Do I have a weasel?

[WestKnollAmy]

In over a week I have lost 8 chickens, mostly one a night but the other night it killed 3.
Heads are not missing except on the first night. Now only gutted and still in the coop with my chickens eating at it.
The chickens in that coop free range all day and go up at night where I bolt the door closed. Three sides are double plywood with 2x4 studs in between and there aren't any holes in there but the front is open with hardware cloth. The door is solid plywood and fits very snug.

The openings that it could get through are at the top where the roof joins up and we have put boards across that with about an inch and a half opening something could get through. As I write this my farm hand is now putting wire over those spaces.

I have set those Havahart traps but have caught nothing. Using canned cat food as bait.

I can't find squat on weasels here in SC.
I have 3 more stationary coops beside this one plus about 12 tractors all over the farm. I hate to get a dog but it looks like that is maybe my only precaution now.

Any ideas on how to stop a weasel or small creature that could be getting in?

 

[Thomas423]

Hi, I know almost nothing about weasels and I hope that more informed people respond. I have read (on here) that weasels can fit through an opening the size of your thumb.

Around here two different people told me that a weasel killed their chickens, so I am concerned about that. The one man who told me about the killing said that the weasel killed the whole flock and had them stacked up in the coop when he found them in the morning. Is this the usual pattern of a weasel or do they kill one at a time?

I hope that you find your predator and it's entry point. Sorry about your loss.

 

[WestKnollAmy]

I am losing one chicken at a time.
It seems to kill by getting the back of the neck while they are on the roost at night. The feathers are not everywhere in the coop like it was fighting and flapping. The chicken is usually in a corner of the coop when we find it.
Yesterday morning my DH is the one that found 3 killed in one night, first time that has happened, and he said they were not all laying together.
I have no idea what it is but we have now got more wire up across the little holes and we are setting more traps.
My neighbor tried to give me a dog today to help me out but it was a Blue Heeler/Border Collie and I think I would rather have a Great Pyrenees.
If it can get in a hole the size of my thumb then we definitely are in trouble. All my coops have holes at least that large.