For the last week I have been finding dead stripped chickens inside my coop. There is a hole where it has burrowed into the coop. I finally put down pieces of plywood and it still pushed in after burrowing underground deep into the coop and not just under the wall and back up.
The chickens have their heads wings tails and feet on and are completely stripped of all meat and entrails. The first time I found 3 dead chickens. I go to the farm every other day. The next 2 times I found 5 dead chickens. My plywood floor worked a bit better as yesterday I only found 1 dead stripped chicken so it must have taken it a lot longer to find a way up inside. All thoroughly stripped of meat and the carcass still intact.
I only found round 1 inch holes in the sand that were the paw prints. The varmit stays inside the coop and eats every kill completely and leaves.
I have dug 1 foot down all around and placed fist sized to almost head sized rocks and pavers all around the outside of the coop. The varmit dug under and all along underneath the plywood on the floor of the coop until it found a place it could enter.
I dug out the floor so it is now flat, put down my 3x4 plywood. Put down 2 x 16 inch pavers in the gap one way and 18 x 1 round pavers the other way and put the pallet roost back up. It is more thoroughly covered and weighted and held down than it was before. there are still some 2x3 gaps or so. I am hoping it will be safe as I have lots half my flock and my show birds.
My next thought is to pull everything out again, nail 1 inch chicken wire across the whole floor and put all the plywood down. Nail plywood to each other so it is a completely covered floor without even an inch gap.
Problem is if I don't identify and catch this varmit I have 2 other coops that are vulnerable.
Any one have an idea of what will strip every bit of meat off the carcass but leave it intact and can burrow deep into the ground. I just found little one inch paw prints, not distinctive in the sand and it is about a 3-4 inch hole.......carcasses all left inside the coop stripped to the bone and intact.
The chickens have their heads wings tails and feet on and are completely stripped of all meat and entrails. The first time I found 3 dead chickens. I go to the farm every other day. The next 2 times I found 5 dead chickens. My plywood floor worked a bit better as yesterday I only found 1 dead stripped chicken so it must have taken it a lot longer to find a way up inside. All thoroughly stripped of meat and the carcass still intact.
I only found round 1 inch holes in the sand that were the paw prints. The varmit stays inside the coop and eats every kill completely and leaves.
I have dug 1 foot down all around and placed fist sized to almost head sized rocks and pavers all around the outside of the coop. The varmit dug under and all along underneath the plywood on the floor of the coop until it found a place it could enter.
I dug out the floor so it is now flat, put down my 3x4 plywood. Put down 2 x 16 inch pavers in the gap one way and 18 x 1 round pavers the other way and put the pallet roost back up. It is more thoroughly covered and weighted and held down than it was before. there are still some 2x3 gaps or so. I am hoping it will be safe as I have lots half my flock and my show birds.
My next thought is to pull everything out again, nail 1 inch chicken wire across the whole floor and put all the plywood down. Nail plywood to each other so it is a completely covered floor without even an inch gap.
Problem is if I don't identify and catch this varmit I have 2 other coops that are vulnerable.
Any one have an idea of what will strip every bit of meat off the carcass but leave it intact and can burrow deep into the ground. I just found little one inch paw prints, not distinctive in the sand and it is about a 3-4 inch hole.......carcasses all left inside the coop stripped to the bone and intact.
