Extremely Small Mystery Predator Kills Chicks?

[Callender Girl]

My money is on a mink or weasel. I have first-hand experience with minks -- and I hadn't had any problems until one night when I did. The remains sound just like what I found. One hen managed to fly up onto the highest roost and survived. Maybe she wouldn't have if I hadn't been alerted to the massacre by my dog.

I also thought my coop/run was pretty safe. I am now a big promoter of hardware cloth. I am very sorry for your losses and the poor lone, traumatized survivor.

 

[TOR]

I am not saying this is what has happened to you, but I have an enclosure that I figured I had something small taking eggs out of. Put out a live trap and caught a coon. It had dug out the hay beside the pen and then must have reached though welded wire to the eggs

If a coon was in there prolly eat the whole bird, specially chicks. Coon eat birds feathers and all.

 

[TOR]

I woke up this morning to find that something had killed and ate the heads, and insides out of 5 of my month and a half old Old English Game Chicks, leaving only one alive. I found the chicks in almost a bunch in the upper middle of the pen. My pens are solid tin 20" high with rocks around the outside. Above the tin is 2x4 welded wire. So, whatever did this, had to be able to climb up and get Totally through the 2x4 welded wire, and inside the pen.
This has the ear markings of a raccoon, but a raccoon can't get totally through 2x4 welded wire, or can they? I've started several batches of chicks in this pen, with no issues till today.
I have a video camera up and have scrolled through it, but didn't see anything. Now I'm watching it in real time.
Could it be a rat? Will a rat just eat the heads a insides? I don't know. Or maybe a weasel?
Do you know know the answer to this mystery predator?

Look up on google, weasel box trap. They are not hard to make.

 

[AGeese]

The rocks weren't moved and there's no holes dug under the pen. In 50 years I've never had anything move the big rocks to dig under. Like I said in the post, this is the very first time anything has ever been able to get into my pens the way I build them and harm a chick or chicken one.

Looks like a sturdy built coop, but doesn't look like it would take much for a predator to climb, jump on, reach or squeeze through that 2x4 wire. It definitely won't keep out snakes if you have them. But a member of the weasel family may have been it too.

Just for some reference I found the carcass of an adult bunny half eaten with the hind quarters stuck on the other end of 2x4 welded wire.

It would have gotten through, but got hung up on it's legs and perished horribly for attempting it.

 

[McChooky]

Only 1/2' HARDWARE CLOTH and an apron around the bottom will keep it from killing your birds. Sorry for your loss!

 

[Yardmom]

If a coon was in there prolly eat the whole bird, specially chicks. Coon eat birds feathers and all.

Not all my pens are coon proof. Many times my first sign of a coon is eggs taken. 2 times in 8 years I found bodies with severed heads. Maybe it is because my dog or person is on the seen at the sound of the first comtion, but the remains are left behind. I have no other kills that I suspect to be coon.

 

[TOR]

Not all my pens are coon proof. Many times my first sign of a coon is eggs taken. 2 times in 8 years I found bodies with severed heads. Maybe it is because my dog or person is on the seen at the sound of the first comtion, but the remains are left behind. I have no other kills that I suspect to be coon.

I have had coon problems more than once and yes they will eat the heads off. Like you say reach thru and grab chickens. I had a coon family or pack get into where I keep chickens last year. They ate all the little chickens and chewed several heads off larger chickens. Coon will carry chickens away also. Summer it is coon and winter is possum for me. First time had weasel this year, got lucky and shot it. Weasel was taking the small chicks, weasel will stock pile food.