What do you think killed my chicks?

[ashbaker18]

My chicks were living in an elevated coop with half inch square hardware cloth underneath and after day 3 of them being home I woke up to find 8 of the 12 dead. They were all pulled against the bottom and one was even in pieces. It was so horrible to see and I was so sad. And the survivors are all either missing a toe or toes and part of toes. And one even has damage to the side of its face. You think something came from under and tried pulling them through??? What do you think it was? We live in the country and my old flock was slowly killed off by foxes, coons, Hawks, coyotes. We are definitely trying hard to make our coop impenetrable.

 

[cncottle]

So sorry about your flock. It sounds like a raccoon or a mink to me. We had issues kinda like that. We put up a game camera and discovered it was a mink. Our dog took care of it for us.

 

[Danieldude888]

My guess is that it is something small and nimble enough to get into coop. It was probably a weasel or something related to weasels. It could've been a fox, but they would probably break into your coop, not just pull them through the mesh.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Coons have hands or front paws, somewhat like yours or mine. The devils are as strong as an ox as well. Someone on here related setting a wire box trap on a concrete garage floor and using a woven plastic feed sack to rest the live trap on.

Well he caught a coon and in the course of trying to escape the coon got holt of the feed sack and pulled the whole sack through the wire mesh and into the trap.

But a coon is not the only vermin that will kill your chickens by pulling them either through or up to the wire, bobcats will as well.

 

[aart]

Wow, I didn't think a coon could reach thru 1/2" HC....wonder if they were baby coons?