At 4 am this morning a raccoon attacked my chicken coop. I lost 2 more chicks, Bella my blue one I'd babied & protected bc she was the only reason i bought that batch of chicks that day, for my blue chicken bc i so wanted a blue chicken & Ginger, my lil red roo who would follow me around the yard trying to eat my nail polish & talking to me. Can anyone tell me how to raccoon proof a chicken house? can they get thru hardware wire? I am going to purchase items to fix the coop this afternoon so any help would be much appreciated. As of now the chickens spent the next few hours flying free in my garage till daylight came & I felt it was safe to let them out.
Raccoon Attack
That is awful and just makes you feel so helpless. Poor things.
Try installing a light that comes on to movement or those red lights. I know a radio may keep your chickens awake but a radio set on a talk station would help to keep predators away too.
Thanks for the suggestion but the neighbor has a light & a radio in his coop. It didn't help there. This one is just out for blood. It doesn't take the chickens.. well it took my bella but she was very tiny.. the big ones it just pulls thru the chicken wire & leaves. 5 yrs ago I lost 13 chickens in 2 nights to a coon. For some reason they do it for fun here. Never had that problem till 5 yrs ago. I just can't put them back till its predator proof. I can't let another one of the babies go thru that. I sleep with the windows open or I'd never have heard it. The sounds once you've heard that is something that will keep you awake for days especially knowing I was within seconds of getting there in time. If I'd listened to Sage instead of throwing the pillow over my head I'd have saved them. I know that sound a roo makes when a coon is around. I was just so tired last night I didn't listen. Next time the coon won't be so lucky. The flashlight, a large metal dowel rod & the .22 are waiting by the back door now. The neighbor tried to shoot it but it was too close to his hens to shoot. I don't intend to brain the thing with the dowel rod either.. thats for my mom in case we come across a coon that will attack which we've had in the past so she can swing something longer than her arm at it. We are also setting out 3 live traps tonight for it. Hopefully someone catches it cause I'm the only one able to move my chickens to a secure location. My neighbors just got to take his chances or sit out & wait for the coon to strike tonight so he can get him first.
I'm going to buy hardware cloth & replace the chicken wire totally with that, double thickness. Then I'm installing boards at least 1/2 way up the sides & plywood on the floor. They've never come thru the floor but they do harass the chicken into the corner from underneath the coop then reach up & grab it thru the wire. The silly coon even pulled my plastic off the coop last night all the way around, very neatly to get to the babies. It almost got Esme. She's got a scratch on her head I missed in the dark this morning. I put a little neosporen on it a lil while ago. I'm also trimming the bushes from around the pen that was there when i kept them penned up. No more hunting thru weeds in the dark wondering if a rabid coon is gonna jump out at me as I try too get to the chicks.
and i guess i should say, since this sounds a little cruel to the coon that the only reason we kill them at this point is that we've had major trouble the last few years in this area with rabid coons & opossums. If they start causing trouble they get shot. If we called the county they do the same thing. No chances are being taken at this point. The little girl i babysit was chased across the field this spring by a rabid possum. It would have gotten her if we hadn't' heard her screaming & literally pulled her up the stairs into the house. The possum hit the front door so hard it dented the aluminum screen door. Took her dad 3 rounds with the 12 gauge to get it to stop coming at him & it wasn't' a big possum. I'm not afraid of them, use to raise them from babies, coons & possums when i was a kid. There have just been too many close calls lately with them. I even have a pet possum living under my front porch. It is crippled & cant' run. I feed it cat food & scraps. I know its always it eating bc of a white tuff of fur across its hip where its been shot at some point & lived. When its done take the food away. So i really do like them.
Sounds like you have some really nasty ones. Don't worry about shooting them being cruel. I say the chickens come first and if it were mine I'd do the same thing. We have a neighbor that has lost some chickens to coons and he has trapped some with the live traps. I always worry about something getting to ours. We do have a dog and she is pretty good at watching and keeping things away but there is still a chance that a coon, opossum or fox could get to ours. A snake got a couple of our babies a couple months ago so we are always on the watch for that as well and a hawk killed one of our Sebrights a few months back. There are a lot of hawks here unfortunately so when we let ours out to free range we have to be out there watching.
We have found that geese seem to deter hawks if they're run with the chickens.
That's so awful about the coon taking your chickens, though! We had one many years ago that started picking off our ducks one by one. It wouldn't even take them away, but just tore their necks and left them. My husband shot that one with a .22 and it was very satisfying, I have to tell you. We blanched it, stuffed it and ate it - well, at least part of it - more for justice than for anything else. It wasn't very good but at least it paid us back in part for what it took.
