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Lost 3 hens to a raccoon in one night, trying to decide if the coop gets a roof or a hot wire
Lost 3 of my 6 hens Tuesday night because I got lazy and left the pop door open after dark. Found feathers by the run and one bird half buried under the lilac. Now I'm stuck on two fixes: a solid roof over the whole run for maybe $200, or an electric fence kit for around $120. Roof stops climbers but not diggers, hot wire stops diggers but a determined coon can still go over. What did you go with, and did it actually hold up or just push the problem to the neighbor's birds?
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hugos6710h ago
Nothing says "I love my chickens" like a raccoon buffet with a lilac garnish. Sorry about the birds, that stings. Between the two, I'd do the hot wire at the base first since a roof over the whole run is a lot of money and coons can still climb your fence and drop in from above anyway. But if you want to actually sleep at night, do both over time, wire low for diggers and a solid cover for climbers. One thing folks forget, close that pop door at dusk no matter what, because no fence beats a coon that already knows your setup. Did the tracks give you any clue if it came over the top or dug under?
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