Help! 16 chickens killed within a week

[kmalichky]

Last week, we woke up to 10 chickens with their necks ripped out. 4 days later there was 5 more dead with 2 heads gone. 2 days later 1 chicken totally eaten. The first 15 were killed all inside the pen in different places not near the fence. The last one we found it’s feathers outside the gate. Found 2 small holes dug in the ground the size of a tennis ball around the gate. We are thinking minks or weasels?? Not sure how to trap or kill it. Any help would be great. I’ve got 4 chickens and 2 turkeys left that I’m praying can make it til I figure out what to do.

 

[Folly's place]

First, get your survivors in a safe place tonight! Your coop and run are too dangerous, obviously; everyone is going to die in there!!!
Then, every possible opening larger than 1/2" diameter needs to be secured with hardware cloth, or concrete, or something. Pictures of your coop and run will help, but that's the bottom line. No digging in, no climbing in, nothing larger than 1/2" diameter.
Mary

 

[hayley3]

Raccoons or weasels...the fix is the same...hardware cloth, sandwiched between boards if possible.

 

[chickengeorgeto]

Do not underestimate the hand and arm strength of a raccoon. There is a video somewhere of a coon in a Havahart trap that is sitting on a throw rug, and the coon pulls the rug up through the opening of the trap.

 

[kmalichky]

I’ve boarded up all the holes and spaces I’ve found but it seems to find different ways in. I’ve moved everyone over to another pen that I hope is more secure but it’s not a permanent solution. Any ideas on how to kill it? Or I’m I stuck digging wire down around the whole run

 

[Thyme4Chickens]

So sorry for your losses!

Check into a wire "apron" vs. digging/burying: https://www.backyardchickens.com/threads/wire-around-coop.1110498/#post-17093528

Also, is electric fencing an option? http://www.backyardchickens.com/a/a-treatise-on-electric-fences-for-poultry

 

[llombardo]

What kind of wire is around the pen?

Hardware cloth about 2 feet all the way around on the ground stapled into the ground and bolted to the bottom of pen should help. The grass grew over mine fairly quickly and you wouldn't even know it's there. I check it daily to make sure it's secure.

Sorry for your losses.

 

[hayley3]

Where exactly are they finding ways to get in? Your wire looks heavy duty although they can reach through it. I know they can pull a metal facing off of a garage door, so all edges of wire should have something sitting on top of it so the raccoon can't get access to it.
I screwed 1x2 boards all along the edges of my hardware cloth. It actually looks nice too. You can paint it to make it look like pretty trim, if you wanted.

 

[aart]

Where exactly are they finding ways to get in?

Found 2 small holes dug in the ground the size of a tennis ball around the gate. We are thinking minks or weasels??

Yeppers, some member of the weasel family.

 

[hayley3]

Oh sorry I missed that part...so they dug under the fence...