55 dead chicks

I would guess it is the work of an evil raccoon, they murder for fun, and after they have hit, the area looks like a crime scene!  So sorry for your loss.


I'm new to chickens, but everything I've read says that raccoons will slaughter the entire flock if they get inside. So my first bought would be a raccoon as well.

What I did after loosing one of my birds was put a live trap along the side of the coup, assuming predators will circle the coup looking for an entrance before trying to claw their way in by brute force, and wander right into it. I didn't even use bait. Within a week I caught an opossum. It could have been luck, but I think my theory is sound. The opposum probably thought he had found a way inside. Most animals don't even want to go inside a baited live trap cage, but when they are trying to get inside a cage to eat chickens, then they are a lot easier to trap!
 
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I don't know where the original Poster is, but with the size of that opening, instead of weasel, think weasel family. A mink is a possibility. That carnage sounds like them. A badger or wolverine may be a possibility.
 
It sounds EXACTLY like my experience with a skunk. Yes it was definitely a skunk. We knew by the lingering smell and finally by catching it.

Killed 106 total. 90 week old chicks + 16 that were between 6-10 weeks old.

That skunk was so large it wouldn't fit in a skunk trap. We had to catch it in a fox trap and he weighed 30 pounds.
 
I don't know where the original Poster is, but with the size of that opening, instead of weasel, think weasel family. A mink is a possibility. That carnage sounds like them. A badger or wolverine may be a possibility.
Some weasels are larger......or maybe a Fisher.
 
Here is my setup with electric wire.
The fencer is solar and attached directly to the coop. The grounding rod is easily pulled up and moved when we move the coop & run. We keep the water around it watered down so it has a good contact.


These are the corner insulators we use. They extend it out from the edge of the coop. We've twice had skunks come sniffing around and get themselves zapped by the wire.


The wire goes all around the perimeter and has a spring-loaded gate that we open during the day for the hens. I shut off the fence, open the wire gate and the coop door for the gals during the day. When they go to bed, the coop door is closed and the gate shut, then the fencer is turned on.


Here's the gate/door setup for the coop.


All my doors-the upper level roost area, the coop main door and the nest box access doors have latches with big caribiner clips on them to keep racoons from opening latches.
 

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