Something is getting my chickens!!

[mrpekinduck]

It could have been a rat as they can be suprisingly strong. I also think that it was probably a raccoon. Sorry for the loss of your birds thats terrible!

 

[gpwelding1]

Quote:
you're welcome,glad i could help

!keep us us updated on what you get.
the hen is ok,when we opened the coop this morning she was standing at the feeder.not sure why i didnt see her last night.im just glad shes ok!

 

[ASweetHeart]

Something was out there last night. It got the bait out of trap, set the trap off, but didn't get caught!!

There were tracks on my back porch, wick is on another part of my yard. Not 100% sure, but I think they are racoon tracks. Am starting to feel like how Wile E. Coyote must feel with his endless unsucessful attempts to catch the roadrunner, lol.

 

[UrbanFarmerGreg]

I find that if you cover the back 2/3 of the trap with an old blanket then the raccoon or whichever animal has a better chance of going through the door to get the food. If they can't see the food through the cage they won't try to reach through the sides to get it... does anyone else use a blanket or cover their traps?

 

[gpwelding1]

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ok,most likely that was a coon.and what he did was went around the outside of the trap trying to get the bait.while he was doing this he hit the rod that runs on the outside of the trap,causing the door to fall.
the best way to prevent this is by making it VERY hard for him to get near the rod.when you set the trap,position it so the side withe the rod is 1 or 2 inches away from the wall of your coop.
if where you have the trap set is kind of out in the open,set a concrete block on that side of the trap so its blocks access to the rod.
after you do this and set and bait the trap,just take a deep breath

and walk away.

 

[gpwelding1]

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i havnt ever tryed a blanket.when i had my old traps years ago i use to use small limbs in a similar way.but the traps i bought from TRACTOR SUPPLY CO. ,which are the same ones ASweetHeart has, have external trigger rods if you try laying something over part of it like that it causes them to trip.

 

[ASweetHeart]

Gonna try to build some sort of box to go arould it today. I'm not very handy, so wish me luck!!

 

[gpwelding1]

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you can do it

.just remeber,make it easly acceable for baiting and setting.and make it so it doesnt touch the trigger rod.

 

[toripeeps]

Well, we still haven't caught anything in the traps. We have set small and large traps, the traps are sprung and the bait is gone and there are even tracks inside the cages, but nothing yet. We even tried a poison on night, still nothing. I will suggest the blanket trick to my husband but if there are tracks inside the traps, and the bait is gone and the trap is sprung, what do I do now?

 

[gpwelding1]

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try the balanket trick,just be realy gental around the trip rod with it.this has got me puzled.
could you tell if it looked like something had slid or moved the traps?that is another trick an old coon will use.i know it sounds weird,but when they try reaching through the trap and cant get the bait,they will try to push or roll the trap.this lets the bait fall through the wire mesh and most cases trips the trap.
i have come out and my small trap flipped over on its top,and my large trap slid around about 10 or 12 inches.now i secure them to the wire of my chicken pens with zip ties.
sorry i hadnt mentiond that before.that part slipped my mind.