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Coons, corn feeders, and chickens ? #6544093
05/25/19 11:56 PM
05/25/19 11:56 PM
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,311
Indiana
K
kyron4 Offline OP
trapper
kyron4  Offline OP
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K

Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,311
Indiana
Our laying hens are about 8 weeks old and ready to make the move from the secure barn to the coop outside. There is a 3' high welded wire fence 25'x25' around the coop, and the coop is a fortress for the most part. I know coons will quickly clear the fence and try to break into the coop in time. About 100'- 150' away is a gravity corn feeder for deer that we enjoy watching and the coons pound it too. So, with a easy meal of corn out will coons leave the chickens alone or will the corn bring them in, and then turn their attention to the coop ? -Thanks

Re: Coons, corn feeders, and chickens ? [Re: kyron4] #6544096
05/26/19 12:07 AM
05/26/19 12:07 AM
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 15,468
Champaign County, Ohio.
K
KeithC Offline
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KeithC  Offline
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Joined: May 2009
Posts: 15,468
Champaign County, Ohio.
I think the coons are unlikely to attack your chickens during the day, except in the Fall, when they are trying to put on weight for Winter. If there is any weakness in your coop, the coons will find it and exploit it at night to break in and get a chicken dinner and slaughter any chicken they can catch. I would keep a dog by the chickens or get a fence charger and electric fence, if you want to keep feedings coons nearby.

Keith

Re: Coons, corn feeders, and chickens ? [Re: kyron4] #6544134
05/26/19 07:42 AM
05/26/19 07:42 AM
Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 10,440
Iowa
T
trapdog1 Offline
trapper
trapdog1  Offline
trapper
T

Joined: Feb 2015
Posts: 10,440
Iowa
Keith is probably right, but I have to wonder if they are fat and happy living off the feeder, they will probably be too lazy to break in and chase chickens.

Re: Coons, corn feeders, and chickens ? [Re: kyron4] #6544144
05/26/19 08:01 AM
05/26/19 08:01 AM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,661
S.E. Ohio
M
M.Magis Offline
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M.Magis  Offline
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Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,661
S.E. Ohio
There is zero chance they won’t try to get to the chickens. Zero. Lock them up tight or they’ll be gone in no time.

Re: Coons, corn feeders, and chickens ? [Re: M.Magis] #6544145
05/26/19 08:06 AM
05/26/19 08:06 AM
Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 16,951
OH
Catch22 Offline
trapper
Catch22  Offline
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Joined: Nov 2015
Posts: 16,951
OH
Originally Posted by M.Magis
There is zero chance they won’t try to get to the chickens. Zero. Lock them up tight or they’ll be gone in no time.

X2, your chicken will die.


I wonder if tap dancers walk into a room, look at the floor, and think, I'd tap that. I wonder about things.....
Re: Coons, corn feeders, and chickens ? [Re: kyron4] #6544146
05/26/19 08:07 AM
05/26/19 08:07 AM
Joined: May 2009
Posts: 3,009
ohio
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tomahawker Offline
trapper
tomahawker  Offline
trapper
T

Joined: May 2009
Posts: 3,009
ohio
Had a coop break in myself. Took everything Not a chicken left overnight. Reinforced and doubled all chicken wire on it. We free range during the day and put up at night.

Re: Coons, corn feeders, and chickens ? [Re: kyron4] #6544203
05/26/19 09:57 AM
05/26/19 09:57 AM
Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 5,570
Dunbar, Wisconsin
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Pike River Offline
trapper
Pike River  Offline
trapper
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Joined: Oct 2018
Posts: 5,570
Dunbar, Wisconsin
I love pizza. I would like nothing better than an all you can eat pizza buffet. But if I saw some fried chicken near that pizza buffet I would probably grab a few pieces. You know...for a well balanced diet. Coons ain't much different.

Re: Coons, corn feeders, and chickens ? [Re: kyron4] #6544243
05/26/19 10:55 AM
05/26/19 10:55 AM
Joined: May 2016
Posts: 3,482
Southern Illinois
F
Foxpaw Offline
trapper
Foxpaw  Offline
trapper
F

Joined: May 2016
Posts: 3,482
Southern Illinois
My reasoning on coons and chickens is this. If a coon is hungry he will kill a chicken and eat it or pack it off to eat. A coon that's not hungry will just pull the heads off a bunch and just leave them lay. Usually by the next nite he is hungry and comes back to get a snack.

One nite my wife forgot to shut the chicken house door til about mid nite then remembered. She took a light and was going to the chicken house when right in front of her a big coon sat upon his hind legs, she had an old hen sitting some eggs in a cage near there and she immediately wondered about the hen and shined the light over on the cage at which time the big coon ran over, reached thru the wire cage and pulled her favorite hens head off while she held the light for him. His fatal mistake was coming back the next nite.

