It struck again last night!

[centrarchid]

I like to see pictures of carcasses as you found them. Sometimes you can rule critters out on that alone.

 

[Eggcessive]

I still think fox. Good suggestions on patching the opening at the top of the door either with wood or 1/2 hardware cloth fencing. My husband would probably stay up all night in the coop with his critter gun. Do any friends have a game camera that you could borrow? If it was a fox or coyote, you would need a larger trap.

 

[centrarchid]

Get the game camera; the device makes things more fun and can give insight into who is prowling before they break in and cause problems. It is also not a big deal to have multiple perps visit in succession over a single night.

 

[A.M. Eggs]

I like to see pictures of carcasses as you found them. Sometimes you can rule critters out on that alone.

I didn’t take any pictures but they were all piled in a corner.

 

[A.M. Eggs]

I'm sorry to read about the death of your chickens.
I don't mean to sound rude, but a coop that has

is not a secure coop!
It seems to me you and your chickens would be far better served if you secured your coop. Even if you screwed sections of hardware cloth over the how ever many openings you have of this size as a temporary measure it would probably give a better result than trying to catch a weasel if that is what's doing this.
Even if you did catch this weasel, there are other predators that could get through such gaps.
Secure the coop, then worry about what you can and can't trap.

I am planing on doing that today. I am waiting until it is a little bit warmer here and I have to go to the store for supplies.

 

[centrarchid]

I didn’t take any pictures but they were all piled in a corner.

Block that opening tight. I bet critter will be back. Does number of carcasses equal number of birds you had last night?

 

[A.M. Eggs]

Get the game camera; the device makes things more fun and can give insight into who is prowling before they break in and cause problems. It is also not a big deal to have multiple perps visit in succession over a single night.

Where can I get one?

 

[helios]

As dobielover said, it was a weasel, even though those are cat prints.
Weasels (and similar...mink, ermine, stoat, etc), will kill more than they need to eat, and often it will be hard to find more than a few puncture wounds at the neck. They are like little vampires, and very bold, tough, and persistent. They will come back for the bodies and often try to stuff them away in a cache for future meals after live victims are gone.
You need to secure any holes 1" or larger with 1/2" hardware cloth.
My chicken and duck pens have 1/2" wire floors throughout because of a mink that took out all of my ducks over the course of four attacks. My predator was a male who returned over the course of 3 years around November. The males especially will have a several square mile territory and remember their marks from year to year, so if you don't catch it, it may move to the next mark on it's route and return again to check your security once or twice a year. I got lucky and my mink got in, got caught in the act, and got confused and couldn't find it's way out of the duck pen before we dispatched it...I have his skin on a board in the basement
As morbid as it seems, your best bait is likely your dead chickens, even though it's pretty difficult to trap a weasel. I'm so sorry for all your losses, but you can get your pen or coop secure and keep that little devil out.

 

[A.M. Eggs]

Block that opening tight. I bet critter will be back. Does number of carcasses equal number of birds you had last night?

No there were way more birds killed.

 

[helios]

I didn’t take any pictures but they were all piled in a corner.

Definitely in the weasel family. They will cache their kill to come back later.