Confusing EE/Did I end up with all boys!?

[Marieaa70]

What do the tail feather s look like. are they growing up and curled

 

[ShrekDawg]

Dealing with predators is a never ending adventure! One problem solved, and another turns up. Making a truly predator proof coop takes real effort, and redoing at times, and is the only way to have chickens safe at night.
It must be too cold for a snake in Mass. right now though!
Mary

That is very true!! They always find ways in! Though tbh because I never had a problem with my other chickens and because this was only supposed to be temporary, I probably did not secure it as well as I should have. but that is changing. I did secure it as best I could after the last incident though but they found the one spot that wasn’t secure. I’ve been locking them in at might now though since this. The coop would be a lot easier to secure too.

And yeah it is very cold!! 24 right now. Don’t think a snake would survive that! Plus they don’t dig right? This is a huge mystery haha

 

[ShrekDawg]

The mystery just gets deeper lol you gotta get a camera.... I'm so curious

Right!? And I definitely will!! I am super curious now too haha

 

[ShrekDawg]

What do the tail feather s look like. are they growing up and curled

They ended up being almost all boys. There was only one girl out of them all. They are 12 weeks old now.

 

[annageckos]

That looks like a pretty small hole, I'd guess a rat or a weasel. Can you make out any foot prints? Both could take a chicken but they don't do it neatly. You'd see signs of a scuffle and blood. When I was young we had chickens and a rat issue. They would sometimes take a chicken but you'd see the blood trail. Both can get into tiny spaces, if they can get their head through the body will fit too. I've had adult pet rats in the past get through the space under a door.
I'd think though that the fact you only have some feathers outside it would be a larger predator that can easily carry away a chicken. Fox, dog, owl or hawk depending on how big the chicken was.

 

[ShrekDawg]

That looks like a pretty small hole, I'd guess a rat or a weasel. Can you make out any foot prints? Both could take a chicken but they don't do it neatly. You'd see signs of a scuffle and blood. When I was young we had chickens and a rat issue. They would sometimes take a chicken but you'd see the blood trail. Both can get into tiny spaces, if they can get their head through the body will fit too. I've had adult pet rats in the past get through the space under a door.
I'd think though that the fact you only have some feathers outside it would be a larger predator that can easily carry away a chicken. Fox, dog, owl or hawk depending on how big the chicken was.

Thank you! This is very helpful! I was thinking that too. The hole is pretty tiny so it had to be small. I don’t think a fox could have fit through there? I actually just remembered/rediscovered a pretty big hole over by the other coop too that’s been there since sometime last month I think, I can’t remember exactly, but I thought it was just rats because we’ve had a rat problem so ignored it, but now I’m wondering if it’s not a weasel hole.... especially since I just discovered a feather stuck on some scrub on the path from their coop to the other coop where the hole is. And I’ve read weasels drag their prey back into the hole which may explain the lack of a body. I definitely need to get a game camera set up.

 

[ShrekDawg]

The feather which I think belongs to the chick but I guess it could belong to an adult too but no clue how it would have gotten out there. This is the hole. It’s quite large. There’s also tons of dirt as you can see but that’s been there even longer than the hole. There used to be a storage tote/shed type thing in this spot which I moved a while ago because I thought the rats were nesting under it and that dirt was between it and the coop. I assumed it was the rats but maybe also the weasel? It is quite a lot of dirt.

 

[ShrekDawg]

My dad just bought and set rat traps which I hate to do as I hate to poison any other animals but we do have a lot of rats. Or did. Maybe the weasel moved in and took care of them and then decided to move to chicken when the rat dinner dried up??? I feel like an idiot for not acting on this sooner but I only just noticed this new hole like last week and I thought it was rats.

 

[ShrekDawg]

@chrissynemetz the mystery thickens even more lol

 

[Folly's place]

When you have your coop, and then run, predator safe, with no more interesting tunnels present, things will be much better!
There's no such thing as 'just rats'!!! They carry bad diseases, eat everything, make nice tunnels for a weasel, and kill smaller chickens.
Traps won't get all the rats, if they are still present. It takes poisoned bait in safe bait stations, sadly. most of the rodents will return to their tunnels and die there; not good for any in the house, but fine in underground tunnels that you then fill in.
Mary