What killed my roo

[Gerry2011]

I found the remains of my 5 week old Delaware roo this afternoon sometime between 2:30 and 5.. He was headless and had apparently been pulled head up to the fence . The pen is fenced with cattle panels covered with 1"x4" welded wire with chicken wire on top of that and is about 32' x 40'. This seems to be the modus operandi of raccoons but neither we nor any of our neighbors have ever seen coons around here. The only permanent water source anywhere close is a pond about 1000' from us. Does anyone have any suggestions as what we might add to the fence to prevent this from happening again. I am
heart sick to think my chicks are not safe even in the daytime.

 

[Falcon61]

Your dog? Coons are smart and can climb. Weasels and cats get around in the day time and alot of cats only eat the heads of their pray.? Keep'em closed up until they're big enough to fight or flight?

 

[mandelyn]

Headless chickens pulled through fence is usually coons. They don't need a water source to be around.

This is why we all preach about hardware cloth at least on the bottom 32" of a run, they can't get their grubby paws through it to pull things out, since the opening is only 1/2 inch. Chicken wire and 1x4 wire is too big, they can reach right on through it.

Chicken wire on the roof is fine for hawks and most things, but because it's woven and not welded, a strong enough critter (like a coon) can stretch an opening into it easy enough.

I've never seen a coon where I live either. Just his muddy hand prints all over my duck run, top to bottom and side to side, after a good rain. We don't have water around here at all and it's totally urban. He must be someone's attic coon.

 

[ALRwild]

Yeah, sorry about your roo. I bet it was a coon. They are know for ripping the head off their innocent kill. I agree with mandelyn. I put a small wire cloth perimeter around the edges of my run, and now my hens are safe from coons. BUT I also agree with Falcon61, for cats are evil killers. They kill for fun, not survival.......... Good luck, and sorry about the roo.

 

[Gerry2011]

Thanks for the sympathy and ideas. We are in the process of putting hardware cloth (my DH wants to know why it's called "cloth"?) around the perimeter. Also bought a trap but the most likely animals we'll catch will be the neighbors little dog and ours too

 

[Frithest]

I'm sorry you lost your little bird. I'm in the process of making my first coop and just ripped old screening out of two screen doors that will be part of the coop. I used 1/4" hardware cloth ("Cloth" because it looks woven like fabric, as opposed to chicken wire which is twisted) for the bottom part of the sides, and 1/2" for the higher parts. I'm glad to read this is the way to go. Our local chicken guru preaches hardware cloth on the sides, top and down 12" into the ground of a coop if you don't have a base. Our back yard is a racoon highway and they are cocky as all hell back there, so we know we're in for some night time visits, doing what we can to keep our baby flock safe. A local woman lost a chicken last night to a raccoon that had gotten in a gap in the side of the hardware cloth - it's got to be stapled down really securely. Good luck.

 

[mandelyn]

Staples work if they're an inch long and installed with an air gun, but hand applied little staples pop out super easy. You can go back over it with either U nails or screws with washers, about every 10 inches or less, and double up the security. The little staples are handy for getting it on there, but they're not strong enough to prevent a determined critter.

It's so sad to lose a bird, I've been through it too and it's made me paranoid. Every time I go outside and don't hear them right away, I walk a little faster to get there. Last time I lost birds to a coon was more than 15 years ago when I was a kid, but I still know what it feels like to find something like that.