Felt like the Saint Valentines day massacre on Wednesday here in suburbia. We had 9 chickens in the back yard. Nice coop, one side with a varmint proof little run, and one side that covers pretty much the width of the back yard slope. Started raising chickens for almost 3 years now and still had 4 of the original 6. Locked 'em in at night for a while, but stopped doing that for at least 2 1/2 years now with nary a problem. Surrounded by neighbors with dogs that are out at least during the daytime.
Saw a raccoon on the fence maybe 4 months ago, and so I built a smaller fenced in run. But no repeat sightings.
That said, Wed morning I heard what sounded like a chicken trying to pass a dinosaur sized egg. I didn’t recognize the sound for what it was so took my time getting out to the backyard. Saw a whole lot of feathers and no chickens.
So, I go around the fence and found 4 DOA, with only one that was partially eaten. Then looked closer and found 5 traumatized chickens hiding under bushes or trees and not moving a feather. One was untouched under the same bush as one of the DOA’s. One of the 5 survivors had what looked like about an inch sized piece of skin ripped out of it’s back (which not knowing what else to do I poured hydrogen peroxide on it). I moved the survivors into the coop and locked it.
3 survivors sorta started moving around a bit. The one with the missing skin on the back went to the great chicken coop in the sky a few hours later. One doesn’t seem wounded but hasn’t moved as far as I can tell since I put her in the egg box. definitely traumatized.
Goddamn 'coons were back this morning and went through the s’more supplies my kids had left outside.
My neighbor in the back has moved and the new neighbors don’t have a dog. We don’t have a dog either.
Is there anything one can do in an suburban environment where raccoons have targeted for their nocturnal scavenging? Just make sure my chickens are in at night and locked up? I’m not going to get a dog, which might be a deterrent. Also pretty sure that in WA state, I can live trap a raccoon but I can’t relocate them anywhere so that’s not real practical. I’ve also read that even if I do, ahem in a legally approved manner, get the 'coon, there is no guarantee that I got the right raccoon.
Any advice from the teemings or just suck it up and make sure my chickens are locked in at night?
In the suburbs? Probably your only realistic option. Raccoon density in suburban areas can be surprisingly high and refill to capacity quickly. So even eliminating the immediate culprits if you could ( and legally you might not be able to easily ) is not likely to permanently solve the problem.
Even a large dog is no absolute guarantee. When I was young I had a near-fully grown family group of four come tromping through the kitchen doggy door of my large and ultimately somewhat intimidated Chesapeake Bay Retriever on a couple of evenings.
I’m sorry for your troubles, but yeah, pretty much just suck it up and lock up the birds.
Making sure there are not other temptations around (such as those s’more supplies, or accessible garbage cans and so forth) can reduce their incentive to hang around, but you’ll need your neighbors to cooperate in locking up their temptations too. Also, remove hiding places if you can, so they don’t have a den close at hand.
*Some * raccoons are deterred if they even think there’s a canine around, so products such as coyote urine, available at larger garden centers, can help, but some raccoons just don’t seem to care. Motion-activated floodlights and/or sprinklers can scare them away, but again they’re not guaranteed effective.
Trapping and removal rarely works. If the living situation is pleasant, removing one just makes an opening for another one to move in.
Koi ponds are some of the raccoon’s favorite delis.
You might want to look for koi-oriented message boards.
The one trick I remember was installing rock overhangs - the fish will hide under them. I don’t know if there are boxes chickens will instinctively hide. If there are, and they can be rigged so 'coons can’t enter…
My grandmother kept 25-30 chickens in a 1-acre+ fenced yard/orchard when I was a little kid. Part of every evenings’ routine was rounding up the chickens back into the chicken house. As it got dark many of them would come back on their own to be on their regular roost.
Probably 1/4 of the families we knew had chickens. That was the expected routine of keeping chickens in the country.
We’ve had a problem with raccoons in our building attic. Over the past winter my spouse has killed 16 of them. New ones just keep moving in. There are four of them up there this week.
Yes, we need some roof repair done, but until all the ice is off the roof we can’t ask a human being to get up there.
Learn to co-exist with the Noble Raccoon.
Sit with them.
Become their Disciple.
Let them expound on their Moral Philosophy.
Wear a mask.
Tip over your own trash cans.
Become One With The Raccoon.
Raccoons are a dangerous nuisance but you’re not going to eradicate them from your neighborhood. Plus there are plenty of other things that would like a nice chicken dinner, as well. Ultimately, the onus for keeping your livestock safe is on you.
Put them to bed safely at night. Take the opportunity to look over your coop for signs that someone is trying to get in.
And look up how to do chicken wound care. There are probably better alternatives to peroxide.
It’s part of the routine for keeping animals. Raccoons are a dangerous nuisance but you’re not going to eradicate them from your neighborhood. Plus there are plenty of other things that would like a nice chicken dinner, as well. Ultimately, the onus for keeping your livestock safe is on you.
Put them to bed safely at night. Take the opportunity to look over your coop for signs that someone is trying to get in.
And look up how to do chicken wound care. There are probably better alternatives to peroxide.
I feel your pain. And unfortunately, have no advice you don’t already know. Keep those chickens in the house.
We’ve got fucking Owls. Think raccoons with wings. These bastards came down and wiped out my wife’s turkey flock in one night. About 20 or so birds. They tear off the heads and go for the crop. Leave the carcass behind, to attract the coyotes. They have done a few numbers on her chicken fleet as well.
Yep, that’s what we do. Additionally I set a havahart box trap and relocate a few raccoons every so often. IME opossums are every bit as bad and also get relocated.
It’s easier to kill the raccoons and opossums, but my gf prefers I take them for long drives, so I do.
