Should I just admit defeat?

[mcdze]

i agree .. chickens have 'good' memory and will pass that down to, if a bad incident occured in the coop you will have hard time overcoming that, food is your best leverage .. you wont get rid of night time predators ever but you could certainly get rid of problem critters that have made it a nightly routine to hang out at your coop .. best setup is a flashlight with adjustable spot taped to a 12 gauge and some #6 .. pattern it and adjust it at dusk so the shot c loud is dead on the flashlight spot at about 20 ft ... then you got to figure out what time your problem critter is prowling around .. i'd bait it in front of a nice backstop like a pile of wood or dirt and you got to go out at different times 'very' quietly throughout the night until you catch them in the act lol .. when you detect it bang the light on and let him have it ..

 

[CHlCKEN]

They never go into the hen house or at night, they are not going in to roost? Have pics of the hen house, showing setup.

You could just install a drawer light and change the batteries on a regular basis. But once they are accustomed to the coop again there will be no need for nightlights.
https://www.amazon.com/drawer-lights/s?k=drawer+lights

The much bigger issue is the overcrowding as omlet coops are known to be small for even the recommended regular amount of chickens to house.

So if there is no chance to get a bigger coop, it seems necessary to rehome some of your existing chickens. Otherwise some predator will take care of the overcrowding which will be much worse than rehoming some.

Other than raccoons there are also snakes, weasels, opossums etc. able to reach them. Even rats like a good chicken snack.

The Coop I have is not actually Omlet, it’s a snap loc. The RUN I have is an omlet, One of the largest sizes. The snap loc coop is the largest snap loc, however we had bought it for our flock of 3. I could figure out another option, and there are tons of different things I could do. Just takes some convincing. I do worry about rats and weasels, snakes etc, but the bottom bars are extremely close together, to close for any of those creatures, however it does still worry me despite the fact. The skirt blocks any diggers, but the raccoons aren’t afraid to climb. I’m just going to take down the branch, and get that drawer light. Work on looking for a nicer coop.

 

[CHlCKEN]

Trap and kill them.

I couldn’t do that, I have a barn cat who would be killed by the traps. It would be much to dangerous to even attempt it though because this cat could easily get back out even if she was kept inside. This omlet run has never had any predators hack it but they always try, it worries me that the chicks could be stolen through the bars- even if they don’t fit they could be squeezed through. We also have rabbits and baby rabbits, who make their nests adjacent to the coop so any trap would kill them instead.

 

[LaFleche]

The Coop I have is not actually Omlet, it’s a snap loc.

I looked it up on the homepage and you can definitely see that even for the standard hybrid hen the roof of the coop is much too low for the hens to roost comfortably.

This might work for 3-4 bantams but not for normal sized chickens.

 

[CHlCKEN]

i agree .. chickens have 'good' memory and will pass that down to, if a bad incident occured in the coop you will have hard time overcoming that, food is your best leverage .. you wont get rid of night time predators ever but you could certainly get rid of problem critters that have made it a nightly routine to hang out at your coop .. best setup is a flashlight with adjustable spot taped to a 12 gauge and some #6 .. pattern it and adjust it at dusk so the shot c loud is dead on the flashlight spot at about 20 ft ... then you got to figure out what time your problem critter is prowling around .. i'd bait it in front of a nice backstop like a pile of wood or dirt and you got to go out at different times 'very' quietly throughout the night until you catch them in the act lol .. when you detect it bang the light on and let him have it ..

Nothing has yet happend in the coop, the babies go in their during the day and scratch the shavings around so I know they know how to get in there, and that they are willing to. That’s a great trap idea but the thing is that the raccoons are VERY unpredictable. They haven’t shown up in two weeks but then they will come for 3 days and leave again. I can’t time it exactly. I do have some of those motion sensor lights for the driveway, a few of them we didn’t use. I could set them up on the tree that faces the place that the raccoons climb around. After one time though, wouldn’t the raccoons catch on? And the light would go off with the chickens to

 

[LaFleche]

I do worry about rats and weasels, snakes etc, but the bottom bars are extremely close together, to close for any of those creatures, however it does still worry me despite the fact. The skirt blocks any diggers, but the raccoons aren’t afraid to climb.

Any of the above creatures climb as well with no effort and can squeeze right through tiny holes.

 

[bobbi-j]

If your coop is already too small for the grown hens you have, the younger ones will not be able to go in there to roost because the hens likely won’t allow it. Could you post pictures of your setup? It would help us to help you. If you aren’t able to enlarge your coop and run, you may need to find homes for some of your chickens. They’re only going to get more crowded as they grow. Chickens in crowded conditions develop bad habits such as bullying, feather picking and sometimes even cannibalism.

 

[roosterhavoc]

I couldn’t do that, I have a barn cat who would be killed by the traps. It would be much to dangerous to even attempt it though because this cat could easily get back out even if she was kept inside. This omlet run has never had any predators hack it but they always try, it worries me that the chicks could be stolen through the bars- even if they don’t fit they could be squeezed through. We also have rabbits and baby rabbits, who make their nests adjacent to the coop so any trap would kill them instead.

Use a cage?

 

[CHlCKEN]

Use a cage?

I could try that

 

[bobbi-j]

I could try that

Before you use a cage to live trap raccoons or anything else, you need a plan to dispose of them. Releasing them on your property is pointless - they’ll just be back the next night, but now they’ll be trap wise and harder to catch. Catching and releasing anywhere else is likely illegal where you live, and I’m guessing you don’t have a way (or desire) to kill them. Your best bet is to make your coop and run as predator resistant as you can. Make sure the branch they roost on is far enough away from the walls and roof that a raccoon can’t reach in. Maybe ask your parents if they can buy you some 1/2” hardware cloth to wrap your coop with. (Or, if you’re old enough, maybe do odd jobs and extra chores to earn the money to buy it yourself.)