Unknown Predator.

[BarnyardChaos]

HA HA!!! Caught red-handed! The little sh!ts. Now whatcha gonna do about them?

 

[jnicholes]

The owner of the house has hired me to sleep out in a tent by the chicken coop. I’m gonna have a light out there, the first signs of the raccoon, I’m gonna take it out with a 22.

 

[Krugerrand]

Hopefully there's a long term plan to put some 1/2 hardware cloth at least at the bottom of that chain link to prevent future raccoon reach-in's.

 

[jnicholes]

Hopefully there's a long term plan to put some 1/2 hardware cloth at least at the bottom of that chain link to prevent future raccoon reach-in's.

First got a find out how it was getting in. The trail camera didn’t show.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

First got a find out how it was getting in. The trail camera didn’t show.

They can climb quite well, too.

 

[ashcons]

So did they change anything, such as closing that huge gap in the run fence you found, or did they decide feeding the raccoons last night was a good strategy because there's a dead bird in that game cam photo from last night...?

I'm wondering if they have a strategy here because paying you to sweat your butt cheeks off one night to try to shoot a raccoon in the dark isn't a viable solution.

They need to shore up the giant weakness(es) staring them in the face. I have fun trapping and hunting raccoons, but when it comes to protecting chickens, prevention will win them the war.

 

[jnicholes]

So did they change anything, such as closing that huge gap in the run fence you found, or did they decide feeding the raccoons last night was a good strategy because there's a dead bird in that game cam photo from last night...?

I'm wondering if they have a strategy here because paying you to sweat your butt cheeks off one night to try to shoot a raccoon in the dark isn't a viable solution.

They need to shore up the giant weakness(es) staring them in the face. I have fun trapping and hunting raccoons, but when it comes to protecting chickens, prevention will win them the war.

I agree with you, but it’s not my choice. It’s my friends choice, I was posting on her behalf, as I said in the first post.

However, I can help her get that run more secure.

I’ll take care of that when I go over tonight.

 

[BarnyardChaos]

I'm wondering if they have a strategy here because paying you to sweat your butt cheeks off one night to try to shoot a raccoon in the dark isn't a viable solution.

Might work for the one raccoon (my husband has taken maybe 20-30 in the 8 years we've been here, with a rifle, at night - hubby was a small arms instructor in the military - so depends on how good of a shot you are). But you are right - it's not a viable *solution*, because there will be more. Can't camp out there every night. @jnicholes , Please tell your friend that it's like putting a wad of bubble gum in the hole in the dike to shoot just one. Glad you're going to fix up her run. Make sure she's LOCKING the hens up tight at night inside their coop. They should not have access to the run at night, no matter how secure it is.

 

[BlindLemonChicken]

Trash pandas travel in gangs. I doubt its just the one.

 

[McChooky]

Trash pandas travel in gangs. I doubt its just the one.

If one's killing chickens the family is too .They hunt together.