FL predator ID wanted.

[50-45-1]

Im confused, the tunnel you found and photgraphed was a small hole. The entry hole from the roof was also a small hole.
Why are we thinking it ia a racoon, opossum, fox or coyote?
Also the body of the bantam rooster is gone. How did he be removed by these 2 entry holes less than 2 inches across?
Is the body possibly still there stashed under something inside the coop run area?
A weasel or rat may somtimes stash a carcass to come back and feast on later.

 

[TheBeardie]

So, deterrents don't work, noted. LGD is large gard dog? My grandfathers dog bo tends to stay out at night, he likes to watch for stuff. He wasn't out last night, it's not supposed to be really cold tonight so I'll probably ask to keep him out tonight. I'll make sure to let my dogs too.

This cockerel was probably just over a pound, so I don't think it's a stretch for a racoon(or something) to eat the whole bird.

I searched some more and found a bunch of feathers. I got a few more pictures (out of the 20 I tried to get and post). I definitely need a new phone, the keyboard isn't wanting to work now either.

Possible track. Might also be from my chihuahua.

The feathers on the left look like wing feathers.

This is a (bad) drawing of how everything is positioned. The black lines is the fence, the black rectangle is the coop that didn't get hit, the green square is the Batchelor coop and the hearts are feather locations. Note that whatever it is didn't go through or go over the fence. The fence is about 3-4 foot tall. A standard sized chicken could squeeze though the wire.

I'll go do some more looking in a few minutes, maybe I'll find something else.

 

[TheBeardie]

Also, thanks for all of the support!

 

[TheBeardie]

I'm not even sure about this anymore. My best guess was though the top but, I've noticed one particular square ( 4in×2in ) that was buried has been dug through to the inside. I don't know if it squeezed in though that welded wire (it was widened) or went through the top. No feathers where in the coop or around either breach.

One thing I do know is I'm definitely getting some hardware cloth and putting it everywhere.

 

[rjohns39]

LGD = Livestock Guardian Dog, but any dog who can't get to the chickens will generally not tolerate raccoons or foxes in their area.

The reason I settled on coon rather than fox was the 1"X 6" hole in the top. Too small for a fox to put his head through, but big enough for a coons arm. Coons generally dine where they obtain the prey where as fox will generally dine somewhere else. That said, if the coon is startled, he'll take his dinner and run. I am perplexed about the lack of feathers in the pen. Either critter will generally leave some behind. There's another possibility that's highly unlikely but still a possibility. Critter A tried to dig in and failed, bird freaks out and escapes through the hole, critter B grabs bird and goes.

 

[TheBeardie]

LGD = Livestock Guardian Dog, but any dog who can't get to the chickens will generally not tolerate raccoons or foxes in their area.

The reason I settled on coon rather than fox was the 1"X 6" hole in the top. Too small for a fox to put his head through, but big enough for a coons arm. Coons generally dine where they obtain the prey where as fox will generally dine somewhere else. That said, if the coon is startled, he'll take his dinner and run. I am perplexed about the lack of feathers in the pen. Either critter will generally leave some behind. There's another possibility that's highly unlikely but still a possibility. Critter A tried to dig in and failed, bird freaks out and escapes through the hole, critter B grabs bird and goes.

The lack of feathers in the coop confuses me too. I would expect the flighty OEGB to struggle quite hard and lose feathers along the way.

 

[centrarchid]

Can you put a game camera out? Would be embarrassing if a Bobcat is coming in and you going after wrong critter.

 

[TheBeardie]

Can you put a game camera out? Would be embarrassing if a Bobcat is coming in and you going after wrong critter.

Possibly. I don't have one but I might be able to get one.

 

[WthrLady]

I was going to say come kind of cat.

 

[Stockpilejoy]

Wow this is a mystery of who done it. Since you live near water and the holes in image look small, could it be a mink? Minks live near water and are known to go inland during winter for food and are great diggers. I realize they routinely kill more than they need and they can be messy wiping out entire flock but have heard on occasion they will kill one if it is small and eat it on spot or take it to den.