gruesome, devastating find this morning

[kacappi]

Went out to the coop this morning and found one of my rir pulled halfway through the chicken wire. He was pretty ate up. Im in tears for what she went thru and not having her ptotectef well enough. From what i have read i believe it was a racoon, but where we live there are hawks, owls and coyotes that could also be on the list. Will this predator be back tonight? I will sit out with a 22 if necessary!!! I have 11 more chickens i would like to protect. And yes hardware cloth is coming soon i have read its better than chicken wire.

 

[LouBlue95]

Sorry to hear that
How did it get in do you know?
And also do your chickens roost at night?
I transformed my old garage into a chicken coop had it as my chicken coop for 4 years now I wouldn't say mine is predator safe because it has a huge hole but my chickens roost 5-6 feet off the ground and so far no loss in any of my chickens.

 

[kacappi]

My chickens roost about 5ft off the ground. They like to all stay on the long perch above their run instead of going in the covered area. And the predator didnt get in but was able to reach in thru the chicken wire and grab one. I thought they were pretty safe...never imagined another animal being able to do this...through chicken wire.

 

[Calima]

Sorry to hear about your RIR, my heart fluttered reading this! I pray you find the solution so that doesn't happen again.

 

[LouBlue95]

Oh yeah I wouldn't imagine that would happen either:/

 

[junebuggena]

Chicken wire is great at keeping chickens in, but raccoons can reach right through. Unless you want to cover your entire run in hardware cloth, I suggest shutting your chickens up in a coop at night.

 

[testcranker]

I would bet that the predator will be back and soon if not tonight.

 

[furry feet]

I had a opossum get one of ours got him the next night

 

[kacappi]

Ok looks like a no sleep kind of night. Tomarrow we will do a few things to the coop to make them more secure.
Thanks everyone...

 

[tcstoehr]

I thought they were pretty safe...never imagined another animal being able to do this...through chicken wire.

Unfortunately, this is a quite common occurrence. Raccoons are well known for this tactic. Good idea to get the hardware cloth installed. I use it all around the bottom of my run but not up where the roosting posts are. Maybe I'd better get on that.