HELP! Chickens slaughtered?

Two days ago, I woke up in the morning per usual and went to tend to my small, sweet little flock of 4 chickens and 2 ducks, only to, much to my dismay, find the mutilated corpses of my 2 silkies, and and piles of assorted feathers everywhere, no other chickens or ducks in sight. There was a large, obvious hole dug underneath their pen, and not only were the birds gone, but the nest of 7 eggs the ducks had been sitting on had also disappeared, which were due to hatch in about 2 weeks The silkies bodies weren't touched much, but their heads were cut off and also gone :/ The bodies weren't even in the pen; they had been dragged out and left strewn about.

I am absolutely devastated at the loss of these creatures. I raised the chickens since they were three days old I have chicken/duck owner for about two - three years, but I have never had any if them die in such a way, and I suppose it has hit hard. I understand that this is nature and there is nothing much I can do but move on and keep going, but guess as some form of closure I am wondering if anyone knows what would have killed them in such a way and what I can do to prevent bit from happening again.

Thanks you.

I don't know what part of the country you're in..your avatar/signature block doesn't say, but it sounds to me like it was either a fox or raccoon. Did you look around for tracks? How big of a hole did they dig to get in?

What type of wire are you using? Can you post pics of your coop/run to give us a better idea so we can help?

Sorry for your losses.

Without more info to go on, the list could include mink, weasel, feral cat, etc...

I have a trail camera pointed at my coop. These things are fantastic at finding what's about all hours of day &/or night.

Canada, ns, in the Annapolis Valley.

I did look, but the pen is fairly close to the trees so everything us pretty much grass except for inside the pen where the chickens and ducks ate/crushed all the plants, so there's not really a place for prints to be, unfortunately.

The hole is about a foot wide, some inches deep. I'll take some photos of it and the pen later and should be able to get back to you by tomorrow.

Coon or fox then, I think. Fox/coons needs a 4" gap to gain access. I've caught a coon on my trail cam escaping a live trap. They can get pretty flat! I was gob-smacked at the sight! This is why hardware cloth is the best for predator protection. They can chew through chicken wire no problem.

I know how unsettling it is to find your birds this way. Its happened to many of us. Fix the gap & carry on. Most of us don't give up - poultry keeping is too much fun.

I had a skunk attack one of my hens before, she escaped and stuffed herself between our wood pile. We found her about 20 min when we got home. We took her to our vet, her entire back side was really bad and the feathers were all torn out. They were really good with her, she got a good bath to get smell off and they put something over the area and gave us stuff to give her. She is doing very well now, she doesn't lay eggs but she is 4 years old going on 5. Our neighbor cought the skunk they next day in a trap. Where were at I have lost lost a chicken to the hawks and stray dogs, it's always very sad expecally when you hand raise them from chicks. So sorry for what happened.

Very sorry for your losses.

I agree completely with the suggestion about a trail camera. I have two, and they provide valuable info when hunting predators.

Can you post a picture of your coop? What is it made out of? Were they securely locked inside for the night? Chickens need a very secure coop - think fort knox since predators will continually be testing the coop to see if they can get in.

Game cams as nice as they are will not prevent it from happening. You needed to have an apron of hardware cloth 6 to 8 inches out from the sides of your pens on the outside of the pen. Most animals come up to the fence and try to dig at the bottom of the wire. The apron (the wider the better) helps thwart that. You also need hardware cloth up about two feet on the sides to prevent raccoons and such from grabbing legs and pulling them through. Chicken wire is totally useless.
I'm sorry for your loss. That had to be horribly devastating to find.

I would say a Fox or a Coyote

Sorry for your losses.

Good advice given from others on how to prevent it from happening again.