Best way to make a coop secure ???

[JWChickens]

It's ok he didnt get any of them. I heard Weezy screaming (it was almost human it was so creepy!) and ran out with the dog and eventually scared him away. He was a jerk-stared me down while I threw rocks at him and even pointed the air pistol. If the cartridge hadn't been empty I could have got him between the eyes

Thank goodness. Our chickens are important to us and we are pretty protective of them. Hopefully my new setup will still keep them safe.

 

[mamajos]

Many here also have electric fencing or wires around their coop/runs.

 

[3KillerBs]

As has been stated above, half-inch hardware cloth FIRMLY fastened with either fence staples or fender washers -- ideally cover all exposed wire edges with trim boards.

Also, wire anti-dig skirting.

And, if it seems appropriate in your area, electric hot wires.

All latches need to be firmly secured, including nestbox lids. Raccoons are strong, clever, and nimble-fingered. They CAN work ordinary barrel bolts. All my doors and nestboxes have 2 latches to make it even harder to open and to minimize the chance of a warped door allowing a predator access.

 

[Aunt Angus]

I use a dog kennel with 2x4 openings in the wire and an attached roof. The bottom 3 ft are also covered in hardware cloth. I use combination tumbler locks in everything. Surrounding the whole set up and a 500 sq ft chicken yard/duck pool is electrified poultry netting. The yard us also covered in heavy duty bird netting. I have a LOT of predators here, though. Like a lot.

With raccoons, as others have said: hardware cloth, some sort of roof, latches/locks.

Electricity works wonders, and is pretty cheap. An energizer, some fence wire, some insulators, and a battery, solar, or plug-in energy source, and you're good. One hotwire at the bottom of the fence, one a few feet up, and one at the top.

I really thought it would be difficult to set up the electric, but it wasn't at all. And the energizer was the most expensive bit at around $100. But it's been going strong for years now on a rechargeable battery.