The bait needs to be located in the trap where the raccoon can't reach through the wire and take it out from the side or back without ever entering the trap. They are smart and have long arms. Good luck!

When I was a teenager we lived in the mountains in southern NM (zipcode 80354) & had bad raccoon problems getting into the garbage & dogfood. We captured a sow & 3 babies (cutest little things on the planet, seriously). Mom wasn't too keen on being in the cage w/her 'cuz one of her babies was outside the cage. That was a nasty situation. But what was worse (we let her go so she could get to her baby) was we ended up getting a BIG bear havahart trap so we could get all of them at the same time. We did. But we still had our garbage cans knocked over & whatnot, so Father reset the trap. 3 nights in a row the trap was sprung, no critter. Finally, he literally stayed in the van ALL NIGHT watching the trap to see what was triggering it. He used a chicken leg for bait, using wire to attach it all the way to back of the cage & hung it only like an inch from the top to make sure that whatever was triggering the trap was INSIDE the trap. Come to find out it was the biggest raccoon on the planet. Part raccoon, part Tyrannosaurus Rex infected with rabies. We caught the boar and it was the most PISSED OFF raccoon ever. When the raccoon climbed into the cage, he'd purposefully stretched out his tail so that it was sitting outside the doorway (now this is a BEAR CAGE.. 4x3x3) and when the door slammed down, it squished his tail, but it didn't lock into place (SMART!). When Father saw this, he jumped out of the van, which scared the raccoon. The raccoon turned around, which caused his tail to be pulled inside, and the door latched shut.

We ended up having to use 2 8' 3" metal pipes to hoist the cage (it weighed almost 100lbs with the raccoon in it) and put it in the back of the van. We transported the raccoon about 20miles away deeper into the Lincoln National Forest (where we lived in southern NM) and let it go. But that was the most harrowing 1 hour drive EVER.. with this totally ticked off raccoon spitting, snarling, bashing against the cage, biting the cage.. yikes. For years & years & years up to this point I collected stuffed raccoons. Thereafter, I didn't want ANYTHING to do with them. I still have 2 of my stuffed animals (Friend & Bandit.. Bandit's much abused and has been sown many many times, most of his stuffings have fallen out), but I never wanted another stuffed raccoon again.

Those Darn raccoons killed two of my Blue Laced Red Wyandott hens last night. I'm really ready to sit up all night with the shot gun!

I didn't know racoons did that, and I don't blame you for the action you would like to take!!

Raccoons love a nice chicken dinner which is one reason to have a critter-proof coop to lock the hens in at night.

Most of my pens are critter proof, but I put these two into a horse stall as they were being picked on, and needed some place to go to heal. I should have known better.

Bummer. ~Jan

Hi All,

I used to raise many many flocks of chickens out on a 40 acre homestead but for the past 9 years in town I've been chicken-less. This spring changed that when our town lifted its ban and said 4 chickens are okay. I ran out and got 4 chickies and have spoiled them rotten and now - bad news - one is crowing dangit. I was really hoping none of my babies were going to have to end up in the soup pot but it sure looks that way.

It's going to be tough to do here - butchering 25 all at once out on the land is one thing. Killing one in a tiny backyard in the middle of town is a whole nuther thing! I always learned to not name my chickens that I was going to eat and not become close friends but I'm really friends with all four of these so even harder to have to do one in. I hate picking him up and feeling him relax because he trusts me

We always used an axe on a chopping block but I've been reading about killing cones online and think that will be the way to go. I just read a page where a guy uses a 2-gallon empty bleach bottle for his killing cone and it works. I like free and easy so that may be what I try. I'm not looking forward to it at all but he's getting louder and louder and I know my neighbors will be lighting torches and heading to my door soon so I need to head off that angry mob.

:> Linda

How sad! It is all too easy for me to turn livestock into pets so I can sympathize. Two of this year's replacement pullets turned out to be roosters so I will be faced with the same task. We don't have nearby neighbors but we also don't need unproductive chickens.

My niece in Leesburg, VA had a setup with the person she bought her chicks from that she could "exchange" any males.

Problem solved. ~Jan

What a deal!

I can't wait 'til next year. I'll be building my coop soon (as soon as it cools down a little.. don't wanna be working out there in 95+deg heat.. I'm a wuss that way!) and then it'll be all good for the little chickies! I'm just gonna get white silkies & orpingtons (sp?).

My news gets worse - out of the 4 straight run chicks I bought at the feed store, FOUR are roosters!!! :o

But I am very happy and so relieved to report that a solution presented itself! Awhile back there was a nice young man working with a company that was building a fence for a neighbor. He saw my little chicks and mentioned to me that his mom raised chickens - hundreds - about 20 minutes from here on their farm. He gave me her number if I needed more.

I wasn't sure I still had the number it but it did turn up and I gave her a call. I drove out there today with my FOUR big fat spoiled lovely roosters. We worked out a deal - I basically gave her the roosters to add to hers, they will be butchered to feed her (and their large family) in another 2 months. I bought 3 little hens from her, along with some eggs and things to help out. I really didn't think she charged me enough for the little hens but it turned out wonderfully. A really nice experience out on her lovely goat and chicken farm and my problem got solved.

