HELP with predator

[peep peep banty]

Lost four, month old chicks, in with banty mother, three survived but the mother is also gone. Space under coop the 2" side of a 2x4 which I had blocked with a 2x4 so the babies would not get out from under. Something moved the board, got under that small space and inside coop, there was a puncture wound in each chicks head about the size of a 22 caliber bullet, no other wounds or parts missing just dead chicks. One in the nesting box, two in one corner, one in another corner. Mom is nowhere to be found. Is there a farmet that sucks blood and leaves the entire body??? Would it have taken the momma away as well??

Sad in California, she was my favorite chicken, and raised many babies in that coop and I have never seen anything like it in my 30 years of raising backyardchickens !! Any response would be appreciated.

 

[BunnyMomma]

Oh I'm so sorry!

I have no idea what got your babies, but I hope someone here has some ideas.
Bunny from NC

 

[chickenbottom]

i think its a possum i hear they like the brains the best. im sorry for your loss its hard losing them. and

its a sad thread to welcome you in but maybe being freindly will cheer you up some

 

[Debbi]

Sorry for your loss! Sounds like a weasel to me. Plug the hole where it is getting in, because it will be back. Weasels usually just suck blood and also kill for the fun of it.

 

[Gallo del Cielo]

It really sounds like weasel to me too. You've been so fortunate if this is the worst thing that has happened in 30 years. Hopefully, you can fix the hole and continue your good luck streak. I'm sorry for your losses.

 

[aprophet]

sounds like a weasel a snap type rat trap will dispatch a weasel quick and humanely

 

[MMPoultryFarms]

weasels make a puncture wound then lap the blood sounds like a weasel to me.

 

[Lbrad7]

Quote:
I totally agree.

 

[slorette]

Quote:
It was a weasel. I am 100% sure... I just went through a similar experience myself. I was unaware of a very small opening that a weasel was able to get threw. I lost my 8 week old chick & her mama first, then a hen, then my rooster & 2 more hens. When I lost my rooster & 2 hens I went out to open the coop for the morning because my chickens are free range, & the weasel was actually in the coop sleeping in hay. Needless to say, the weasel is now dead. I just wish I had found how it was entering my coop before I lost almost all of my flock. I was really sad to loose mama & her baby

when I found my chickens dead they had puncture woiunds where the weasel bit them & drank their blood, it looked just as you described, like a 22 shot & that is exactly what the weasel ended up getting! I actually ended up lining the whole inside of my coop ( floors walls, everything) with rabbit wire because it is smaller then chicken wire & nothing is going to get through it.

 

[bobbi-j]

My vote is also for a weasel. I've had them in my coop, too. They don't need a very big hole to get in.