Moth balls deter snakes. I keep them around my chicken pen where the chickens can't get them. I'm not sure if they will hurt them if they eat them or not & have yet to check into that so i make sure they can't get them. The snakes sure don't like them & I don't care for the snakes if they startle me so i keep the moth ball out. We have black snakes, timber rattlers, blue, black & green racers, rat snakes & bull snakes around here & I refuse to find one of them in my nesting box.
I was suppose to be given a Great Pyrenees puppy last weekend but the guys wife got mad at him & gave all the puppies away while he was at work & not to the people they were promised too. So my idea of a dog to deter the predators isn't going to happen till he has pups again.
I'm kinda at a loss on what to do, I have very little building experience, very little extra money & only the kids I babysit to help me with the coop. I bought hardward cloth to put on & I think i'm going to put cheap bead board up half way on the walls so that the coon can't just reach in & snag a chick. I can't go all the way. Need air flow, it gets too hot here for the chickens otherwise. So i guess we'll see what we get. Taught myself to do plumbing last weekend surely i can do this.
Quote...."Taught myself to do plumbing last weekend surely i can do this."
Well If you can do that surely you can build a coon proof pen. Go for it!
We have mostly black snakes or rat snakes that get at our eggs and chicks. We also have copperheads here and probably water mocossins at the pond. I don't care for snakes myself, though some are "good" they just give me the creeps.
Hope you can get your pen built coon proof. Let us know how it goes.
Hi there greykyttyn: Sorry to hear about the girls. Your on the right track though, using chicken wire is great to keep chicks from getting out, but not at all useful to keep predators from getting to the girls. I'm sure you have the right idea with the hardware cloth. I have never lost a bird to predators but I use a lot of hardware for security. Good luck to you. Haystack
This chicken wire wont even keep chicks in... its got like base ball sized holes in it. Mom had to have chicken wire tho so that's what we put on.... the first time. Now we're going for the super tiny hardware wire. :) the coon will have to bring pliers, a hammer & screw driver with him to get to my babies when I'm done or figure out how to open the chicken door & coax the girls out for a midnight stroll... I'm seriously thinking about putting a better lock on that door also. I put them in the garage again tonight.. found a very nice roast for them. They love mom's old wooden ladder! There is more than enough room for them all. its funny looking with 20 birds perched on it.
I lost a chick last night, too. Can't figure what it was but I hope it doesn't happen again tonight.
I'm sorry. Its an awful thing to lose them. I wouldn't' know what this was if I hadn't of lost so many over the years to them & I've had everything from weasels to opossums to coons get them. Had a red fox who liked to lay on top of the coop at night but they never bothered the chickens. He/she was just watching her babies play on the big rock in our yard. Beautiful animals but that was a scary night knowing she was there.
I have a low (8-10") hot wire running around the outside of the chicken yard. It seems to keep the 4 - footed predators at bay.
now thats an idea.. if I wouldn't end up bumping into it myself.
CayjuninKy, if it was a baby chick it may have been a snake that got it.
We had babies disappearing out from under the momma hen, no trace of them at all. Two one night and then one another night. Then we found a snake in the big pen and once we got rid of it the baby snatching stopped.
Greykyttyn, I'm so sorry. That's the big problem with chicken wire, it's useless as protection :( I tried to explain that to my neighbor, but sadly, it took a raccoon rampage thru the coop to convince him.
IMO, forget the bead board, at least for the summer. As long as it's all hardware cloth without openings (be sure to secure any seams carefully) and the floor is solid, the chickens should be safe. If the frame is secure, it should stand up to a pretty determined attack. I have "twist" locks on my latches and put carabiners thru them at night. If a coon gets thru that, I'll be surprised.
BTW, mothballs are highly toxic, and can penetrate into ground water with the first rain. Sulpher is supposed to deter shakes, and is safer, if more, um, aromatic. With the hardware cloth and solid floor, your chickens should be safe from the night time predation from snakes, and during the day, the chickens will handle the threat just fine....
My chick was half grown. It looks like it had it's head through the fence and something grabbed it. Could have been anything as it is pretty rural where they are. A neighbor killed a big coon at his place a few weeks ago. I know there are possums about and possibly mink. There are also lots of cats around and even some rats. It's hard to say.
Good info Catmad I found a snake under my swing in my backyard yesterday and the dogs took care of it for me.
I have never seen a coon here we do have a passing skunk now and then.
But i have my place fenced and have 3 dogs so i think the little masked bandits know to stay away LOL
catmad - unfortunately my mother, brothers, nephew & I are highly allergic to Sulfur so I can't switch to that so I'll have to look into something else at this point. Thanks tho! I'd always wondered about them but mom has used them for years & grandma used them too so I didn't think too much of it till i got the chickens. If I don't need boards.. then I can just put my plastic up as usual come winter again. I just wanted to make sure those grubby little hands couldn't' get a finger thru the wire. I just have a homemade flip lock we made to put on it so I'll be adding something else too.
