Cleaning up 17 dead chickens was not on my list of things to do today, but guess what? Last night a raccoon killed my chickens, almost all of them too. I’ve got four left and I’m not sure one will make it to tomorrow morning.  Needless to say, I’m ticked. I raised these chickens from chicks and they had just started to lay eggs! They weren’t a year old yet, and here I am, just about back where I started from.

I talked to a couple of my neighbors earlier and I guess they’ve been having similar problems, only it’s not just raccoons, skunks have been out and about too.  Over the last five years I have lost roughly 30+ chickens to a combination of raccoons, weasels, dogs, bird flu, and even cars, but usually it’s a few here and there.  This is the first time that I have had nearly ALL of my chickens massacred and killed at one time and I don’t plan to let it happen again.

A close friend of mine had a problem with raccoons killing his chickens a few years ago, so I asked him for advice.  Since I’m not willing to sit up all night to try and shoot the coon, he recommended trapping it. He gave me the number for a guy that considers it his ‘specialty’.  Well, I’ll let you know how special he and his traps are after they catch thing(s).  All I know is I’m going to deal with my problem my way, and hopefully help my neighbors in the process.