Poultry Housing and The Teachings from Raccoons

I started to fancy myself a decent builder of animal housing until this July when a raccoon taught me otherwise.

If you look at the door to this chicken coop you'll notice I left it a wire door, for optimum air flow, as I did the higher sides.  A raccoon took full advantage of my design and just opened the door one night and removed one of my grown ducks.  So I fixed him and went to work securing the door down better. The next time, he/she raccoon found an easy gap in my fence sides and swiped another duck.  I went from five ducks to three in two days.  More hard work went into closing up the gaps and I was even able to trap the raccoon and dispatch it. Problem solved.  

I moved my remaining three ducks into their newly built home with major wire all the way around, including flared out at the bottom and buried under the dirt .

The chickens moved into the old duck house and all was well until John found two chickens with their necks sticking through the fenced door...no heads.  I then put up a solid door and, after trapping several opossums first, trapped and dispatched yet another raccoon. 

I now felt secure with my chickens and ducks.  Fast forward to the day after the "Farm Visit" from my daughter's home school group.  Thank God, it was the day after.  On this particular day, I ventured out to find Alice and Trixie with their necks through the wire sides of their house...no heads and each missing a wing.  REALLY???  My two quiet ducks.  This now leaves me with Burgy, who sounds like Burgess Meredith as The Penguin all...the...time now because she constantly calls to the other two who are no longer there. Sadly, I can't buy anymore ducks until next spring.


Post raccoon attack, I put up solid walls around my duck pen.  Why oh why didn't they just stay in the middle of their pen?  Why didn't they go in their house inside the pen?  Ducks are definitely not the smartest animals on the farm, nor is the farmer.  The raccoon is.

I go through all of this and still feel that my poultry is vulnerable, yet when I go into town there is a flock of chickens that just run all over the place.  There was even a cat sitting amongst them today.  Is this fair?  I think not.


Good news: My chickens, who are all named are Chicky Mama except for one who is named Flat Mama, have started to lay eggs.  Actually it is Flat Mama who is laying.  I call her that because when I go near her she doesn't run away she just flattens herself.  A lot of people name their chickens but mine all look the same, so when they are chicks they are Chicky Babe and then they become Chicky Mama unless a rooster sneaks in and he is called Papa Roost.

The Chicky Mamas

Flat Mama

We have eggs!

I was beginning to get nervous because my chickens weren't laying yet, and some of the ones I had given away were.  This would be my luck!  So John built me a bigger nesting box for them and it worked!

I also found 15 eggs in Burgy's nest.  I have been peeping in for a couple of weeks and nothing was seen because apparently she likes to bury them in the hay.

Good job ladies!!!