I have 2 Rhode Island Reds and 1 Buff Orpington now :)

Skiekitty I don't blame you one bit for not working in that heat! I'm down in Pueblo and we've been at 103 the last couple of days. NO body wants to do NO thing in this heat!!

Next two days are supposed to be 20 degrees cooler, and then back up to 100+ for four days, so that means get everything done over the next two days!

I made a chicken tractor this time. I was faced with just having major surgery a month before, had my daughter come to help me, neither of us knew much about tools or building, but I do know what chickens like. I read lots about chicken tractors online and got some great ideas and finally.... well let me see if I have a picture....

http://s202.photobucket.com/al...

That is the backside of it (the backside of the doggie too, sorry about that! ) :D

Here's the side

http://s202.photobucket.com/al...

And the front

http://s202.photobucket.com/al...

And Inside:

http://s202.photobucket.com/al...

(there is food and water in place of the nest box right now, until they get big enough to start laying)


It accomplished several goals - it cost $18 for the big tub at the top and everything else I had on hand. It was easy enough for us to build ourselves, it is light enough to move around the yard so they chickens get to have new ground to scratch in and new weeds to eat. Chickens run for the solid area when scared, so there is a solid area under the tub, and they like to go UP like in a tree, so they can go up the ladder to the inside, where there are roosts (and will be a nest box soon). The tub is ventilated, but water proof so it is protection from rain. Under the tub (the "screened porch") is nice to get out of the heat.

I have since built an 'annex' to this one - I just connect it to the end with the gate using clamps and open the gate so they can go back and forth. My kids keep telling me I'm building a hamster Habitrail but for chickens :D

Pretty ingenious!

Clever design! Is it predator- proof?

porkpal said:Clever design! Is it predator- proof?

That's what I was thinking.. how would this handle predators? It's pretty nifty.. didn't think about trying to lift my doghouse up (I could have done that easily).

Thanks for the kind words! I know it looks strange but I think it's cool and so far the chickies agree :)

This is my favorite picture - the first few nights out there I still had the light on inside their tub. From a few steps away it really looks a bit like a space ship, huh? :D lol http://i202.photobucket.com/al...


Is it predator proof? Well that depends. There is no bottom so if a predator digs in, all bets are off. I don't have anything here that digs. It's heavy enough to not be easy to raise up and get into (by a critter). I have 2 dogs and when the chicks were small they would get excited and run up and jump against the pen and they bounced off - didn't collapse it or break it or get in.


As my flock got bigger I added on an annex (which made my kids joke that I was building a chicken Habitrail in the backyard) Not a real clear pic but you can see the annex is another wire hoop over a wood frame, with a smaller tub at the other end (on its side, cable tied all around to attach it to the wire)

When chickens are afraid they run to a solid wall, so I knew it was important to give them those solid areas. Some critters like to reach in and grab the chicks. This one gives them the protection in the 'porch' under the main tub, actually up inside the tub to get totally away, or inside the annex tub.

In our area cats are the biggest threat and so far no problems with them. My own dogs haven't broken in, and the other little squirrels and birds that come to munch on spilled feed haven't be a problem.

tabby said:Chickens, like people, get smarter as they age. A lot smarter. My 15 year old hens have me well trained.

Tabby - do you seriously have 15 YEAR OLD hens????? WOW oh WOW - My hat is off to you!

Skiekitty said:Sad sad sad news. Some how, some way, almost everyone got slaughtered. Friday night, I wasn't home until almost midnight and it had stormed pretty badly. Saturday I was going to take almost 100% of everyone to Kiowa to their annual Animal Swap/Sell. I had planned on selling the black silkie, 2 of the white silkies (keeping the roo & a hen), and the two NH red, keeping the buff. Saturday morning, when I went into their area, which is RIGHT next to my bedroom window, so it had to have happened between 6pm & 12am, that's when I found the carnage. The only birds to survive the disaster was a NH red & the buff. All the silkies & one red NH were literally in pieces everywhere. I won't go into graphic details, but it looked like a horror movie. I'm going to blame either skunks (which I doubt 'cuz I didn't smell any skunk) or the neighbor's cats (which I do believe it could have happened). And because everything is mulched, I couldn't look for tracks to identify what kind of animal did this. Couldn't have been dog / raccoon, had to have been a smaller animal. And wasn't a bird of prey because they wouldn't have shredded all the chickens, they would have taken them back to their nest (I see this regularly.. not to mention birds of prey don't just slaughter for fun and whatever did this, did this for fun).

Toni, I have to tell you I welled up reading this post. I feel your pain - had the same situation with my flock years ago when I lived in a neighborhood in the Springs. Turned out it was a fox. The neighbors had seen one lurking around and one even ran it out of her yard (they told me this later, unfortunately). At the time I had an open top pen and the fox walked along the fence and just jumped on in for a late night chicken snack.

I vowed to never have another open top pen after that. I hope to God I don't get hit now but something that burrows :P So far no problem.

I'm so sorry for your loss.

Our worst predators have always been raccoons; they are both smart and agile so I build my coops with their skills in mind.