Mean Raccoons

[Stepnout]

Raccoons are just BIG RATS WITH FLUFFY TAILS!
If you don’t want to kill them then you have to make your coop and run into a fortress.
Sorry you are having this trouble. Welcome to BYC.

 

[queen.chicken]

Raccoons are just BIG RATS WITH FLUFFY TAILS!
If you don’t want to kill them then you have to make your coop and run into a fortress.
Sorry you are having this trouble. Welcome to BYC.

Okay! I will try! And Thank You!

 

[kwhites634]

Try adding several Nite Guard Solar Predator Control lights. Amazon and Northern Tool have them. My coops are secure at night, but I still have several facing different directions. Coyotes are just outside my pastures, but the lights and my donkeys keep them away. I let my dogs "mark" all around, too. Check your local guidelines, but you can add live-trapping and relocating to your repertoire of deterrents. Good luck!

I've relocated several, after a short encounter with Mr. Winchester

 

[cmom]

I've relocated several, after a short encounter with Mr. Winchester

I agree. It's not fair to someone else if you relocate. A Fish & Wildlife officer told me it wasn't on the endangered list and I could shoot them. I have my birds well protected, electric around all of the coops and pens, concrete under the gates, heavy duty netting over all of the pens and game cameras around on my property to see what critters are roaming around especially at night. I have had my share of losses in the past but not in a very long time. I have no dog, only chickens.

 

[cmom]

I have tried motion detection lights and the predators would set them off night after night. I did have a radio I left on out at the coops but I did that because my game camera died. Now that I have another game camera out there, I might put a motion light out there and see what sets it off.

 

[Warwickchickenhill]

Raccoons come all the time and haunt my chickens. The Thursday, 7.26.18, a raccoon came at 2.30 in the morning. The chickens started screaming. We can't afford to keep loosing chickens.. Any advice on how to keep raccoons away? We are thinking of trying mixing dish soap, water, and castor oil. And if that doesn't work, we would do cayenne pepper..

Put pans of ammonia out ,my gram had em in the attic ,they didnt return with the ammonia

 

[dotporter]

I use motion lights with a radio. The combination seems to convince the danged things that there is a human waiting somewhere for them.

 

[Killer Tomato]

We've spent many nights camped out in the lawn chairs, armed with the hose and the wrist rocket and marbles. It's usually when the berries and cherries are ripe and tasty -- they never very far into the yard before our dogs start going ballistic.

We have a pellet gun now, and will probably start plinking away with that, too. We're in city limits, so we need to be careful.

It would help if my neighbor, who I *do* like very much, would stop feeding every stray cat, AND the raccoons, on her front porch.

 

[dotporter]

Put pans of ammonia out ,my gram had em in the attic ,they didnt return with the ammonia

I am SO going to be trying this!!!!

 

[True Patriot]

You have quite the predicament on your hands. Unfortunately the only way I found to get rid of raccoons is to kill them. Since this option does not suit you there are some options still open. First, as suggested by others. You need to turn your coop into Ft Knox. And check every inch of it daily. Keep enough materials on hand for all the repairs you need to make. Second, you need to put electric fence on the coop. At 3" 8" and 24" heights. That will help deter digging and climbing. I would also recommend a second fence 10 feet out from the coop with the same setup. This way they have to cross both barriers. Buy a tester for the wire. A dead electric fence does no good. I have not seen any success with repellant, blinking lights, sprays, or any of the other remedies you can find on the internet. They are hungry predators, you have a meal sitting in a coop. They won't give up. They learn and adapt. And they're stronger than most give them credit for.