Raising Chickens

[opsec]

You can also set up #220 conibear traps in a bucket sets to eradicate the raccoons. Check for legalities and get the licence before you do that though.

[Wellspring]

Simply mount your coop over wire. However, the chickens don't like that. You could keep one area in the middle free, so they can scratch, or bury it below where they scratch.

Yes, I thought of mounting the wire on the floor of the run but also intuited that it would prohibit the hens from doing what they do best:  "scratch."

I'm now thinking of setting up a 24 volt bare wire around the bottom of the cages run with a timer set to come on around 10pm when they start to arrive.

[Dame]

Concrete patio blocks around the perimeter of the coup work along with lock them up at night.
Be careful about the racoons, they are vengeful if you kill or injure a relative of thiers.  The family will come back and trash something.  We had a pet one as kids, and they will open anything that does not have a lock of some sort on it.

And, yes we have foxes as well, our chicken run has kennel wire around it.  It gives the dogs time to respond.

We also have coyotes, eagles, hawks and owls, they all like chicken.  So we make sure there are things for them to get under quickly as well.

[Atash Hagmahani]

I'm now thinking of setting up a 24 volt bare wire around the bottom of the cages run with a timer set to come on around 10pm when they start to arrive.

Are you sure you want to commit to a resource and maintenance-intensive solution?

Try Dame's solution; it is "inert" and therefor low maintenance into perpetuity.

[Wellspring]

I'm now thinking of setting up a 24 volt bare wire around the bottom of the cages run with a timer set to come on around 10pm when they start to arrive.

Are you sure you want to commit to a resource and maintenance-intensive solution?

Try Dame's solution; it is "inert" and therefor low maintenance into perpetuity.

I thought it over and you're right, that approach would be to resource-intensive.
Just going to put hardware cloth under the soil next to the bottom of the run.  It will be burried
four inches, extend out six inches or so from the bottom 2 x4 and go up onto the run wire about four inches.
When/if the coons start digging, they will hit the hardware cloth; they won't have sense enough to go back six inches and dig under the cloth and then into the run.

[Dame]

A full grown male racoon, weighs upwards of 40lbs and they have stout claws.  Check to see if hardware cloth (I do not recognize the term) is sturdy enough to stop them.  We use concrete because we also need to stop the occasional badger or weasel..

[Lady Lilya]

http://www.motherearthnews.com/Sustainable-Farming/1988-05-01/Garden-Pest-Control.aspx

Chicken MOAT!