Finding chicks dead in the same place almost every single day

[SashaP]

I'm not sure if this is the right thread for this as I'm new to the website so sorry if I'm not in the right place

Anyways I've got a hen who hatched six chicks about two and a half weeks ago, It's gonna be three weeks in two days.
There's lots of stray cats in the area so we gotta keep them in the coop specifically designed for a mother hen who's raising chicks.
These are her first chicks so I'm not sure if she is doing something wrong, she's taking good care of them from what I've seen so far, she doesn't let me near her chicks and would attack me if I tried touching them. She's pretty hostile towards anything and everything that may harm her chicks, however three of her chicks have died and all in the same spot
There's no blood or anything that indicates pecking, I just find them looking all crushed and choked as if something has stepped on them... each time I found one of them dead she appeared to be very upset by the loss and would try calling the deceased chick..

Now about their condition in this sort of coop we made for them, they have access to fresh water all the time, I change it at the very least three times a day, we feed them the best starter feed we can find as we always have and we make sure they get all their vitamins. I'm not sure what bedding we're using but It's some sort of large wood shavings so that they can't choke on anything. They also get access to natural light 24/7.

If anybody has any idea what could be going on I'd appreciate the help, I don't wanna see any more of them die. I tried separating the hen from them but she just doesn't want to leave them. I'm not sure if she's causing them to die like this but if she is could it all be an accident? Because I can't see her harming her own chicks and I've had very aggressive mother hens in the past and this one is just the nicest one I've seen in a long while

 

[21hens-incharge]

Can you describe where you are finding them more? Is it in a corner? In the open?
Can anything other than mother hen have gotten in there like a mink or weasel?
Have you examined their necks for tiny puncture wounds?

What breed is the mother hen? Could she be accidentally squishing them while they sleep?

 

[McChooky]

I'm sorry! If the coops predator proof nothing should be able to harm her chicks.Can you kindly post a photo of the coop so we can try to help solve the mystery? Thanks!

 

[SashaP]

Can you describe where you are finding them more? Is it in a corner? In the open?
Can anything other than mother hen have gotten in there like a mink or weasel?
Have you examined their necks for tiny puncture wounds?

What breed is the mother hen? Could she be accidentally squishing them while she hey sleep?

It's a corner where they usually go to sleep so the first thing I thought that might be happening is that she steps on them while they're snuggling under her but it doesn't make sense as two out of these three times I found them dead during the day, long after they woke up.
There's no way that anything could enter especially during the days as we got two dogs guarding the area.
As for the breed she's a mixbreed though I'm not sure of which breeds in particular, her family tree goes decades back when my grandma was still in her 30's which was like 50 years ago so I have no clue, she's on the smaller though and that's why she only could have hatched six eggs since those were the larger eggs from my two year old Rhode Island Reds.

Now that I think about it could it be the summer heat that is causing them to die?? I'm from Serbia which is small country located in South East Europe and we usually do have hot summers with the hottest days reaching up to 36°C/97°F but we've been going through a very tough heat wave for like a week (ever since the random deaths started happening) now and It's 40°C/104°F outside during the day..

 

[McChooky]

A snake will regurgitate its prey back up if its to big to swallow (too big) This would only happen if the snakes too small to eat a baby chick.If the momma hens frightened and running around she could accidentally trample her own babies

 

[SashaP]

I forgot to mention that there are no visible puncture wounds, no blood or signs or pecking anywhere on the chicks

 

[McChooky]

Sounds like shes trampling them

 

[SashaP]

I'm currently not home, just started my summer vacation journey and I won't be home for two weeks.. so I can't take any pictures right now, I can try asking my mother to take them and I'll post them right away.
The whole place is pretty much predator proof with the two dogs guarding it along with five incredible roosters who are ready to fight off any threat.
No other chickens can enter so they can't be harmed by other hens and they've got good amount of space for themselves.
We've also got a couple of Guinea Fowl so we haven't had a problem with snakes in years, there aren't many snakes that would attack chicks in this part of Europe too, most are just tiny water snakes and I doubt they could cause any harm especially with the hen being overly protective of her chicks.

 

[SashaP]

Hmm, could she be doing it by accident or?
From what I've seen she takes care of them 24/7 so I have no idea why she would trample them other than it being an accident, still though I don't want any of the three survivors dying so I'll let them know to ''kick her out'' if they notice her acting up

 

[McChooky]

If something getting in the cage it could cause the momma hen to fight and trample the chicks accidentally