Truth About Raccoons & Chicken Wire? Please add your experience

[thechickenchick]

I have read alot on building a predator proof coop and run. I am a little nervous but we have got some great advise. Mostly from this site. Have I mentioned you guys are great!! It makes good sense to set a trap too. I never thought of that. Thanks Corey!

 

[nightshade]

Okay I have a pet coon so I can deffently tell you what one is capable of. Chicken wire will not keep a coon out. And fencing heavy enough to keep on out, a coon can pull a chicken, in peices, right through. All the coon has to do is get hold of some one on the inside of the fence.

My coon's pen in the living room where he sleeps at night, is built of 1x2 welded wire. If you want to keep coons out I would suggest this of heavy hardware cloth. If a coon can get its head through the fence the rest will follow. They are stubborn, if they have to rip themselves apart to get the rest of teh way though they will. Old timers woudl build coon traps by drilling a hole in a log puting a peice of reflective metal in the bottom and driving nails into the sides of the hole with the points inside. All the coon would have to do is let go of the metal peice to get lose but they wont. You can walk up and hit one with a club if you want cause it wont drop the "shinny" to get away.

I am married to a coon hunter as well as having a pet raccoon. It really gives you a different perspective when you think of coon proofing your chicken coop.

Edited to add, if you are going to set a trap, use a box trap like a "have a heart" and bait it with all things, grape jelly bread. It works every time and you do not have problems with catching neighbors cats like you do with most baits. You may also want to see if there is a place you can release the coon to, where it wont be further trouble to you or your animals. Believe it or not we do this for farmers all the time. And we release them here usually or at a local game lands. Even though we put 10-15 coon in the swamp less then 1/2 mile from our house I have never had one in my chicken coop. But then again there is a coon dog tied a few feet from them as deturence.

Hope time helps

 

[CUDA]

Quote:
They make a nice leg trap that only coons can get caught in, and they work very well. I borrowed one from a friend, cause they aren't cheap, and cleaned out my area in a matter of weeks, and it only cost me a few marshmallows, and a few bullets!

 

[silkiechicken]

Do check local laws on trapping though. Some places do not allow leg hold traps. I use a have a heart and marshmellows.

 

[CUDA]

Yep, I know what you mean, but these are special traps, and will only get coons, nothing else is capable of getting caught by them, and I am a hillbilly, so excuse my ignorance of certain laws when it comes to protecting my fowl...wink wink....lol

 

[silkiechicken]

haha, you're lucky you don't live in the middle in the city! Some day I'll have my place in the middle of no where.

 

[Sugar Sand Farm]

We lost our first flock to racoons going right through the chicken wire. They just pulled it apart evrytime fwe fixed it they came through another hole. We were not sure at first it was racoons but DH stayed up one night to catch her in the dark.this time we used 1x1 inch fencing to put up the run and so far nothing as broken through. We live next to the wildlife management area so we have alot of predators out there. so far so good.

 

[CUDA]

The traps I am talking about are the Lil' Grizz Get'rz Dog Proof Coon Traps.

 

[Vagirl]

I buy hardware cloth with has tiny strong webbing and I put in on the bottom 2 ft of the coop and actually bend a few inches over the ground, so its going onto the coop in kinda an L shape. You can put some dirt over the part over the ground so if anything tries to dig, they hit the wire. I haven't lost anything since I began using this technique a few years ago!

 

[Cheryl]

Chickenchick, I imagine you have other predators to worry about in Montana, not just raccoons? What about bears, and big cats?