What animal does this?

[Yuo]

I found the same whole's outside by the animal moves the rocks, interestingly. So far not doing anything to the chickens thankfully. I got chicken wire underneath the coop and 2' around it then put dirt on top of it. I live in the mountains in NC and found that has been working for me so far. I was thinking it might be field mice or rats too. Using poison I can't use it would kill way to many animals around my house. Did you find out if it was rats or ?

 

[Merchris]

I'm almost positive that's what it was because we have two coops side by side with some small panels in between, so we know that a raccoon wouldn't fit through that because the small chickens were on the other side but we getting dragged through the small panel. So I looked on the other side of the hole which is our shed and there is all kind of rat poo there. So that's where I put the poison because I didn't want to harm any other animals if I didn't have to. The poison weighed heavy on me because I am an animal lover, but watching my 8 year old son cry himself to sleep over the loss of his beloved hen broke my heart.

 

[bobbi-j]

Hoping someone can help out. This morning I found a dead chicken inside the locked coop. There was a puncture wound on each side of the neck (with some blood on the feathered area around the wounds) but no other cuts or openings or signs of bite marks. None of the bird was eaten. There is a hole, 2 to 3 inches in diameter chewed through the floor of the coop that I never noticed before. I've researched weasel and mink and discovered that they DON'T suck the blood from the animals (as the old myth goes) but eat the back of the head/neck/crop. This bird showed no signs of this. The bird was not found near the hole in the floor (indicating the perp would attempt dragging it through the hole) and there was no feathers or signs of struggle. All other (17) birds are fine but somewhat hesitant about getting off the roost when I opened the coop this morning. I've dealt with stray dogs, feral cats, skunks, rats, hawks and relocate 8 to 10 raccoons every spring. I can recognize the signs and damage of these buggers. I've just never seen this. Anyone have experience with this?
Thanks
Wigs

Sounds like a weasel (or his relative) to me. They can get in through the smallest of holes. Many years ago I had a dozen 6-week olds killed in a similar manner, but the bite marks were under the wings, rather than on the neck. Not a drop of blood on the coop floor. Just dead little chicken bodies scattered around. That was my first loss to a weasel. I actually encountered one in my coop once, right after it had killed one of my chickens. Same MO - just two little bite marks on the neck.

 

[PirateGirl]

https://countrysidenetwork.com/daily/poultry/chicken-coops-housing/what-killed-my-chicken/

Interested to see what you catch! Maybe this chart will help you guess the predator in the mean time.

 

[PattyNH]

Watching...

 

[wigs]

We didn't get anything yesterday. It is still dark outside so I haven't checked yet this morning. We set 2 traps. The mean one that Hubby built and a small live trap. I checked the chart that Pirategirl linked (thank you) and it does appear to be signs of a weasel or something from that family as Bobbi-j suggest. Tell me Bobbi-j, how did you deal with that weasel?

 

[wigs]

I'm almost positive that's what it was because we have two coops side by side with some small panels in between, so we know that a raccoon wouldn't fit through that because the small chickens were on the other side but we getting dragged through the small panel. So I looked on the other side of the hole which is our shed and there is all kind of rat poo there. So that's where I put the poison because I didn't want to harm any other animals if I didn't have to. The poison weighed heavy on me because I am an animal lover, but watching my 8 year old son cry himself to sleep over the loss of his beloved hen broke my heart.

We too had rats kill our baby chicks at first. The birds would huddle in a corner and the rats were digging from the ground and pulling them through the tunnel. It was horrible. Instead of the birds running from the corner, they would rush the corner even more. A very easy target. Now I have a separate building close to the house where the babies are raised until they are big enough.

 

[bobbi-j]

We didn't get anything yesterday. It is still dark outside so I haven't checked yet this morning. We set 2 traps. The mean one that Hubby built and a small live trap. I checked the chart that Pirategirl linked (thank you) and it does appear to be signs of a weasel or something from that family as Bobbi-j suggest. Tell me Bobbi-j, how did you deal with that weasel?

We did not catch that weasel. We have only had two weasel attacks in our 30+ years of chicken-raising. We have had 3 mink attacks in the past 2 years, though. The first one came in through the run/open pop door. We put fish guts in a live trap, put the live trap in the pop door. Caught and dispatched mink the next morning. The second one happened when we were on vacation, chickens were moved to a more secure coop. The third one was last summer when I was gone and DH was chicken-tending. He has gotten himself out of the doghouse by putting electric fence around my run.

 

[Kasilofchrisn]

I'd bet money it was a weasel attack.
It had one kill my whole flock many years ago and it was the same kinda thing.
Didn't eat much just killed them to kill I guess.
BTW you shouldn't be relocating those raccoons. Either dispatch them or leave them alone altogether.
Your just passing on your problems to others and possibly spreading diseases.
Also In many places relocating them like that is illegal.

 

[WindingRoad]

Hubby ain't messing around!
View attachment 1638492 View attachment 1638492 View attachment 1638495 The hole is blocked but we will still set this trap in a large dog crate and place it in the coop. The birds won't be able to reach it. The crate is large and the chickens can't reach in far enough, but rodents can easily slip through. Fish and hamburger is the meal of choice tonight.
Sorry if this offends but we have had some of these birds for 6 years and they are our pets....with egg benefits of course.
After much more research I've discovered that weasels are great for killing rats. Rats came in 2014, a year after starting chickens and have been a regular nuisance since. We purchased the A24 trap last summer and it seemed like they were slowly thinning out, I am now wondering if it was a weasel all along.
hmmmm

You don't suppose those raccoons you re located have re located themselves right back to your house do you?