Should I be worried about raccoons?

Chickens dont "free range" at night.
They go to roost and are unmoving until morning light.
Leaving the door unlocked puts your birds at great risk, and has no benifit side EXCEPT you get to sleep in longer.
Maybe look into an auto door. Some folks like them.
Chickens are defenseless at night. And to be honest there only defence during the day is run and hide.
Remember, everything eats chicken.
 
Chickens dont "free range" at night.
They go to roost and are unmoving until morning light.
Leaving the door unlocked puts your birds at great risk, and has no benifit side EXCEPT you get to sleep in longer.
Maybe look into an auto door. Some folks like them.
Chickens are defenseless at night. And to be honest there only defence during the day is run and hide.
Remember, everything eats chicken.
Amen! Everything eats chicken...but everything doesn’t taste like chicken! Lol!
 
They love the sewers, under sheds, in dense brush, in your attic, just about anywhere they can fit. And you can bet there's at least 5 more to the 1 you see.
They follow the town drain pipes in our town. One night earlier this year when our chicks were about 7 or 8 weeks old I had them outside on our screened in porch off of our laundry room for the afternoon while I cleaned their brooder pen in the house inside the laundry room. Well that night not long after we had gone to bed maybe an hour we hear a clang and our door knob being messed with but our security alarm did not go off because the lock was not completely disengaged. However my husband had heard the ruckus sooner than I for once as well as my dog. I was exhausted from the heat that day and had passed out. It turns out the culprit was a boar coon larger than our two dogs out together trying to get inside and get to my chicks. Now that is ballsy. My husband grabbed his 22. Rifle and I grabbed my 38. I didn’t know what or who was trying to break in but he chased him around our backyard but couldn’t get a safe shot in our neighborhood. It is rural but not that rural for a small town. They are obnoxious and not scared of anything. I have had three huge coyotes that came to our back gate which weren’t that brave to come I. And climb up the 12 stairs over our in ground pool and up to our porch door.
 
I used to see a raccoon with its head sticking out of storm sewer early morning. But recently this guy ( on the tree) showed up in my backyard two days in a row...
 

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As your post said never mind regarding raccoons, I am just here to say I too am a late sleeper. Mibe don't get let out tilm 10:30-11:30AM. I was awoken one day this week by an unknown stranger banging on my door at 7AM. The girls were let out early that day and were totally confused. They kept coming on the porch even though it was daylight. My takeaway from this event was they get used to whatever schedule you have them on and seems consistency is more important to them. Lock them up at night & let them out when you wake up.
 
We're seeing a fat raccoon in the chick pen twice during the broad daylight in the last several days! My neighbor who feeds birds/animals called saying that she saw two fat raccoons at her feeding table! So far the chickens are okay and seem not bothered by its presence. Bigger worry is whether it carries rabies :mad:

It's just a matter of time and opportunity for the raccoon to decide it likes the taste of chicken better than the other alternatives.

Raccoon predation is at its worst in the spring, when mother raccoons are trying to feed their hungry youngsters, and in the fall, when it's more often solo racoons or pairs of siblings that do the damage.

Save your chickens from a painful and nasty death and yourself the heartache and remorse by locking them up safe at night.

If chickens were safe enough from predators, you wouldn't have to buy them, they would be running around free and feral.
 

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