Should I wait for the raccoons?

[AmyRey]

I should have probably never ventured into this section.

I wasn't really worried about predators much, since the girls spend their nights very close to the house, locked up. But now ya'll have me on edge.

I know we have raccoons, foxes and birds of prey.

I'm wondering if I should set up a trap for the fur covered predators now, before they've even noticed the girls. Or wait until there's a reason.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

Quote:
If you set a trap now, you will have to use a bait that will ATTRACT them.

I'd wait

 

[kikescove.com]

I tend to live by the thought the best cure is prevenative measures. Kind of like you don't wait until they have lice before you treat them, you keep a clean house to prevent them from getting lice. That sort of thing....

It won't be subtle when the coons finally take your birds. You could lose all of them in one night. If that sort of loss is OK then fine. If that is unacceptable, then prevenative meausures should be taken.

 

[AmyRey]

That's what I'm thinking, too. I don't want to do things to intentionally bring them around. But then, if I wait until they've found the girls... well, they'll have found (and possibly killed) the girls.

Our rooster roosts in the trees. I think he slept in the coop the first two nights but now he goes back into the neighbor's trees and spends the night there.

Maybe if a raccoon shows up, it'll go after him first?

 

[GaNewChick]

I have 2 roosters and 3 hens that are wild. I can't get close to them for any reason. They have been free ranging and roosting in the trees for the last 1 1/2 years with no problem yet. Of couse that day could come.

I also have 3 in a coop. I leave whole corn out for the deer every night and I have a coon that stops by 3 or 4 nights a week to eat corn. I've watched him eat and then leave. He has not bothered my coop yet.

I look at it this way ~ if I can't secure my coop enough to keep my chickens safe, then I shouldn't own them. I'm not going to be bothered with setting traps from here on out, to catch predators night after night because I failed as a chicken owner to secure them.

 

[AmyRey]

I guess another important factor as to whether predators will go after your chickens is how much food there is available to them already?

We've never had any other signs of raccoons at our house, although I know they've got to be around. They don't bother our trash/birdfeeders/etc so perhaps they're well-fed enough that they won't bother our chickens either.

And yes, I have gone to great lengths to protect them at night in what I consider to be a pretty formidable coop. But... doesn't pretty much everyone think their coops are predator-proof? Until they're shown otherwise.

 

[MIKE555444]

Quote:
Maybe that is a little harsh there GaNewChick? I suppose you do make a good point though... and it would be hard to deplete a whole forest of preditors. Hmmm

 

[GaNewChick]

Quote:
Maybe that is a little harsh there GaNewChick? I suppose you do make a good point though... and it would be hard to deplete a whole forest of preditors. Hmmm

If I can't keep my chickens safe, then I don't need to own them. What part is harsh may I ask?

 

[AmyRey]

Quote:
For the record, I totally agree.

I'm being proactive already with the type of coop I built, its placement in my yard, locking up the girls at night, etc.

My question is ... mainly ... HOW proactive should I be? Should I take further steps to combat the predators that I KNOW are in the area? And does the possible downside of purposely attracting them outweigh the amount of prevention gained?

 

[blbgp]

You will never be able to kill off all the predators in your area. Just make sure your coop is totally safe.