Raccoons…the Silent Killer

When we first got chickens, we started out with five hens, so that we could have our own organic, free range eggs.  Then, this year we added about thirty more to the flock.

One frosty northwest morning about a month ago, I was shocked and horrified to find several trails of feathers around our back yard, and three chickens missing.  Many of our newer hens took to sleeping up in the trees (discovered one evening when I was searching the yard for our chickens, and heard little rustling noises above my head.  Imagine my surprise to look up and see them all perched on the limbs of our big plum tree.)

The three hens that went missing happened to be some of the ones that sleep in the trees.  After three years of raising chickens, this was the first time that we’d ever experienced an attack or loss (not counting the chicken that hung herself on our fence…a story for another day.) 

 So for the next several nights, we were on high alert.  Whenever our dogs barked, we’d let them outside (my husband with his gun at the ready), and they’d go on a mad chase after some wild animal.  Out here we have several different predators…coyotes, bob cats, mountain lions and bears, oh my!  We knew that whatever was getting our chickens had to be something that could climb trees…which pretty much limits it to some kind of large cat or raccoons.  

 I can picture those poor little birds, blissfully slumbering, only to be rudely awakened by a grab around their legs, or maybe a sharp tooth in the neck…not the way you want to go. 

Well, why didn’t you put those chickens in their coop at night, you ask?  Great question.   Because we were stupid at the beginning…and now we couldn’t catch all of them! 

And here is my first tip about chickens.

Chicken Tip  #1

As soon as the baby stage is over (where they need chick food and constant warm light), introduce them to the flock at night, in the coop…oh, and have a coop door that locks shut!

A few weeks ago, after some fresh snow fall, we found out what was really attacking our chickens.  A trail of little hand prints led right up to our coop. By this time, the rascals were plucking chickens straight out of the coop…we didn’t even think they could fit in! 

It was of course, a raccoon, otherwise dubbed by me as the silent killer.

To be continued…