I am not on here very often. Last I posted was how I outsmarted my chickens by putting cardboard on the stairs so they couldn't go up and poop it all up!
I only have six but how I keep their water unfrozen and clean is by putting a heated water bowl on top of the open side of a bucket. I use one from our pool's chlorine. I think it is about a 5 gallon size. Get an appropriately sized heated bowl and the bucket rim will fit inside the bottom of the bowl. This makes a very sturdy raised waterer. It is the right height for them and they can't kick stuff in it.
As far as the dry ice.....I haven't read all of the posts but I just can't see how this could kill an animal the size of a raccoon quickly or humanely . I read a couple of articles and it says NOT to use this method. A quicker more humane way to "cull" (kill!) a chicken or rooster would be to "wing it's neck" or chop it's head off. The dry ice method just hides the deed and makes it less messy.
I have had my hens for almost 2 years and fortunately, haven't lost one and all are healthy. I built my coop inside the barn with access to a predator proof covered pen. The pen is inside our small goat pasture . The goats also have a "safe pen" which is 5 ft high and relatively secure. We have raccoons, opossums, foxes and coyotes but have not seen any evidence that they have come into the pasture or barn. I close my hens in their coop every night. They also have a heat lamp SECURED to the ceiling. When the temps get cold (I live near Buffalo, NY and we did have a couple of very cold spells this year) I close the barn door that leads to the pasture and add fresh straw for all .
The coop had wood 1/2 way and then wire to the ceiling. In the fall I staple plastic to the wire to keep out drafts.
An once of prevention is worth a pound of cure. You can set traps nightly but you won't get rid of all the wildlife in your yard.
Just my 2 cents
Dawn
Marilla, ny
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