Coop is off the ground about 2 feet. Chicken wire is everywhere! Top, bottom, sides. They have a huge box to go into at night, or day that has a caged window, shingled roof, vents. The coop is about 10 feet long by 6 feet wide by 6 feet high. We made sure there were No holes anywhere and woke up this morning with a 10" hole ripped on the side with 2 chickens gone. No blood, feathers or nothing? You reckon there would’ve been blood? I never ever see any animals where I live. No deer, raccons, possums, barely squirrels. They must only come out when Im not looking. The chicks are about 6-8 weeks ancient and we have 4 now outside and 1 inside along with a baby turkey. They were still to small to be place outside. The others were place outside for nearly a week now. I live in western pa if that helps. Any help would be greatly appreciated!
Thanks!
Related posts:
Raccoons are really very smart, strong, and very crafty, especially when it comes to ways of trying to get food. They only come out at night and if you would ever see one in the day, stay away from it as it is probably rabid. By the way, I also live in Western PA and I reckon part of the problem is the population explosion of raccoons around here in recent years. My father, being tired of one certain, very large raccoon that caused a few hundred dollars worth of hurt digging up his lawn looking for grubs in the soil, was leaving a wire trap out at night with some food in it, and the damn thing really had lifted the trap up, let the food fall out of the trap, ate it and left…that’s what I mean when I say they are smart and strong. So you can see what you’re up against here lol. I agree with someone who said to get some type of repellant which you can probably find at Lowe’s or Home Depot. And if all else fails, and you have a strong stomach lol, you can try catching them at night with a trap and either letting them go somewhere else (which I’d be careful doing as it’s illegal to do that in many places) or do like my dad did and take them in the woods and shoot them. He did manage to catch one and shot it but he never caught the huge one that did all the hurt.
you could place some cinder blocks around the bottom making it a bit more hard for them to dig under. There is also a predator fence that you can buy. I believe it will give them an electric shock. Get rid of any areas in the yard with debris and place all garbage in containers that are racoon proof.
I would also place some human hair around the aviary as the scent might help to keep them away as well.
Raccoons are nocturnal so unless you are out there at night your probably not going to see them. They are crafty animals and can get into many places no matter how secure you reckon they are. If you contact you dept of fish and game they may be able to help you trap them. Or just sit out there at night and shoot them if you know how to hunt.
You can buy raccoon deterrent to help in the process. The deterrent is scented to smell like the coyote. Raccoons are born with an instinctive dread of the coyote. Making them believe one is near should drive them from your property and your chicks.
You cannot use chicken wire to build a predator proof coop. Raccoons can EASILY chew through it and reach through to kill them. You need to use something more sturdy.