Last night, I was reading out loud to Suzy some tales of raccoons killing chickens and ducks on some of the nearby chicken community sites. Usually we have more questions than answers.
- Were the chickens kept at night in a predator proof coop?
- Is the coop door closed at night?
It was time to lock up the chickens and my dawg likes to accompany me when I do that. As I opened up the sliding glass door, there was a raccoon AND it was bigger than my dawg. Muttly is braver than smart and immediately chased it out of the yard. But we know that cornered the raccoon probably would have gutted the dawg in a new york minute. Gut check time.
The chickens were all in the rafters of our 8′ tall coop, but the raccoon could have easily reached them. Most likely Glory, our vociferous rooster would have made noise, but not likely soon enough for us to save all of them.
We are supposed to go to a farewell party for a good friend of mine at 6:30 PM tonight, but that is when we lock up the chickens! I am loath to trap for the raccoons because there are neighborhood dawgs who could be caught! I suppose I could enlist the aid of a neighbor, but geesh I hate to do that too. What to do, what to do …
Yup it’s research time: https://www.backyardchickens.com/articles/raccoon-chicken-predators-how-to-protect-your-chickens-from-coons.47709/
Hunting, killing and trapping raccoons is permitted in most US states and most Canadian provinces, but transporting and relocating raccoons to other areas is often illegal. Please contact your local city, town, or county offices to determine what is and isn’t allowed in your specific area.
Anyone have any luck with coyote pee solutions? https://www.mypetchicken.com/…/Coyote-Pee-Repels-Rats…
Lots of solutions mentioned here, electric fence might be a way to go? Lots of ideas here, anyone try electrified fences: http://wdfw.wa.gov/living/raccoons.html
And here is a look at automatic doors:
And a nice instruction piece:
Note, pictures found on the Intrawebs. Did not want to post the graphic ones.
The Bis Key Chronicles 