Ever since the lady at the end of our driveway moved away and stopped feeding the raccoons, we've had several hits on the coop. We've lost three chickens and a bunch of eggs (the raccoon pulled the chicken off the nest and ate the eggs, right there in the coop while the chickens freaked out). This on the heels of selling 22 two year old hens has caused our egg production to fall to about 9 eggs per day. Which is a nice change from the two dozen we were getting, but we still don't like losing our chickens. The other night S and I scared the raccoon off, in fact it growled at me from the bushes when I recovered the body of the freshly killed rooster! We've determined the time the raccoon usually strikes: right before
dusk. By the time it is dark and we are ready to close up the coop for
the night, the damage is done.
My new method for keep the raccoon at bay is to send my loud children outside to play at 8:30 PM. This is usually our bedtime, especially in winter. But at this time of year we've barely finished our dinner (I have a strong circadian rhythm and have trouble living by a clock this time of year-I was wide awake at 5:30 AM this morning). The kids and I are ready to go for another few hours-until 11:00 PM at least! This is also the best time of day for garden maintenance...
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| "Toss that slug, F!" |
Once upon a time, I read a book called
Slug Tossing. I forgot it existed until I heard E exclaim how many slugs were in the garden (and they were eating my precious kale). My slug enthusiasts now go into the garden and toss the slugs into the blackberry bushes while I water. I'm very happy to keep my veggies poison free while keeping the raccoon at bay long enough for the chickens to get in the coop. The kids are even learning how to weed and thin! So even though I told M I was going to have nothing to do with the gardens...
...at least I don't have to bend down to weed or pick anything and the kids are a getting great garden education.
