Cat got in the chicken coop

[TariOronar]

i know foxes and coyotes live around here. But since we live in town, they are unusual. And tons of cats. I've also heard of opossums living closer to the river. It would be strange for them to come this far west of the river, but not unheard of. I've been asking around about local predator, and was told that there have been some weasel sightings. Oh, and skunk, we have lots of skunk.

 

[Rammy]

I have to agree also that it wasnt a cat. They normally dont attack an adult chicken. If they were small pullets, probably, but not very likely, especially as others have stated that so many heavy things were knocked over. I would find the money for stronger wire and get some hardware clothe or at least some 2x4 inch welded wire. Id also bury it about a foot to a foot and a half into the ground. If there were only feathers and no bodies, probably a fox or a coyote. Sorry for your loss.

Rammy

 

[theFox]

Weasels will get into a coop or run and just kill everything they can get a grip on. Skunks aren't exactly shy about killing chickens either. A pack of 'yotes can also make a mess of things, then there is always those cute little dogs (Rover has kept several places in business selling replacement birds). If it was a cat it wasn't a house cat as they will normally leave a good sized bird alone.

 

[jjparke]

I'm thinking it was probably a bear.

 

[noodleroo]

Well, I guess it doesn't really matter what it was; sounds like your 'fencing' was mostly to keep the chickens in instead of keeping everything else out. I'm really sorry about your chickens. I'm sure that was awful. Lots of us, including me, don't worry so much about predators until a disaster happens, just be better prepared next time.

To keep it from happening again, use some good strong hardware cloth or at least something stronger than chicken wire (also designed to keep chickens in) so they can be secure.