resttecno.blogg.se - Raccoon killing chickens

A good quality treadle feeder works - see my review of the best on the market. Don't use an open feeder for your chickens' daily food.Something like this is ideal - it has a locking lid. A brick or stone on top of the lid won't be enough - a raccoon will remove it in seconds. So use a galvanised storage bin with a tight fitting lid, and add a bungee for more security.The dark is no protection - they use the feeling sensations in their hands to "see" the problem - and solve it.

They have no problem opening even heavy container lids.

First and most important action: protect your feed! Raccoons are large and strong.

Once they no longer have a tasty take-away, they'll lose interest. Links in this section are " affiliate links", which means that if you click and buy something, I earn a small commission at no extra cost to you.īecause raccoons are opportunistic feeders, the main method of controlling them is by shutting down the source of food. Like any cornered animal, it can become vicious in its attempt to defend itself.īaby raccoons may look cute, but they learn to climb and kill very quickly. Explain the damage they can do not only to chickens but to humans.Īnd if you see a wild raccoon, never try to corner it. If your neighbours have them as pets, or if they regularly feed them, ask them (politely) not to. It's not advised by wildlife experts - the raccoon is not a domesticated species and, as we've seen, can carry disease. There are two key areas: preventing entry, and avoiding attracting them in the first place. Once you understand something about the raccoon's behaviour and characteristics, it's not hard to work out what needs to happen to protect your chickens. Check your own area before taking any action. And in some parts of the US it is illegal to either kill or relocate raccoons. In any event, abandoned dens will be rediscovered by other raccoons. They are the solutions I use with my chickens. Please note: there are ways of living alongside wild animals that don't involve either killing or relocating.

They're opportunistic animals so if they can't find something suitable, they'll use whatever else comes to hand. Their preferred habitat, especially in spring when they have baby cubs, is a tree hole or rock crevice. And as they eat more or less anything, that means cities as well as rural areas. Once a dweller of forests close to water, the raccoon will now make their home - called a den - almost anywhere food is freely available. Unfortunately, in urban areas where raccoons have established themselves, those "stations" (also called "latrines") are often found in houses, particularly in attics.

If you find a raccoon scat "station" - a place where a lot of scat has been left - it should be cleared by a hazardous waste expert due to the amount of roundworm likely to be present. The danger of scat for both chickens and humans is that it often contains roundworm. It's generally about ¾" in diameter and between two and three inches long, blunt at both ends. The raccoon's droppings aren't as pungent as the fox's. The claws are razor-sharp knives and the whole hand is so sensitive that the raccoon uses them to "see" objects just by feeling them. The long, dextrous "fingers" and a separate thumb make them easily able to hold and open locks and latches. These digits are one of the raccoon's characteristics that make them particularly deadly for chickens. They walk on their whole paw, so their prints are very like a hand: five long digits with a claw at the end.įront and back tracks are exactly the same.