Is this a predator? Poop ID!

[imnukensc]

All of the pictures the OP posted look like chicken poop to me.

I would reinforce the run with 1/2x1, 1x1, or 1x2 welded wire instead of HWC.

 

[Ch8ckenhelp]

Most of my coop is dirt with concrete underneath it. There's also cinder blocks around the perimeter so nothing can dig under. Also, make the investment for the hardware cloth, or anything of the same thickness. I did mine with chicken wire and I've regretted it ever since. It rusts faster, you can basically rip it with your hands, and it's a pain to work with when building.

 

[lazy gardener]

Omg! I assume that if I was paying $700 I have a chicken coop made it would’ve been made with proper predator proof materials. I feel like such a sucker! Going to Home Depot today to reinforce this. Thank you so much.

You are not a sucker. However, your experience is a very good illustration of the fact: Very often, folks who design and sell chicken coops really don't know what they are doing. Or IF THEY DO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING, they are placing their pursuit of a tidy profit over providing a good product. Unfortunately, it's usually the first time chicken owners who are buying a pre-made coop, and they are depending on the seller to know how to build a good coop.

Kudos to you for listening to the advice you've received and beefing up your coop accordingly with hardware cloth (welded, not twisted wire) and installing a skirt. I can't tell you how often new folks on BYC post about a coop problem, yet refuse to listen to the advice they receive from seasoned flock keepers. They ask for advice, yet dismiss the advice, with the statement... "It will be fine... or the seller says... or The zoning code for my town says..."

 

[medinam]

All of the pictures the OP posted look like chicken poop to me.

I would reinforce the run with 1/2x1, 1x1, or 1x2 welded wire instead of HWC.

Thanks for the recommendation on the welded wire. The guy that built the coop said neither chicken wire or hardware cloth are effective at predator proofing.... so I’m going to do welded wire, thank you!

 

[medinam]

You are not a sucker. However, your experience is a very good illustration of the fact: Very often, folks who design and sell chicken coops really don't know what they are doing. Or IF THEY DO KNOW WHAT THEY ARE DOING, they are placing their pursuit of a tidy profit over providing a good product. Unfortunately, it's usually the first time chicken owners who are buying a pre-made coop, and they are depending on the seller to know how to build a good coop.

Kudos to you for listening to the advice you've received and beefing up your coop accordingly with hardware cloth (welded, not twisted wire) and installing a skirt. I can't tell you how often new folks on BYC post about a coop problem, yet refuse to listen to the advice they receive from seasoned flock keepers. They ask for advice, yet dismiss the advice, with the statement... "It will be fine... or the seller says... or The zoning code for my town says..."

I took a chicken care class before getting my chicks, I read loads of books and browsed all the forums... and something’s I learn best through experience. And this forum is so much better than what I’d attempt to glean from a google search. Advice is amazing, it’s nuiances, it’s gold.

Also, I had my neighbors come by with more advice on chicken stuff. His wife expressed some concerns that the coop is over the run —— “what are your (my) plans when it gets cold?” - wasn’t on my radar because we live in the south!

 

[lazy gardener]

No matter your climate, it's imperative that you provide lots of ventilation year round, including during winter. Temp here routinely goes to 20 BELOW 0*F and we often have a week or month at a time when the temp does not even get up to 0*F. Minimum recommendation is 1 s.f./bird, or = to 10% of floor foot print, which ever is greater. If I add all the doors and windows, plus standard vents, I have 0ver 60 s.f. of ventilation in my 120 s.f. coop! Granted, I don't have it all open, even in the summer, but vents including one window are open even in the nasty cold weather. One down side of the short or small coops is that it's very difficult to provide ventilation without putting a draft over the birds in their roosting space.