Lost 4 hens to a raccoon after I forgot to latch the coop door

It happened last Tuesday night. I got home late from a job site and was just so tired I guess I didn't push the latch all the way down on the coop door. Came out Wednesday morning and found feathers everywhere and four of my girls gone. The raccoon got in through a gap I didn't even know was there near the nesting box. I spent the whole day reinforcing the whole run with hardware cloth and a double latch system. Ended up burying the remains of the one hen I found under the apple tree out back. Has anyone else lost birds to a predator because of one dumb mistake? What did you do to make sure it never happened again?

2 comments

2 Comments

the_michael7d ago

Four hens in one night from a missing latch? Man, that is brutal.

michael5196d ago

Four hens in one night from a missing latch?" That is ABSOLUTELY brutal. Man, that reminds me of a buddy of mine who had the EXACT same thing happen. He thought he locked up the coop good, but one little bit of rust on the latch gave way. He woke up to feathers scattered EVERYWHERE and just two of his chickens left hiding under the porch. He told me he spent the whole next day cursing himself and rebuilding the entire coop door. It's always some tiny, stupid detail that gets you.