aggg! something got in

trudyg

Crowing
10 Years
Jun 3, 2013
1,004
831
271
North Alabama
I leave the house at zero-dark-thirty, so don't see the chickens until I get home around 5ish. Got home last night and went to feed/water and something had got in and killed 3 chicks. I can't figure out what got in, as there's 1" wire mesh surrounding the entire carport that is their home. Unless, and here's the thing, it was a rat. I have seen a big rat coming from the neighbor's garage and going into my garden, but haven't been able to catch it w/ rat traps. The thing looks like a squirrel but wrong kind of tail. At first, I was worried it could get the chicks but now, at a month old, they're pretty big. I think it managed to get one good bite in and hang on. Then, on to the next one. Must have been near daylight or it would've gotten more.

So, I moved the month-olds into the main coop with the older hens (and one has a single chick, 2 week old). They seem to have done alright, they're all out in the pen pecking around now that it's light out. Uggh, I just hate that I couldn't protect them better. But, I think, a rat could have gotten in the garage, too, so I don't have a place that would have been more secure. I'm hoping, being in the big coop, the rat will be more afraid of the big hens than hungry. D*mn thing, it's eating my garden why did it have to get chicks? (And, of course, it may not be what got them.)
 
Sorry for your loss! It's shocking when this happens.
I don't believe rats or stoats can get through 1", but you probably have a very small opening somewhere in your perimeter. Check and shore up your barrier, and yes, add hardware cloth at least 24" high around your fence line. If you have coons, this will prevent them from reaching in and trying to pull a chicken head through the 1" wire.
 
I don't believe rats or stoats can get through 1"
Rats 100% can get through 1" and will kill chicks. To exclude rats you need 1/2" or smaller.

I've found a smaller rat with its head stuck through a 1/2" slot before and it expired that way, but just goes to show that if it had just a sliver more space, it could've gone through entirely.
 

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