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  • Richmond Educational Article of the Month - How to keep raccoons out of a chicken coop

How to keep raccoons out of a chicken coop

How to keep raccoons out of a chicken coop

Raccoons are one of the most easily recognizable and commonly known mammals. Theadaptability of Richmond raccoons helps them to use urban areas as a habitat. They are omnivorous, fruits, nuts and chicken coops are much favored by the urban raccoons. Only one raccoon is enough to devastate your flock of Virginia chickens within a short span of time. Some reports indicate thatraccoons are serious predators of wild birdpopulation they have been known to mutilate poultry in cages by pulling their heads or legs off.A raccoon can climb over fencing and can dig under fences too. No doubt your yard chickens depend on you for food, safety and shelter. But they fall easily as prey animals starting from domestic dogs to raccoons.



And the bad news is if a raccoon detects a chicken house and gain entry to it, then she remembers the chicken house forever and returns again and again to prey upon your chicks. You will have to stay in this scare and can never recover until you take some steps to secure your chicken coop. Some safety measures will help you protect your coop from Richmond raccoons and other wild animals:

• Don’t leave any latch or minor flaw open of your chicken coop. secure them with a strong latch as the raccoons can reach out pushing their paws hard. Keep the doors and windows opening securely locked during evening and nighttime hours as the raccoons are nocturnal. You should fasten the roof of your coop down tightly.

• Always choose small-mesh fencing material for enclosing Richmond coops, raccoons are infamous for reaching through larger meshed fencing or wiring. Bury galvanized hardware cloth or other welded-wire fencing around the perimeter of the chicken, if you are troubled with predators digging under the surface.

• You can secure your Virginia chicks by providing a night light to flood the flock with light after darkness. This will help the nocturnal masked bandits away from your coop. you can also create a danger zone for the predators around the coop and chicken yard.

• You have to also train you chicks with some safety measures for themselves. The birds should be trained to return to the chicken house every evening. Once you train your Richmond coops to return to their shelter as darkness sets in and to lay eggs under the roof, all you have to do is just look them once they settle down in the coop.

• For protecting your flock you need to stop giving them an alluring buffet. For instance don’t leave cat food in your yard or near the coop, also avoid any source of water or container in your Virginia yard during summer as it attracts raccoons.

• Raccoons deter by the scent of ammonia or cayenne pepper, so try keeping some rags soaked in ammonia in your yard. Else you can also try live-animal traps without harming the Richmond raccoons.

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