HELP are they killing each other?

[momofchicks]

EWW Rats. I surely hope we don't have rats around here. I live on 4 1/2 acres and have farms down the road but I thought rats were more city types. Anyway, one did have its head eaten off, so maybe a coon. Also we fastened down the tarp and didn't have any causualties this morning so hopefully it worked. Thanks for all your ideas.

 

[NC chicken man]

last year i caught a rat in the barn that was 16'' long if you have feed any where around you will have mice or rats .

 

[jvls1942]

my guess is weasel first, then rat second.. usually a fox will carry off what it kills,,,however sometimes it will kill an extra and eat just the head and then come back for it later.. raccoons are big eaters, I cannot picture them eating just the head..

have you found any with the head or neck sticking through the fence wire?? that would most likely be a weasel..

set traps, set traps, set traps..

....jiminwisc.........

 

[kinnip]

It sounds like coon to me. A tarp will definitely not keep a racoon out. They're quite strong and they have nothing but time. Once they know where the buffet is, they're unlikely to stop.

 

[jaku]

I use hardware cloth around my tractor, and a heavy 2x2 wood frame. I've had no problems so far, but if it's sitting on uneven ground, I put 2x10 boards all around it so nothing can get in. DON'T put wire across the bottom of a tractor- it sounds like a good idea for keeping things out, but remember, the little chicks are going to grow into a couple hundred extra pounds of chicken, and you won't be able to move it when they do, because you'll be lifting their weight as well as the weight of the pen. Here's mine.