devested to find our flock massacred

[Penpal]

I use electric poultry netting around the chicken tractor. If they are in a tractor you only need one set of the netting. You'll probably need a solar generator for power unless you are near the house or buildings. You don't need the best solar generator for a single unit of fencing. You don't need a high voltage for a small animal like a dog or raccoon.

 

[WingItRanch]

Do you have a picture of the hole that was chewed through 19g hardware cloth?

 

[McChooky]

I don't recommend guineas in chicken tractors.They hate confinement. Did any of those survive the attack?

 

[Devinetex]

I am so sorry that you lost your chicks. How is the one who survived? Was the game warden able to tell what may have attacked them? I've heard that badgers can chew through hardware cloth, but I thought they were too large to fit through a 4" hole. Since you have a predator capable of chewing through hardware cloth, you should look into hotwire for your coop/tractor.

The one survivor is doing well. I think we have found our predator. A couple nights later a pair of dogs showed up at 1 a.m. One dog was trying to get to the area the hole was at but it had been covered up. Not positive it was them but they looked pretty suspicious. We have one fence that's down from storm but we are working on getting new one put up. that should fix problem if it was this pair of dogs.

 

[Devinetex]

Do you have a picture of the hole that was chewed through 19g hardware cloth?

this is about the best picture I have. I made a mistake on hardware cloth it was 18 gauge. Hopefully you can enlarge pictures as the second one is sideways. But it tore the cloth down and out the full 4" square of cattle fence. We got video work the next day or two and dogs showed up a 1 am trying to get to same hole. We had something placed up there so they could not. So we think they were the culprits.

 

[WingItRanch]

this is about the best picture I have. I made a mistake on hardware cloth it was 18 gauge. Hopefully you can enlarge pictures as the second one is sideways. But it tore the cloth down and out the full 4" square of cattle fence. We got video work the next day or two and dogs showed up a 1 am trying to get to same hole. We had something placed up there so they could not. So we think they were the culprits.

Aw man I'm sorry. Yeah, I agree with you that it's likely dogs. Thanks for sharing. I have 19 gauge 1/2in hardware cloth and haven't had any issues.

Maybe it was slightly loose so the dogs were able to grab on and pull. If you use the same setup in the future, try tightening the hardware cloth around the cattle panel and securing it by using metal zip ties every few feet.

 

[KyCoop]

That looks like that garden fence stuff not HWC.
Get you some real HWC if you build back.

 

[KtheChickenGal]

We live in far south Texas. We built a chicken tractor made of cattle fence and covered in 18 gauge hardware cloth and a tarp. We got up a few days ago to find something had chewed our tarp all around the bottom and finally chewed a 4" hole big enough for the predator to get in through the cattle fence which is 4" holes. We had 16 chicks 4 - 8 weeks old. 12 were just laying dead around their home. After a few hours we had 1 pop up out of nowhere wanting to get back in. The other 3 were never seen. There was no blood, no destroyed bodies, however we did find a wing under one of the chicks. We were all shocked to wake up to this. So sad! We do not know what animal could do this. But I found out a neighbor had the same thing happen to his coup several weeks ago. I made many phone calls looking for some kind of help and finally talked to a game warden who is suppose to come out today and talk to us. We would like to know what animals can do this and how to try and trap it. I think it lives in our area since I know of 2 incidents and who knows how many more. We are sick about this and are new to raising chickens. Any advise would be appreciated.

I'm so sorry!

 

[Almosta Farm]

That looks like that garden fence stuff not HWC.
Get you some real HWC if you build back.

I agree. The coated garden stuff isn't nearly as strong as the welded galvanized steel.

 

[TMurphey]

We have our chicken run surrounded with Electric fencing 1 line at the bottom, 1 about 2 feet higher and so on up to 4 wires. We have our hardware cloth down to the bottom of the run and then bent and laid flat up to 2 feet out from the bottom of the run. So far, we have deterred, Racoons, Coyotes, possums, rats, mice snakes and Black Bear. Also, we have a coop that is built well with an automatic door that closes at night and opens in the mornings. The coop is wrapped in the electric wire as well. I know this is a lot, but we live in the Smokey Mountains in a wooded area, and we can't take the chance. I believe if we didn't do this, we would never be able to keep chickens. We also take our chicken food out of the run at night and put it in a secure building.