We got raccooned :(

[orionburn]

jojo@rolling acres farm :

Kill it if you can. They are destructive killers. Relocation is not a good option - a few miles will make no difference.

And I look at like this: if I relocated a coon what if I'm putting someone else's chickens/animals at risk? I wouldn't feel good knowing my birds were safe while another person's were getting attacked. We lost 3 ducks and 5 chickens this past Spring due to a coon. I have no issues in putting one down.

Sorry for your loss halfway.

 

[halfwaynowhere]

i bought 1/2" hardware cloth, and am in the process of covering the existing mesh with that. Its hard to work with without any help, though! Especially in this heat. I'm not very handy. I've got my hen in a tractor in the yard for now while I'm working on the coop, but she'll be back in the modified coop for the night.

I'd like to just build a bigger, better coop than the one we have, but i'm not handy enough to do that, and don't know anyone handy.

I'm looking for a hen. My mom really wants an EE hen, but I'm not sure I'll have much luck finding one locally. My coop is only big enough for 2 hens, if I can figure out how to build a bigger one, i'd have room for 3. My australorp hen has been trying to brood lately, so I suppose I could let her sit, and in the meantime try to get the feed store to order EEs in their next order if possible, but I'd rather not do that because I'd have an age gap.

We have a trap, but my mom loaned it to a friend to catch feral cats, so i'm going to try to get in touch with her and see if she can get it back. I wonder if I can set it in the front yard instead of the back. I'm just worried because I'd have to call animal control if I caught the thing, and I'm sort of under the radar here with the critters I have.

 

[oliviad51]

I agree with tinychicky..set a trap ..Thats what I do. Use Marshmallows. I have caught tons of things just in a few weeks with marshmallows and one piece of bread with peanut butter. The only way I wll shoot a raccoon, or possum is if its actually in the coop trying to get the chickens. If you have a wildlife park or something in your area, take it there. Just make sure its far enough away that the animals won't try to come back.

 

[helloroe]

So sorry for the lose of your girl. I understand all too well how horrifc a sight that is.

Our three dogs did not alert us either which we found odd. After losing 18 chickens in 3 weeks and finding some of the bodies uneaten but more for sport and torn apart and cleaning it up, I have no heart for them anymore. Here it is illegal to trap and relocate but you "can dispose of on your own land in a humane manner" I was alot more humane to him then he was to my girls. I also thought about the relocation, which I can pay a permitted trapper $65 to do so, I did not want my predator to become someone else's nightmare.

 

[halfwaynowhere]

So I've got it mostly done, and I was able to get in touch with my mom. I told her that I saw an ad on craigslist for a chicken coop that looks pretty nice, and she said she'd pay for it, so I emailed the guy about it. This one is big enough for 3 hens, which is great.
Buela should be safe now. I let her out in a tractor while I was working on the coop, and as soon as I put her back in the coop, she started making a lot of noise. Poor thing must remember the trauma.


What should I use to bait the raccoon trap? turns out my mom got it back after loaning it out, and it was right under my nose the whole time.

 

[helloroe]

I used stinky canned cat food, to no luck. I used hamburger and got it first night.

 

[ranchhand]

Quote:
Relocating raccoons is illegal in most states. I hate to kill ANY animal, but a quick merciful death is best. Then you wait for the replacement(s) to move in. Because they will.

I find a good defense works best. That, and not being too soft on predators. I used to do wildlife rescue, so I will try everything else before I shoot. But when I shoot, I shoot to kill. And then I reinforce the coop even more.

 

[Gold Griffin Chicken Mom]

I know of someone that disposes of nuisance squirrels with a trash can of water. Drop the whole trap in the can and walk away for a few minutes. Or wait for the bubbles to stop. Whichever.

I have not done this yet, but I had my can ready with hose draped in it when my husband shot the fox. He dispatched the fox with lead, but had it been something smaller that had gone for the chicken body in the trap, I'd have given it a "bath". (This was the night after the fox or foxes killed 22 of my babies: 9 2.5 month olds and all 13 of the 6 week olds.)

But back to my point, many people say drowning is a "peaceful" way to die, but then "lead" is close to instant if your aim is good. I'd wear leather gloves when I pick up the trap to dunk it.

 

[oliviad51]

Im pretty sure its not illegal where I live, but It may be where you do..Im not killing anyone elses chickens by relocating it, because I take mine few miles fown the road all the way to the top of the mountain. Im pretty sure it won't come back, and Im not harming anyone elses chickens.

 

[sydney13]

im sorry about you hen who was killed

its great that you are going to get some other chickens for Beula. at first i only had two chickens, 1 roo and 1 hen and i thought i had two hens. then when the crowing began i had to send the rooster off to a farm to live at. after the rooster left my hen would not come out of the coop unless i lifted her out and she would squawk all day since she was looking for the rooster (now i have chicks with her and she is much happier). so i think Beula will be much happier living with other chickens then being a single chicken

if i ever had a raccoon problem i would do the same thing by trapping it and taking it far away were it will be no bodies else's problem