop. I don’t have lots of money - is there any thing we can do to get these racoons off the property? Before they kill our chickens. Worried.

My husband is a Licensed .. Nusiance Animal Control guy who traps skunks and raccoons daily. You can buy a have a hart trap at a tractor supply or probably other places depending on where you live. If it's a big raccoon it won't go into a too small trap.. so don't buy the smallest trap. I'd got for medium or large. You can bait with peanut butter or things like chocolate junk food cake i.e. devil dogs.. he uses peanut butter and it works. We trap regularly to be sure we have no raccoons around our chicken house. Sometimes he will leave a small bag of garbage in the back of his truck at night.. if it's there in the morning , there are no racs around.. ( skunks can't climb).. if there is a mess he will set traps.. I hope this will help.. They don't like lights and noise but you have to be proactive to keep their populations down. Rats are on the rise everywhere and they do things to chickens that are very gruesome .. We have bait boxes everywhere.. and I know if one of the chickens were to eat a small rat that had been poisoned it would die but we keep the Rat populations waaaaay down so that won't happen.. and you have to keep on them all the time. People say using poison for rats is dangerous for chickens and to some extent it can be and is. But having a rat enter the vent of a chicken and eating from the inside out is on the other end of the risk. If I can answer any varmit issues.. I'm happy to give our perspective. One place people get squeamish is killing the raccoon.. If you release a racoon it will NEVER go into a trap again. If you trap raccoons you need to kill them or you create a super nuisance for someone else. If that someone else has chickens.. that's not fair. There are no shortages of nuisance animals and unfortunately life is full of difficult choices. People need to be aware of these facts. Be wary of dealing with Raccoons.. they can disembowel a man if cornered and they leap at you and we know of another trapper who had this happen to him . We love all animals.. but our chickens have a considerable investment that we need to protect. Some people drown raccoons.. my husband finds a 22 to the head ( even in a cage) is a much faster less traumatic death. I hope this helps and if this upsets you that was not my intention, I'm trying to help someone defend their flock, which is what we do.

 

[FatherofChickens]

Make sure there's no food anywhere outside the coop the coons would be attracted to. Most of my racoon deaths came from coons that were already attracted to food/water where they could get to it at night. The killing of the chickens was secondary.

I removed the outdoor food pellet dispenser and got a good electronic door - really made a difference.

I see possums and coons out there all the time at night. But they are usually just passing through.

 

[McChooky]

I keep cayenne pepper sprinkled around my run to keep diggers out . Raccoons have a sensitive nose & despise cayenne powder.

 

[Curious Georgina]

My husband is a Licensed .. Nusiance Animal Control guy who traps skunks and raccoons daily. You can buy a have a hart trap at a tractor supply or probably other places depending on where you live. If it's a big raccoon it won't go into a too small trap.. so don't buy the smallest trap. I'd got for medium or large. You can bait with peanut butter or things like chocolate junk food cake i.e. devil dogs.. he uses peanut butter and it works. We trap regularly to be sure we have no raccoons around our chicken house. Sometimes he will leave a small bag of garbage in the back of his truck at night.. if it's there in the morning , there are no racs around.. ( skunks can't climb).. if there is a mess he will set traps.. I hope this will help.. They don't like lights and noise but you have to be proactive to keep their populations down. Rats are on the rise everywhere and they do things to chickens that are very gruesome .. We have bait boxes everywhere.. and I know if one of the chickens were to eat a small rat that had been poisoned it would die but we keep the Rat populations waaaaay down so that won't happen.. and you have to keep on them all the time. People say using poison for rats is dangerous for chickens and to some extent it can be and is. But having a rat enter the vent of a chicken and eating from the inside out is on the other end of the risk. If I can answer any varmit issues.. I'm happy to give our perspective. One place people get squeamish is killing the raccoon.. If you release a racoon it will NEVER go into a trap again. If you trap raccoons you need to kill them or you create a super nuisance for someone else. If that someone else has chickens.. that's not fair. There are no shortages of nuisance animals and unfortunately life is full of difficult choices. People need to be aware of these facts. Be wary of dealing with Raccoons.. they can disembowel a man if cornered and they leap at you and we know of another trapper who had this happen to him . We love all animals.. but our chickens have a considerable investment that we need to protect. Some people drown raccoons.. my husband finds a 22 to the head ( even in a cage) is a much faster less traumatic death. I hope this helps and if this upsets you that was not my intention, I'm trying to help someone defend their flock, which is what we do.

It’s a great reply and I thank you. I want them dead. There are 5. We looked at the camera surveillance this morning and they are roaming our land. I have no feelings for these animals after an incident some years ago protecting feral cats. Looks like we’d need several traps however and if one sees another stuck in one they won’t go in another.

The rat poison is a good idea too. As long as my dog doesn’t catch one.

Our chickens are precious and an investment and I’m willing to do anything. One think I wished we had last night was better preparation for this. I’d have shot them but don’t know if that’s legal? I should have suspected something a few days ago when I woke to a mess in the run. I’ve since found the enter exit hole in the wire which I’ll fill with ammonia soaked rags tonight. I’m also going to be more vigilant about ANY leftover food in the run and remove water from areas where we had it out.

Thank you so much for your time replying in detail and all the information. Very helpful.

 

[Beamerz]

Hello,
I'm glad I was of some help to you. No I do not believe you need more than one trap to consecutively catch Racs.. My husband sets 2-3 traps at homes and will catch a mix of skunks and racs... but it's once they have BEEN IN a trap that they won't retrap.. . Trapping is the most likely method of ridding yourself of these animals. I don't know about your gun laws.. Where we are it's not legal to discharge a firearm within 500 ft of someone elses home. Racs are still living in families they created this Spring.. to some extent.. If I were you I'd just get whittling them down.. There is drought in many areas ( including where we are) .. it's not just the chickens and their food that is chumming in the animals but they likely can also smell the water in some cases.. I have a very flimsy plastic deer wire around my outside run. I never had a problem in 3 years.. Since the drought the rats chewed through right in front of the water dish I leave outside.. I patched it.. they chewed through again.. I have a small pond and stream that usually run within a 100 feet of my coop..but lately both dried up. Never had this problem until the drought.. It's making all the wild animals stressed.

 

[nuthatched]

As long as your coop is secure, I wouldn't worry.

 

[McChooky]

It’s a great reply and I thank you. I want them dead. There are 5. We looked at the camera surveillance this morning and they are roaming our land. I have no feelings for these animals after an incident some years ago protecting feral cats. Looks like we’d need several traps however and if one sees another stuck in one they won’t go in another.

The rat poison is a good idea too. As long as my dog doesn’t catch one.

Our chickens are precious and an investment and I’m willing to do anything. One think I wished we had last night was better preparation for this. I’d have shot them but don’t know if that’s legal? I should have suspected something a few days ago when I woke to a mess in the run. I’ve since found the enter exit hole in the wire which I’ll fill with ammonia soaked rags tonight. I’m also going to be more vigilant about ANY leftover food in the run and remove water from areas where we had it out.

Thank you so much for your time replying in detail and all the information. Very helpful.

Killing these will keep them safe until another one shows up to eat your chickens.
You need a run nothing can get inside.