CajuninKy - Coons are the only thing to have every pulled my chickens thru the wires. First time I saw it I went to grab the chicken thinking it was stuck then had a big surprise finding out just how stuck it was & that it was very much dead. Took 3 more chickens before I caught sight of the raccoon, stretched out 3 feet long down the side of my coop with a chicken in its hand trying to climb out of the enclosure. Shunks (idk if its true but its what they did here) left a hole in the head & sucked the blood like little vampires. We waited up & caught one trying to get a chicken shortly after that. They are quiet & quick. Lost 5 chickens in about 20 minutes one night to that. Opossums... just ate them.. mostly. right there. Left me half a chicken body & enough feathers for a pillow. Each time we've either set traps the next night or waited with the .22 to catch them so we know what was doing it. They may not all act the same way all over but that's just my general run down so i know what I"m hunting for around here.
Like i said I was suppose to be getting a dog... I think now mom's convinced I need the dog. Sadly it will be another 3 months at least before I think he has pups to give away.
We caught a baby..well 1 year old raccoon early this morning. I had set a live trap with cat food. I feel so awful... it poured down rain.. like 5 inches in an hour & he was set in the low spot of the yard so the poor thing is sitting in a mud bath, its cold here this morning bc of the rain & he's scared to death. I'm not so sure live traps are that great. First time I've used it myself & had to go check it. I'm not liking this. I know he got my chickens.. & probably the rest of his family helped but it breaks my heart knowing he's so frightened. A .22 is more humane at least they don't know what hit them, this way he spent at least 4 hrs in the rain, mud, cold & scared. Yes i do remember he scared the chickens to death also and no he won't be let go, the guy next door is coming to get him so I don't have too. I'm just too soft hearted. :( Now we set up to see if we catch another tonight.
greykyttyn.... check your dmail.
Thanks for the info Melissa. I'll file it away for future reference, its just not a good option right now due to the pets in the area.
I have not only coons to deal with. We have found two copperhead/black snake crossbred snakes in the yard in the last 12 hrs. Do you have any idea how scary that is. You can't tell that its not a harmless black snake till you get very close. You can't see the diamonds in it til you pick it up & look close & let it coil up. Thats a bit too close for me. The first one my mom nearly stepped on. The second one the boy i babysit nearly stepped on it. The neighbor boy has been coming to my rescue. :) i scream & he comes running with his knife to skin them. So far he's got 3 beautiful snake skins.. just wish they hadn't been under my chicken house this morning. Saw a raccoon in broad daylight today, midafternoon it came out of the woods & tried to grab Matilda. C went running & scared it off.. which i had to yell at him for after hugging him for saving Matilda. He didn't think just didn't want Grandma crying bc her chicken got taken. He's such a sweetie for a 13 yr old boyl. We managed to pull everything that was semi loose off the coop today. Painting it tomorrow, wire goes on Saturday morning. We'd be done by now but dealing with 2 snakes, wasps that persisted on stinging us both & other general catastrophes you get with boys around put us back a full day. We also tore down the wire around the coop on 3 sides bc its not needed anymore. Now visions of expanding the coop are dancing in my head.
I did not realize snakes would cross breed.
They will within their own species, and probably in some cases, within families, but AFAIK, (or can substantiate) Colubridae (Black Snakes) will not cross with Viperidae (Copperheads).
Young Black Rat snakes have a blotched pattern (like a Copperhead) and are harmless to humans.
Many snakes can occur in a melanistic phase, which means some individuals are black, or very dark.
If you can give me a little more info, I'll check farther on what they could be, can you describe the shape of the head, are there "pits" by the eyes, and color of belly?
Here is snake that was under my swing in my backyard this past week.
This same kind of snake killed some of my Dove babies and one Adult last year.
I really don't like these snakes i know they are not poisonous but when my dog killed the snake it had 7 baby birds in it's stomach.
This message was edited Jun 19, 2009 10:32 AM
These were taken to the conservation department here & the game warden showed us pictures & told us what they were. They were venomous & were a cross btwn a copperhead & black rat snake. They have been having trouble with this for about 10 yrs or so in three or four counties around here. I've just never encountered them before. The rule around here is no snake alive is a good snake bc of the way they've been crossing, the conservation department keeps telling people to kill them, better to be safe than dead. We are a bit nicer.. & if its not bothering the birds, not bothering the cats, not harassing my mother by showing up on the porch to scare her to death & not deadly we let them live. We had someone check these before we killed them. Its not the first we've had crossed, just never a black snake with a copperhead. The last one was a copperhead crossed with something but i can't remember what. That's been nearly 6 yrs ago. I can't describe this last snake well enough for anyone to know honestly. They both scared us to death & I had to hold them down while the kids went for the neighbor guy to take care of them. He skinned them, I'm suppose to get a picture of them at some point, when I do I will post it.
