The raccoons have picked a battle with the wrong person...

[Dar]

I have lost 10+ chickens in the past few weeks... some to our own dog.. and the rest were unaccounted for.

A silke Dharma
A sultan hen Sally
3 white chicks.. we dont know what they were
and now my husbands Polish rooster

All taken by a raccoon but until tonight we did not know what we were up against. DH went to close the coop and seen the raccoon eating his polish. DH chased it up a tree (dont know what he was going to do but obviously he was not going to catch him on foot.)

So now we know 100% what we are dealing with. We set the live trap before and it was never triggered. We were bating with cat food.. but we are going to try marshmallows like another poster suggested.

Due to Ontario law though we have to pay for a vet come in and humanly euthanize EVERY raccoon or we can be charges $5000. Good thing I live in a town that has a vet college and lots of vets and farms... I am sure I can get a deal.. (or I hope so

)

How long can 15 chickens be in a 10'X10' coop locked in?... there is plenty of fresh air being circulated by 2, 10" industrial fans one sucking the fresh air into the coop and the other sucking it out, there are 2 windows. 1 is about 8"X10" the other is about 10"X10" these windows do not open.

I want Mr. Coon to get nice and hungry so he will go into the trap and Mr Vet can make some $$.


I am going to replace all the chicken wire on the run with chain link.

The raccoon ripped all the avian netting off the top of the run so I am back to square 1 on that... any ideas let me know.

DH thinks the raccoon was a juvenile it was not that big... but he peeved off the wrong person!

I was also thinking about hot wiring around the bottom of the coop and the run (how much is that stuff anyway?)

 

[ray2310]

I caught one last nite behind the coop. However, I did not take it to the vet.

Good luck.

 

[Dar]

Quote:
I wish.. You live in PA.. I am in Ontario where I can be fined for killing a coon

 

[KBChicks]

I wouldn't advise to do anything illegal....but I also live in PA.... and DH took a shot at a pretty big coon tonight as well...

we bury them out in the woods afterwards....who's to know who killed them?

I'm sorry for your situation...I hope you're able to trap and get the vet to come in soon..

 

[redhen]

I think thats a GREAT law! (WISH THE STATES HAD IT!!!!!!)..>> To have to put them down humanely! Yay for Canada!

I cant stand when i read how some people kill their predators... it literally makes me sick.
I'd like to do to them what they do to the animals...
Dont get me wrong... i have nothing aganist putting down a predator when needed.... but do it humanely for christs sake!

 

[fancbrd4me02]

Quote:
I agree. No animal should be killed in a way that makes it feel anxiety, fear or pain for more than a second if it can be avoided.

 

[patman75]

Electric fence for the run.

forget the vet and SSS

 

[chickenshagg]

The only problem I have had with 'coons is them eating the chicken feed. After I caught a 'coon in the coop eating the feed I ran a hot wire around the top. Since then the only problems I now have is if I leave the door to the run open then a 'coon will go in and eat the feed. I have also caught them in my garage pulling the metal lid off of the can that I keep the feed in.

About humanely killing a predator I recently have had a problem with a family of ground hogs living under my front porch. They ate all the flowers that I had planted in my backyard and dug up the planters on my front porch. They also started eating the wood trim on my house so I bought a trap and started trapping them. I to do not like to cause suffering to any animal but it is against the law here to trap and release an animal in another area for it can cause suffering to that animal so I chose to put them to sleep. I just take the trap and slip it inside a plastic bag then I take the hose from a shop vac and tie the bag around one end of the hose and the other end I put in the exhaust pipe of my running truck. It only take a minute or so for the animal to go to sleep.... permanently!

 

[Brick243]

Sounds like vets do pretty good up there. I believe in dispatching a coon humanely also. You can't let a coon keep killing your livestock, but when I catch one making a meal out of my chickens or trying to, I humanely get rid of it. You can't relocate it and put the problem on someone else, either. Having to pay a vet to take care of a predator problem is something I never heard of. You learn something new everyday.

 

[savingdogs]

I have read here somewhere on BYC something that made a lot of sense to me. Animals like racoons have territories. If you kill this one, another one will just come take its place, a new one.

Better to build your coop like Fort Knox so that it gets discouraged and learns it cannot get to your chickens. Electric to deter it. Then your "local" coon will be savvy that he is not fed dinner at your place and keep to a different part of its territory where the pickins' are easier.