Resident Raccoon

[llombardo]

I also have raccoons and oppossums living in the trees within feet of the run(the run is temporarily out of order) and coop. My boy would crow in the middle of the night and I would go out there followed by my german shepherd and they wood scoot back up the tree. The fog has done a great job keeping them on the other side and up higher in the trees. At one point I was finding zip ties ripped off in certain areas. Then one day I went to throw garbage in the bag I had over the fence and it all fell out. Yep they ate the bottom of the bag, the bag was 5 ft from the gate on the run. I immediately got rid of the bag and got an electric fence. Once I got to the gate I found scratch marks and blood. When I put that gate up there was a gap so I left exposed hardware cloth and it was a smart move. I am more at ease with the fence, but never completely. I even put the wire around two of the top sides with a ground wire in case they jumped from the fence to the run. I also have a side area with a net for supervised free range time. The way the stakes are, no animal can come through to get to the gate without getting zapped. If they come in they have to get past the dogs.

I think the best security I have is the dog. German shepherds are working dogs and he is from a working line, so he does his job, loves doing his job and does it well.

 

[itsasmallfarm]

.22 short makes good work of a coon. relocating is inhumane and most likely illegal.

i trap them with a duke dog proof coon trap. (to note it can catch skunks and cats) but again i have no season or limit on coons.

 

[Folly's place]

Electric fencing works very well, if it's possible to set it up out there. It won't help with your tree issue though. A trained dog or three are very helpful, but not an instant fix, and the most expensive flock protection too.
Mary

 

[Folly's place]

Raccoons are pretty easy to trap, ONCE, in a live trap. Then shoot it! I also use a 22g, safe and humane. No relocation!
Mary

 

[llombardo]

I do the same thing with the flashlights. It doesn't take long to find them because the dog points them out. The oppossums came later. The last one I saw was an oppossum about 3 weeks ago. There is no way I can get rid if the trees. There are way to many.

This is a baby, there was another one right on the other side of the tree. Mom is huge. The babies were waking me up at night playing with each other in the trees. They were pretty vocal

 

[20736]

Bet they have a heck-of-a-time gettin those wolves and coyotes to pee in a bottle

On a serious note, 'coons hibernate in December January and February, so once they get to sleepin you should be ok. Do you have cats you feed on your porch? If yes, they may be content to live on catfood welfare. But watch it in the Spring when the youngins get weaned.

 

[llombardo]

Bet they have a heck-of-a-time gettin those wolves and coyotes to pee in a bottle

On a serious note, 'coons hibernate in December January and February, so once they get to sleepin you should be ok. Do you have cats you feed on your porch? If yes, they may be content to live on catfood welfare. But watch it in the Spring when the youngins get weaned.

This is where I think I've been lucky. The neighbor does feed cats and they seem to gravitate to his area to eat and sleep/live in my trees. I did not sleep much this past summer. I was out there with every noise.

 

[Folly's place]

Raccoons are active here all year, and having food out on the porch or deck is a TERRIBLE idea! My barn cat ate meals, and never had food left out. I do feed the wild songbirds, intermittently, away from the chickens, and stop when the raccoons and opossums turn up. My dogs get any that arrive in their fenced back yard, which is a good thing.
Mary

 

[MROO]

Forget about urine or lights or sounds as deterrents, because none of that works for very long. Spend your time and money on predator proofing your coop and run! If your run isn't totally safe, your birds are going to be raccoon fodder soon, with this critter scoping out your chicken dinner offerings.
If you trap, shoot, or don't trap at all. Relocation is illegal and won't do him any favors anyway.
If this tree needs to go, now is a good time. You still need to make sure that nobody can get to your chickens!
Mary

X20 on this! Mary's spot-on-right about all of it. If you can't get rid of the raccoon, your next best bet is to get rid of the tree. If it has a nesting hollow in it, it is probably not structurally sound and could come down on your coop in a storm. It's well past (and before) nesting season, so the coons will move on ... but probably not far.
Regardless of how you handle removing the raccoons, you need to coon-proof your coop and run. For this, electric fencing is your friend! If you can't run a wire, put in solar, but you definitely need to put a charge into their lives. If you don't, you'll likely end up feeding the locals on eggs and fresh drumsticks!
Good Luck!

 

[MROO]

I use Skunk scent sprayed directly on dogs that get loose that end up in my back yard disturbing chickens. I don't go looking for loose dogs to be a jerk I tend to just spray repeat offenders. After a dog comes home smelling like skunk the owners suddenly discover how to keep them contained. I have had people tell me that they are doing their best to keep their dogs in but (insert excuse here) after dealing with a dog that they believe was sprayed by a skunk they seem to do so much better at keeping their dogs contained.