- Jun 16, 2014
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Hi all, my name is Autumn. We recently got 6 chickens. They were all about 2 months old now and getting big. Healthy, acting like regular chickens. Well when we got them we built a coop, nice and sturdy with locks on any exterior opening and secured chicken wire screen all around whatrwe wanted to be their run area and back to the coop. So its a square set up with one corner being the coop and the rest being run area, all of it fenced in and the fence attatched to the coop itself. The wire also covers over the run to make a chicken wire roof. We flared the wire out on the ground about 6 inches to discourage any predators but it must not have been enough. 2 days ago I found one chicken missing. No sign of struggle, no blood, no feathers. Nothing out of place. Thought perhaps my 3 yr old opened the door after I closed it and she got out on her own. But then this morning, all 5 other chickens are gone. Same story, no feathers, no blood, no sign of struggle in the least. I see a spot where the wire may have been crawled under and one where it may have been crawled out of, but I am at a loss. It was decently tight to the ground, no sign of attack, and 5 birds in one night. What do you suspect did this? Please advise, I really wanna protect my chickens the next time around and just don't know what to do next. Thanks so much!
and Welcome To BYC! Sorry about your chicks. X2 bury wire around the bottom. There are a number of predators that might have done something like that, foxes are often bad about coming and getting multiple birds... and humans are a thought also as mentioned. You might want to check out the Predator forum for ways to predator proof your coop. 
