until I heard what sounded like a fire alarm coming from my chicken coop. My first thought did I fall asleep? My chicken coop doesn't have a fire alarm inside! Then I realized the alarm was coming from my roo. I jumped up and went racing into my backyard waving my flashlight around only to see Ricky Raccoon fleeing the scene!
I know! I was horrified to see it. The roo was still making the alarm sound, so into the coop I go. Right away Henrietta and Rainbow were trying to get out of the coop. And Blackie my roo was on the ground face first. I did a loud "SHHHHHHH!" but Blackie was still in alarm mode. So I picked him up and tried to figure out what to do next.
Right after I picked him up he got really quiet. In fact my backyard was that eerie calm before something bad is about to happen quiet. So I took 2 of the trash cans that I keep next to the coop and put one next to each window, and then took 2 kitchen chairs and put then next to the other window, and one in front of the door of the coop.
All while Blackie was in the crook of my arm. Then I took him inside to get a better look at him. My hands were covered in sticky wet black feathers. After looking more closely I could see that the wet sticky stuff was blood. So I right away made a little bath for Blackie in the kitchen sink to flush the blood, dirt, and whatever else was stuck to him off. I saw that one of his legs had very little feathers left on it and blood was oozing out of many wounds from his leg.
So now what? It was still the middle of the night, and I have no back up plan for the chickens. I looked around the house. We have a glass shower. I put Blackie in the glass shower with a blanket to lay on, and said good night.
But, it wasn't a good night for me. I had adrenalin pumping through me and I was on red alert. I had opossum proofed my coop, but did not raccoon proof it. I didn't know I was to be on alert for raccoons. So every little sound I heard the rest of the night, I was flying out the door with my flashlight in hand ready for Ricky.
So, in the morning I went to the feed store to get medicine for Blackie, and put him in my side yard, away from his girlfriends to make sure they would not peck at his wounds. He did not like being away from his girls. He kept making love calls to them. I would see him sitting on the ground next to the wood fence, and when I went around to the other side of the fence. His girls were sitting on the ground facing the wood fence.
Then I went to work putting chicken wire around the windows.
and lastly I put this to secure the door:
Now, if Ricky comes back I would like to see him try to get into my now.
