The nights around here have been anything but peaceful lately. It seems like at least once each night I get woken up by the chickens going crazy. Several times I've spotted a raccoon or two wondering through the yard looking for a the buffet line. I usually wake up Hubby who grabs his whacking stick and runs outside to scare the raccoons up a tree or out of our yard. So far we've gotten up in the morning to find at least 2 piles of feathers that used to belong to a chicken. About a week ago one of our duo of hens I like to call Lucy and Ethel got nabbed. RIP Ethel. Then just yesterday I go to check on our hen who is desperately trying to hatch out a couple of eggs only to find a pile of feathers and some egg shells. RIP Mommy-to-be. And the one that's bothering me more than the others is the fact that Mommy hen now only has 2 chicks following her around. I'm certain raccoons must have grabbed a few of the 10 missing chicks.
So needless to say I'm really hating raccoons right now. I bought a raccoon trap at Home Depot yesterday and Son and Hubby baited it with some bacon. Son was up, dressed, fed and out the door in record time this morning to see if we'd trapped a raccoon, but the trap was empty. Hopefully the raccoons will either stay away from our remaining chickens and out of our yard or we'll catch all of them in the trap. Now what we'll do with them once we catch them is the question of the day.
YIKES! I'm sorry for you! Have you tried Coyote Urine Powder... I know... gross, but it worked in our yard. They were prowling and leaving scat in the kids play space. A week or two of diligent sprinkling and they left our yard. http://www.acehardwareoutlet.com/productdetails.aspx?sku=7098270
ReplyDeleteWe have tried Coyote urine in the past but I need to get and use some again. I think the next step will be to dismantle the roosting space that is out in the fenced area so all chickens are forced to go inside (another one got eaten last night). The feral ones in the trees are on their own, I guess.
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain. We have constant raccoon problems with our chickns. My recommendation is to get your husband to trade his whacking stick for a boom stick.
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