Re: Coons, corn feeders, and chickens ? [Re: kyron4] #6544291
05/26/19 12:03 PM
05/26/19 12:03 PM
Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 6,616
Wabash, IN USA
Flipper 56 Offline
trapper
Flipper 56  Offline
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Joined: Jan 2019
Posts: 6,616
Wabash, IN USA
Great horned owls will eat them at night if you don't cover them from the air. I had a hot wire around my fence 6 inches off the ground for coon and grinners. Mink came a long way from water to kill my chickens. I ended up with an old corn crib that was a fortress nothing could get in and then I let them out to destroy my flowers and landscaping during the day. Coopers hawks even would fly in the door and kill bantams. The chickens went out in the woods to scratch around and I would hear a coyote grab one and take off and you could hear the hen screaming as it was carried away.


"Where Can A Man Find Bear Beaver And Other Critters Worth Cash Money When Skinned?"

Re: Coons, corn feeders, and chickens ? [Re: kyron4] #6544355
05/26/19 02:23 PM
05/26/19 02:23 PM
Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 4,738
carolina, Alabama
The Possum Man Offline
trapper
The Possum Man  Offline
trapper

Joined: Sep 2014
Posts: 4,738
carolina, Alabama
better make sure you have a roof on that pen, owls and hawks will eventually find it and wipe you out. Coons, possums, and dogs WILL one day at least try to get into your pen. Ive had about 25 hens wiped out in a single night by dogs. I now have tin screwed around the bottom of my pens to keep them from tearing into the wire. Im just about to head to town to go buy some 2x6s to reinforce the pen that meets my goat pen, that stupid bill has torn the pen apart head butting it.

Every time i think i have reinforced my pen some critter or another has found a way to create a hole, knock a board off or something. So whatever you think is enough, probably isnt. I think about the best way would to be run a hot wire around it in several runs.


"If you're gonna be stupid you better be tough"
Re: Coons, corn feeders, and chickens ? [Re: kyron4] #6544613
05/27/19 12:05 AM
05/27/19 12:05 AM
Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,311
Indiana
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kyron4 Offline OP
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kyron4  Offline OP
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Joined: Jun 2013
Posts: 1,311
Indiana
The coop is very secure and 2' off the ground, (but anything is possible),because the fence won't stop anything from getting in the run. The dog (English shepherd ) is on a trolley that goes to one corner of the run, so I hope that make a good deterrent against coons. Would a couple of DP's around the coop work, or would they pass on them for a chicken dinner ?

Re: Coons, corn feeders, and chickens ? [Re: kyron4] #6544736
05/27/19 09:17 AM
05/27/19 09:17 AM
Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 2,034
SE Kansas
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K52 Offline
trapper
K52  Offline
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Joined: Feb 2011
Posts: 2,034
SE Kansas
The bottom line is coons love to kill chickens for whatever reason. You've been warned.

Re: Coons, corn feeders, and chickens ? [Re: kyron4] #6544738
05/27/19 09:19 AM
05/27/19 09:19 AM
Joined: Jan 2007
Posts: 2,661
S.E. Ohio
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M.Magis Offline
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M.Magis  Offline
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Joined: Jan 2007
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S.E. Ohio
A DP will catch one coon, the problem is that this time of year you’re dealing with families of coons. I killed 20 in one week last year, all in my yard, hundreds of yards from any trees. Seal them up tight at night.

Re: Coons, corn feeders, and chickens ? [Re: M.Magis] #6544806
05/27/19 10:32 AM
05/27/19 10:32 AM
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 5,782
Sauk County, WI
Patrice Offline
"TMan Feed Gestapo "
Patrice  Offline
"TMan Feed Gestapo "

Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 5,782
Sauk County, WI
You will have more coons in the area in general because of the corn feeder. You might want to trap them out there.

If your coop is secure and the chickens are locked in at night, your main concern would be the occasional day visitor. Make sure your coop really is secure though!


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Re: Coons, corn feeders, and chickens ? [Re: kyron4] #6545142
05/27/19 07:16 PM
05/27/19 07:16 PM
Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 18,257
Green County Wisconsin
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GREENCOUNTYPETE Offline
trapper
GREENCOUNTYPETE  Offline
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Joined: Sep 2013
Posts: 18,257
Green County Wisconsin
secure them as best you can , coyotes are sometimes a day time issue if you free range.

with them secure set box traps and DPs around the coop that way when you do attract raccoons and you will attract them from a long ways. you generally catch them before they figure out your coops weak spot.

a friend runs layers and meat birds , he is a mile of field or further in every direction from a tree line but has a small stand of woods about 3 acre right around the house and barns.

I can trap that area out during season and a few months he will start loosing birds , I loaned him traps to put out as a land owner and with a DP and a box trap he took 16 over 16 nights then nothing for about a month and then one here and on there.

now he has 2 dogs that stay with the chickens he runs about 500 at a time in tractors , and every week or two the dogs have a new dead coon for him the dogs get the coons before they can get into the tractors.


America only has one issue, we have a Responsibility crisis and everything else stems from it.
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