raccoon living in neighbors hedge - what can I do to protect my chicken

[Zwillingsmama]

Today we noticed that my dog was staring into the neighbors hedge while we had dinner outside. I live in an urban setting with small backyards and usually an 8ft fence around the backyard. Neighbor has ivy/blackberry hedge where rats are living and some thuja evergreens are right on the fence line. Just minutes after the chicken door closed (the door opens and closes automatic with a light sensor) we noticed 2 juvenile raccoons climbing down the Thuja. Question - how safe would it be to have the chicken in the run during the day (distance from tree to coop 80ft) how do I get rid of the raccoon - trapping is not allowed. For now I will leave the chicken in the coop until I figured out what to do.
I always new there are raccoons around, but usually the are just transient during the night when the chicken are inside the raccoon proof coup, the run is not raccoon proof. Any insides of what to do are highly appreciated

 

[centrarchid]

Consider a very small electric fence around run / coop. A very low output unit will work against raccoons trying get passed existing run and coop walls. You can also make the coop / run stronger by using heavier materials and upgrading locks / latches.

 

[centrarchid]

Show pictures of your setup.

 

[Northern.Ontario]

Why is live trapping not an option?

 

[bobbi-j]

Why is live trapping not an option?

The thing about live trapping is, you still have to dispose of the animal that is trapped. Relocation is illegal in many places, and often just dumps your problem animal off on someone else. I'm guessing from the OP's location they don't own or have access to a firearm, so taking the live trap and animal out to the country and permanently disposing of it is not an option.

 

[Folly's place]

Building a very secure coop and run is necessary. Never have food outside of the coop and run, and be very careful about your automatic door. Locking a predator inside with your chickens will not end well!
Upgrade your run!!!
You do have a big problem, and calling Public Health and Animal Control would be a good idea, about the rats if nothing else. Raccoons are not transient, they have territories as family groups, and will be happy to kill your birds at night. Rats too.
Mary

 

[snow5164]

You don’t have animal control in your area? I’d call and say there’s a family of raccoons and you scared for your children’s safety , they can have rabies and Carry all kinds of disease , your responsibility is to the people in your house . Rats live there? Now those you can poison, no??

 

[ShanasCastle]

Today we noticed that my dog was staring into the neighbors hedge while we had dinner outside. I live in an urban setting with small backyards and usually an 8ft fence around the backyard. Neighbor has ivy/blackberry hedge where rats are living and some thuja evergreens are right on the fence line. Just minutes after the chicken door closed (the door opens and closes automatic with a light sensor) we noticed 2 juvenile raccoons climbing down the Thuja. Question - how safe would it be to have the chicken in the run during the day (distance from tree to coop 80ft) how do I get rid of the raccoon - trapping is not allowed. For now I will leave the chicken in the coop until I figured out what to do.
I always new there are raccoons around, but usually the are just transient during the night when the chicken are inside the raccoon proof coup, the run is not raccoon proof. Any insides of what to do are highly appreciated

Hello,
We live in the country and have HUGE raccoons here. Every now and again we will get some cheeky buggers that raid everything. We picked up a live trap, place a can of tuna (it's like their Kryptonite) in the very end, when the raccoon goes in for the food, it's safely trapped. You can then call your local nuisance/wildlife or SPCA to have it removed to a better area.

 

[Zwillingsmama]

To address a few things. Trapping raccoons is illegal where I live for the reasons bobbij mentioned. My coop is Fort Knox I am not worried that I raccoon gets into that. I used my sons old play structure so lots of solid wood and hardware cloth with a skirt around the structure. Since the coop is about 8 ft away from the 6ft wooden fence I just block the run with the 4 ft hardware cloth. The easiest way in for the raccoon is via the wooden fence and just plop into the run. They usually don’t cross the yard as my dog will make a ruckus and scare them away. But my dog can’t get into the run at least not when I am at work since I don’t trust him 100% with the chicken. When I am home they often have the whole yard and my dog is outside too but I would be right there if things go wrong. Building a bigger raccoon proof run would be pretty expensive so that’s why I want to avoid that. Only have 5 chicken. Btw. We don’t feed the chicken outside the coop so there is no food or garbage to attract the raccoons.
As for the rats we caught some with the snap trap but now they are too smart. They haven’t touched the poison in 4 weeks as they gorge on my tomatoes, so yesterday I cut the down as I am tired of feeding the rats. We only noticed them once the tomatoes turned red because every night they come and eat the almost ripe ones.
Question about the electric fence. Would it work on top of a wooden fence along the property line? I have a pretty good idea how to set it up on the ground but not on the fence. If so how do I best install it?
The first picture is the coop with distance to the fence and the hardware barrier that the chicken can’t get in the yard. The 2 picture shows the how close the rats and raccoons are and that they would travel on fence to get to my girls.
Btw out county will not deal / help with rats or raccoons, they just put out guidelines what you can and cannot do. Years ago we had a raccoon getting in our house through the cat door in broad day light to get to the cat food past my husband sitting in his office..... we called county, space animal control you name it and they just say it’s your problem ...

 

[happyfrenchman]

This business about relocation being a problem... that is just another way to make one's life unnecessarily difficult.... if you should get hold of the varmint, and you don't want to kill it, and you want to release it, take it out into the woods and let it out. Don't get bit. It will have to fit itself in to the wild environment but last time I drove down a country road, there were plenty of dead raccoons, possums and skunks to let me think new openings are always coming around.