Went out this a.m. to take a picture of Betty and the other ladys to share here and it looks like the racoon/s got the last of the hens. So we set a trap and are going to have a word with it. Now I have to cancel the chick order I had and start buying store bought eggs...YUCKO!!!....Lauri
No more Chickens
So sorry. That's horrible.
Oh lauri, that's terrible. How many did you have ? The same happened to me a couple months ago. It's such a sad disapointment.
I started out with 13 hens and a rooster and then had the last 6 hens killed last night. 4 died of old age and all the others were killed. So now back to the drawing board in a year or two once things get settled with the raccoons.I may roof the yard in so they can't get in and try again sooner...Lauri
I am so sorry to hear that you lost all your hens. We have had a problem with raccoons killing our ducks out in the pasture/pond, and after losing 20 or so ducks we gave up, too. So far they haven't gotten in to my chicken coop. The coop is up close to the house, and I made a roof out of some old black silt material, so they seem to be secure there. Someone gave us the end of a roll of the silt material, it is fairly light weight, and it provides shade in the summer days. Maybe something like that will work for you.
so sorry to hear about this. when my poultry yard is finished, it will have a roof made from leftover baseball netting stuff, i can't think of what it is called, polypropo-somrthing? anyhow, it will keep out hawks and coons, etc. i saw it advertised at www.guineafowl.com
i sure hope you can find somewhere nearby to buy eggs from until you get your own going again.... maybe check your local thrifty nickel or some kind of want ads....
;-)
tf
Hi all, Thanks. My DH said he's going to run some boards up and over the top so I can still get in a walk around and then put the small chicken wire over that so nothing can get in when I get ready for more chickens.And it was a racoon, one big very mean one, he now lives else where!! About 15 miles from here.
I did find a lady on the farm trail that has eggs for sale so I'll have fresh once her hens get to going, thank heavens the store bought just don't taste the same...Lauri
.Glad you caught the racoon. They are such a nuisance to the chickens and gardens.
We do get spoiled with those nice fresh eggs don't we ?
Maybe you can get some of those farm trail eggs and incubate them to start a new flock. Don't know what kind of hens they are, but if she sells eggs, they must be pretty good layers. I made a homemade incubator for very little expense, and have some eggs in it now.l So far they look like they are going to hatch. They're wiggling and moving the eggs. They should hatch tomorrow (21 days) I have my fingers crossed. :))
lauri, i don't know what your setup inside the coop is, but, as an extra precuation, you might consider hardware cloth around the coop a couple of feet up. you have to use 1/4", as racoons can reach through and get the birds unawares...
I had locked them into the coop for the night, it's plywood sided and has a plexiglass window and vents up at teh roof line, and the racoon squeezed through a screened vent opening by prying out the screen in a 4x6 inch area while hanging by his toe nails I'm sure and got in that way. We now have hardware cloth stapled up there and framed over with 2x2's. I've had chickens here for 15 years and this is the first time we've ever had problems with the racoons...The lady I found eggs from does'nt have a rooster . She said some people don't like to see the "spots" in fertile eggs and won't buy them from her. For next year I found a farm who will hatch me out as many as I want or I can come get the sexed chicks from them.....Lauri
tha is so good. i have heard that to keep the coons from remvoing even hardware cloth, you need two layers, one stpaled on each side of the 2x2s. that way, even though he can pull one off, he can't get to the other, and will then become discouraged... i have read some awful coon stories by guinea owners. we only have one around here [that i know of], and he recenlty came in and cleaned all the big fish out of the neigbors pond...
tf
I had a racoon that got my chickens, but then I got him. No problem since, but I'm now more cautious to secure the coops. We love to go camping at Roaring River State Park in Missouri and the racoons are bad there to get into camping supplies. They can even open jars of peanut butter. Their little "hands" are quite skilled at getting into things. They have opened our ice chests and stolen bacon and lunch meats during the nights. I hope you are able to keep them out. :D
See, that's what I need to keep around to help me open jars. A raccoon.
LOL.
Lauri, I am so sorry to read this! I am eyeballing my coop and wondering what precautions I need. I have a feeling I will be back in a bit with pics and loads of questions. Beware!
LOL I'll be here.. awating pictures..Lauri
LOL @ you! I went out and took pics. I also dragged the 2 and 4 year olds around the field with me and took pics from the very furthest points. Interesting to see how big my *yard* is. ;P Then, the other four kids came home and I forgot my name again.......
Your name is George =o))...............Fred aka Lauri
LOL Nice to meet ya! Umm, what is your name again?
Yes!!!!.................=o))
Lauri:
You are kinder than I am..... I would have brained that raccoon rather than haul him 15 miles away. Here is a pic of how I put electric fence around my chicken lot. I had closed off the vents at the top of the walls as you did, so then the little devils started climbing over the chicken wire into the lot. then they would just walk into the hen house through the same door the chickens used and then pick out one for dinner. I haven't lost a chicken to the raccoons since I fixed up this fence. I leave it off if I let the chickens out of their lot for an afternoon or so.
oooh, hot BARBED wire no less! good for you Virginian!
On the assumption that coons are mainly nighttime predators, i bring my guineas in about 2-3 hours before sunset. hope to train the chickens to do the same. then they are shut up TIGHT! It is a cinderblock building, no windows, with a concrete floor. i keep alfala hay on it to keep it warm. and all joints are sealed tight too.
sometimes i wish there were some skylights, but then one more thing to get broken by hail, or broken into by predators, or loose heat through, or heat up through. so they can just be in the dark, but hopefully, safe.
tf
awwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww poor chickens
Lauri
i am so sad about your chicken ladies.
I would have shot the racoon, probably my DH just would have
for me.
Grrrr.
sheri
sheri,
Thanks...yep they got eliminated by gun....all 5 of them...