Holy Smokes, I lost 30 Chickens this afternoon!

[bobbi-j]

The puncture wounds sound like a weasel or mink (Same family, just bigger). I'm leaning more toward mink since one was carried off. Yes, mink will take a full grown large fowl away.

 

[ivan3]

The puncture wounds sound like a weasel or mink (Same family, just bigger). I'm leaning more toward mink since one was carried off. Yes, mink will take a full grown large fowl away.

It was the others that were carried off (and the time of day), that indicated fox:

At some point during this afternoon something killed and carried off 1 Adult Hen and perhaps 29 6 week old chicks ( some Meat birds some hens). The missing adult hen is confusing as it is full sized and wouldnt be dragged under the fence easily.

 

[bobbi-j]

A mink will carry off a full grown hen. They aren't too particular about when they hunt, either. I was thinking along those lines because of the puncture wounds. It would be odd if a fox carried some off, and a weasel got the rest all in one afternoon, but I suppose it could happen. My neighbor kept her chickens in an old trailer house, and a mink was getting in there and taking her hens. She couldn't figure out how they kept vanishing because she thought it was pretty tight. The mink found a way, though. She knows it was a mink because it was in there one day when she went out to do chores and it ran right between her legs to get out the open door. She had the presence of mind to identify the critter.

 

[thomasboyle]

Sorry for your losses. I agree that the fence voltage should be higher. My fence runs at 8000 volts, and that's as high as my meter goes, so it is higher still. I drove an 8' copper ground rod 6' into the ground. I would add another ground rod. The big orange or blue box stores sell an 8 footer for $10 or so.