Truth About Raccoons & Chicken Wire? Please add your experience

[JestofWilds]

Chicken wire does not keep them out. We have stalls built from chicken wire & 2x4s in our barn & we've lost 3 entire flocks to raccoons over the years. They just rip right through it.

We're currently building a chicken tractor from 1x1 welded wire fencing.

 

[mckee farms]

Coons are very strong, and super smart.  I honestly believe that there is no NORMAL pen that you can make to be coon proof.  They can rip through poultry netting.  They push on it with their front feet, while pulling on it with their teeth until the rip it apart.  That's why I say to keep the population control is the only solution.

 

[centrarchid]

You can use a range of materials to construct an effective coop which can include chicken wire. The chicken wire option is lower cost and easier to work with. To compensate for the lesser predator resistance I employ methods to keep predators away from chicken wire components (hot-wire and dogs). The chicken wire is still an aggravation for predators so most hunt through it only when prey is just on the other side, therefore I make so chickens roost at least 18 inches away from sides of pen / coop. When it comes to using hardware cloth as an alternative, that can be chewed through as well so I keep chickens away from it at night as well.


Here are my additional considerations to actual coop design: 1) Get birds roosting in middle of coop / pen volume, 2) keep predators from outside of pen, and 3) limit other predator attractants such as sweet smelling feed and abundant rodent predators are often targeting first.

If you can keep predators away from pens like I do then low cost chicken wire does the job, If you can not then a Fort Knox coop design based on heavier materials is the way to go. I do both and try to keep an open mind.

 

[AceSierra]

The 2 inch chicken wire is very easy for a coon to rip apart. The 1 inch chicken wire is a little harder for them to tear apart, but if they want what is on the other side of the chicken wire, it will not stop a coon from getting in.

They will tear the wire apart. They don't care if it is where it is connected to wood or in the middle of the pen. They don't check for weak spots, they rip it apart at the spot where they want to get in at.

If roosts are next to the wire, a coon can actually get a hold of a chicken and pull it through the wire, usually in several pieces.

Many years ago, and I mean MANY years, when chicken wire was made from heavier gauge wire, it would protect your chickens from coons, but sadly those days of quality chicken wire are gone.


Jean

are we talking about the metal chicken wire or the plastic one because I tried ripping the metal chicken wire and it just bent

 

[Ruthster55]

are we talking about the metal chicken wire or the plastic one because I tried ripping the metal chicken wire and it just bent

A raccoon is strong enough to tear right through chicken wire. Source: personal experience.

 

[AceSierra]

A raccoon is strong enough to tear right through chicken wire. Source: personal experience.

EVEN THE METAL?!?! I couldnt even rip it. strong little rat dogs

 

[Kaesi2020]

The way I have done it is that I have predator resistant run and a predetor proof coop.

If a predator really wanted into my run they could but I've never had a predator attack during the day accept a fox (but that was only when they were free-ranging and he didn't try to get them during the day when they were in the run). So at night they are locked up tight and two have-a-heart traps are set.

A coon will always go to the food easiest to get which is in the trap.

As long as you are good about always locking up the chooks right at dusk and your runs are resonably predator resistant I think you'll be fine.

Hello! Newbie here watching the thread. So the bait in the have a hearts do not attract predators like raccoons? I've thought about putting traps out myself but I didnt want to attract predators that would not have come otherwise.

 

[AceSierra]

Hello! Newbie here watching the thread. So the bait in the have a hearts do not attract predators like raccoons? I've thought about putting traps out myself but I didnt want to attract predators that would not have come otherwise.

I have this raccon that runs after you to feed it very cute but I also have 2 chikies so I'm making a new coop completly predator proof

 

[centrarchid]

You can use a range of materials to construct an effective coop which can include chicken wire. The chicken wire option is lower cost and easier to work with. To compensate for the lesser predator resistance I employ methods to keep predators away from chicken wire components (hot-wire and dogs). The chicken wire is still an aggravation for predators so most hunt through it only when prey is just on the other side, therefore I make so chickens roost at least 18 inches away from sides of pen / coop. When it comes to using hardware cloth as an alternative, that can be chewed through as well so I keep chickens away from it at night as well.


Here are my additional considerations to actual coop design: 1) Get birds roosting in middle of coop / pen volume, 2) keep predators from outside of pen, and 3) limit other predator attractants such as sweet smelling feed and abundant rodent predators are often targeting first.

If you can keep predators away from pens like I do then low cost chicken wire does the job, If you can not then a Fort Knox coop design based on heavier materials is the way to go. I do both and try to keep an open mind.

I still go my this.