This was weird.....surreal even. What was going on?

[theoldchick]

They weren't afraid of him because he was not acting like a predator. He simply waddled in and enjoyed the buffet you had provided. Then you jumped up and acted like a predator by screaming and waving your arms about. If I'd had been there I would have joined the chickens under the coop, too!

The thing is for every raccoon you see there are about 50 you don't see wandering about among the trees.

Time to lock and load. Just be sure not to shoot a chicken.

 

[centrarchid]

A raccoon with good appetite during day is not all that unusual especially if it is habituated to humans and it has a reliable and safe food supply near its den site. With respect to the chickens' behavior, they can be pretty good at accessing whether a given predator is in predator mode. I have had as a child raccoons as free-range pets while keeping free-ranging poultry. Mix was not sustainably good but during daylight hours adult chickens are usually beyond a typical raccoons hunting abilities. After dark same raccoon can become extremely problematic if it can get to roosting birds where they can not get away which is reality with most raccoon induced losses reported on this forum. My chickens roosting up on a hay rope in loft of barn were immune to raccoons but hen, chicks and juveniles roosting lower or even on ground were vulnerable.

If you are confident in your roosting facility / coop and have only adult birds that use it, then raccoon is not likely to be a threat unless it encounters a hen on nest. If you want to be a real *******, catch coon and vaccinate it for things like rabies, distemper and parvo. Takes a tough vet to handle such as raccoons don't like such tough love. A permit would be required.

 

[ivan3]

chickensioux wrote: Well, I don't like him visiting and we are keeping a gun ready. As soon as he figures out the chickens are a good choice, I'm in deep doo doo. Our chicken area is fenced with a hot wire on top and a fishing line grid to keep the hawks away. It is too large to totally secure it. All of the girls are locked up tight at night and 100% safe but this was during the day. I guess we'll just have to keep a close eye on things until he has been........taken care of.

Less time and effort keeping a couple of live traps baited and set on the periphery. Only reason your chooks haven't been targeted is that a bowl of feed doesn't squawk and flail on the way to being consumed (coons almost always go for the easiest meal - why traps are almost always effective - night or day). As theoldchick observed, where there is one coon there is a second. Where there is a second, there is most assuredly a third...

 

[chickensioux]

We have baited traps and he ignores them. Even with BACON!!! I don't want him coming around at all. We will just have to be diligent and watch and wait.

 

[centrarchid]

We have baited traps and he ignores them. Even with BACON!!! I don't want him coming around at all. We will just have to be diligent and watch and wait.

Bait trap with wetted feed. Make so critter can eat some even without getting into trap at first. Wetted feed smells sweet and may be what it is after now. Coon may also be trapwise but if bait good enough they will jump all over it after trap not found to be a threat. Additionally, bacon is not all that popular with raccoon in my experience. You will do better with a PBJ on whole wheat bread.

 

[aart]

That is freaky.

 

[ivan3]

centrarchid wrote: Bait trap with wetted feed. Make so critter can eat some even without getting into trap at first. Wetted feed smells sweet and may be what it is after now. Coon may also be trapwise but if bait good enough they will jump all over it after trap not found to be a threat. Additionally, bacon is not all that popular with raccoon in my experience. You will do better with a PBJ on whole wheat bread.

PBJ's on whole wheat, huh? Now I'M hungry.. .

chickensioux wrote: We have baited traps and he ignores them. Even with BACON!!! I don't want him coming around at all. We will just have to be diligent and watch and wait.

Could be cage smart (or has been scarfing up available alternatives - any feed out at night?). An alternative to have on hand, when it is inconvenient to keep the rifle aimed and they are ignoring the conventional accommodations, is a Duke Dog Proof `cuff' trap.

 

[Kdt1961]

I always see a danger in chickens getting too familiar with certain types of animals. I have a neighborhood cat that wanders around my fenced yard and the chickens have gotten used to him. However, there are also feral cats around that would kill them. I would rather have them be skittish and run, than stand still and be killed. I'd dispatch the raccoon myself.

 

[ashcons]

We have baited traps and he ignores them. Even with BACON!!!

Careful with that. You might find ME in one of your traps.

 

[Chickenlover20]

that's so weird!!
NONE of predators would sit stll around my chickens, they will just chase them and kill them then leave it in my yard.
I killed a fox last year, now we got another fox yesterday, but we didn't see any of them. they came by at the night. which is making me so mad. I decided to buy 2 traps soon.
So I can catch it, the fox or other predators have killed some of my Jersey Giant hens and 1 of ducks.

This weekend, im going to sit in the coop with the hens and roosters, and give a predator a surprise that they will NEVER forget.

Cannot wait for that..