Wow! That's good to know, as we have both around here, so I'd better learn more. I'll try to get in touch with your Conservation Department, and tell my "personal" Herpatologist to get better info.
Sorry for the mis-information, I did check before I sent it :(.
If it were me, I'd set a live trap outside your coop and bait it with tuna. Once you've trapped the coon shoot it. Keep setting it and keep shooting them till they're gone. Only use the hard wire fencing around your coop. Regular chicken wire can be easily broken by. Don't forget these critters can dig under a fence too so lay wire on the ground outside your coop and cover it with dirt if you want. Best thing to do is to get rid of the predators. We have neighbors who trap and kill coyotes and even get a $25 reward for each one killed. The coyotes take down baby deer and anything else they can get their hands on.
The conservation department could very well be wrong but thats what it looked like to us also, it had fangs & it was striking at us and to be honest it was the neighbors who took it & as much as I hate to say it.. maybe they didn't tell us the truth when they came back. I was using "we" loosely in the last post. I didn't actually go to the conservation dept with it as I wouldn't have been caught dead in a car with it, dead or alive. The neighbor took it down there. So idk.. it was deadly.. it was hard to tell at first & nearly got me & we weren't taking chances. it seems like I was taught in school that venomous snakes wouldn't breed with nonvenomous snakes too but I guess I didn't learn that part very well. I'll post a pic of the skins as soon as I can get him to let me take it. might be awhile tho
The coop is finished except for a few minor touch ups on paint. The chickens are in. I & C are totally beat up. Hardware wire is nasty stuff! I broke a knuckle on my right hand due to being impaled so hard by the wire when it slipped off the coop that it stuck a quarter inch into my knuckle cracking the bone in the process as it snapped back into a roll. numerous impalement's, bruises, scrapes & wasp attacks. We did do something out of the ordinary. I couldn't pull wire thru due to my hand & C wasn't big enough to do it alone so we got teh bright idea to use zipties. 300 zip ties to be exact. I can't get a zip tie off so idk how a coon can. hopefully it works bc I am out of commission for a while on threading wire thru all the over lapped places. by the way.. does anyone know how to get rid of a blood blister? I caught my finger (other hand) btwn the wire, 2x4, nail & the hammer.. now i have a huge blood blister & I'm too chicken to stick a needle in it. now even sure if that's the best fix. Any suggestions would be appreciated.
As soon as I can hold my camera I'll take a pic of the coop. We painted it Fiddle leaf green, sun burst yellow & nutmeg brown. I was tired of boring old white & figured High gloss paint would clean up much better in the coop. C just wanted it too look like a John Deere advertisement for chicken coops.
Hope everyone has a wonderful weekend!
I can't wait to see a picture of it! Sorry about your hand, I bet that hurts! Ouch.
I've always just stuck a needle in bloodblisters, but I think you're supposed to let them dry up on their own...
I did go check the MO Conservation Dept site, and it left me to wonder if maybe you're seeing Cottonmouths? they would fit your description to a "T"'. I did email them (and several other people) about possible crossing, and so far I got a terse note from a friend who asked me how I thought a live bearer could cross with an egg layer?. Don't have an answer *G*, so I think I'll let that one go....
Yeah, hardware cloth is very tough and unforgiving. I use olts of weights and bords when I deal with it to straighten it out, and I still get bitten :(.
I've had good luck with zip ties in some situations. Not sure what you're attaching too, so can't comment specifically. I have seen Raccoons (or could have been a possum) chew thru them, but only once. They do deteriorate with time, faster in the sun.
Sorry that you were injured, I hate to hurt:(. But, the chickens will be safe becuase of your sacrifuce :)
they didn't look really like a cotton mouth.. I grew up with cotton mouths, Grandpas farm had lots & lots of them so I know the basic ones pretty good & these didn't' have a "cotton mouth" when they opened up & it wasn't a cotton mouth coloring on the snake.. other than the black. I've never seen a cotton mouth with diamonds. Could be one but not that I've come across before. The mouth was more a pinkish color if I"m remembering correctly.. but given the fact I was still leary of the snake bc it wasn't totally dead I could be remembering wrong.
The kids & i have decided that really honestly no ones gonna know who & what will cross with who & what because if God decides he wants them to cross they will. So we aren't too worried beyond watching for these & trust me we are watching. Every bush is now trimmed very high, every tree weedeated closely too, sticks are burnt, piles of bricks are spread out, leaves are burnt. :) hiding places are being destroyed. We are going to study up on it & try & find out why the conversation department is saying that & find out just what this snake was.