Babies dead and missing. What did it? :{

[mlterry]

When I went out to feed my chickens this morning around 7:00 I noticed one of the coop was broken. Something had broken into the nesting box area and all the young chickens were gone. 2 were lying there dead. It looked like they had broken necks. There was a pile of feathers from another one, all the rest (8) were missing. What is the most likely culprit?

 

[Ol Grey Mare]

When I went out to feed my chickens this morning around 7:00 I noticed one of the coop was broken. Something had broken into the nesting box area and all the young chickens were gone. 2 were lying there dead. It looked like they had broken necks. There was a pile of feathers from another one, all the rest (8) were missing. What is the most likely culprit?

Welcome to BYC - so sorry about what has happened.
Can you provide a bit more information (even better a couple of photos) about your setup so that we can get a better idea of how easy/difficult this sort of damage would be to do to the coop in question - that will help narrow the list of likely suspects. If photos aren't possible the information that will help get a better picture of things would be:

whether the coop sits within an enclosed are or outside of one

what sort of fencing, if any, is between potential predators and the area that was damaged

what, if any, sort of latch system was involved in the area that the damage and break in took place

whether there were any prints in the area and, if so, what they look like

how high off the ground the damaged area is and what sort of structure around it could provide something for the predator to stand or climb on to reach it

is there any sign of broken skin on the bodies that were still there - if so, what part(s) of the body is damaged

These are just some starter things to consider - anything else you can tell or show us will only help to get an idea of what likely happened.

 

[Chickenshoe]

Sorry for the loss, more important is the ?, how did the predator get in? if properly locked and tight a predator wont get into your coop.

 

[mlterry]

Thanks for your responses. I can't take a picture until I get home but the coop is not fence. It sets about 4' off the ground with a covered run under the coop and in front. The nesting box juts out from the back of the coop and is about 2 1/2' up. It has a hinged lock with a metal piece that fits through it. It appears the animal was able to push the top of the nesting box up high enough to get it's claw underneath and pull the boards off of the back. It took out about 4 boards off of the back of the box which gave it access to the rest of the coop.

The night before something tried to get through the vent holes on the other coop but was unable to do so. It just damaged the holes some and left scratches. I was able to put some screening up and that coop wasn't bothered last night. The damaged one this morning had not been touched the night before.

As for their bodies, one of them looked like it may have been bitten on the upper leg/thigh the other did not seem to have any other injury. The one that was torn up was basically feathers and part of a wing. There were no prints that I could tell of but there is a lot of grass in the area.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

..... It appears the animal was able to push the top of the nesting box up high enough to get it's claw underneath and pull the boards off of the back. It took out about 4 boards off of the back of the box which gave it access to the rest of the coop.

The night before something tried to get through the vent holes on the other coop but was unable to do so. It ....

Its difficult to know without knowing where you are so that we can make an educated (or else a WAG) about the varmints that you deal with. Almost certainly however I will say something in the WILD K9 family.


Look for paw prints.

 

[mlterry]

Thanks. There is a general consensus that it may have been a coyote or more. I never found any trace of the missing 8 chicks.

 

[Chickenshoe]

you will need to put a little $ into plywood panels/siding type materials for construction, one piece ply/siding generally cant be "pulled" or clawed off... like playhouse/shed wood siding...a person would need a pick/saw/sledge hammer to break it.. an animal does not have access to those.. stay away from individual board slats unless they are of good quality and screwed on...

 

[tcstoehr]

It certainly sounds like raccoons to me. Reading the posts it seems like some sort of "manual" dexterity was involved. But then, I always assume raccoons to be guilty until proven innocent.

 

[Dsterio]

if something tried to come threw the vents i would guess ferit or a weasel of some sort. They can use their hands and are smart too.

 

[mlterry]

Well a fence went up the day after the massacre and so far I haven't seen any other evidence of a predator trying to get in. Tomorrow I will add chicken wire around the bottom and as a top. Wish me luck with my babies. By the way, I want to get 2-3 more chicks. I have a silver-laced Wyandotte, a White Leghorn, a Rhode Island Red, a New Hampshire, and a Buff Orpington left. What would be good to go with these?