Major attack - is this a bear?

[Checota]

I don't think we have cougars here - we're in the Hudson Valley in NY. It's a pretty big hole that it tore in the cloth, which is why I thought bear...

Sure looks like a young black bear to me the size of the canines and the claw mark not being very deep but very distinctive mark. You may have been visited by both cubs and a sow. Sorry for your loss. Bears often return again and again if they were successful in getting a meal. Right now they are packing on the pounds and protein is really needed right now. I will also add, those hairs are distinctly Bear hair. Seen lots of it on trees over the years also on edges of garbage bins.

 

[Stephanie8806]

It could be a bear, that’s what those scratches look like. Could be a juvenile because they’re only a few inches wide.... but a bear is pretty damn strong and would likely have done even more damage.

It could also very well be a bobcat or lynx. Those are pretty much everywhere.

Sorry for your loss

 

[Checota]

I don’t know where in the Hudson valley you are, but someone in lagrangeville has been spotting fisher cats... I don’t if that is strong enough but I do know they’re viscous.

Fisher cats are very solitary....but boy do they love porcupine. In fact they were introduced into many northern states to keep down the porcupine population.

 

[Jadakraft1]

Shooting it is sad, but do you have cats or dogs. If an animal is gonna kill almost all your chickens, then it will kill your cat, and it very dangerous. It has to go.

I bet it would make some great meals

 

[FML]

We have bears around here, and they have never shown any interesting the chicken coop. We've had them walk right past us to our garbage can, so that is why I though he would be more interested in a garbage can then a chicken coop. Any way, I could see a hungry bear having no problem tearing apart the fence, and killing the chickens. That would make sense why he didn't eat all the chickens. Try the predator lights, do you've nay predates around that would hunt a bear? If so, then get that predator urine from amazon. I hope you get rid of him! Avery

Humans are the only predator that bears have in NA. So no need to go to Amazon. Gross as it sounds urine around your coop and at the end edges of your property combined with motion activated security lights should help.
All that said, bears have regular routes they travel and remember where trash cans are easily accessed. In Central Florida, we have bears that seem to remember when our trash day occurs and the cans are lined up for a smorgasbord.
Good luck. I have a monitor camera set up in my run that is motion activated with an alarm that sounds like a barking dog.

Sorry for losses.

 

[FML]

Put out some dead meat and a trail cam I bet on a Bear

Inviting predators to your area is a less than wise idea. Just my humble opinion.

 

[City Farmer Jim]

I'm not an expert by any stretch of the imagination but I would think an adult or even a first year bear would do more damage with the claws than what is pictured...was anything else disturbed around your place or in the neighborhood? Again not an expert but I have had a predator attack that left similar wounds and WAS a neighborhood dog. The claw marks look like it could be several attempts and not just 1 paw swipe. Do you have any prints that you can see in the area ? Dogs kill for the fun not to eat...not sure if that translates to all canines or not.

 

[NatJ]

For those who missed it, there's a post on page 4 where the OP decides for sure what predator was responsible:

confirmed it's a bear (or multiple). I followed the trail of feathers into the woods, found various parts of birds and eventually half a guinea. Then I stood in bear scat (cleverly wearing my slippers...). About five feet further in, I saw one or more bears - looked like a cub or two and a mother. Mystery solved! Decided the best move was to back out, as I didn't really want to stare them down.

 

[Folly's place]

Wish you didn't have to keep repeating this!
Mary

 

[One Lucky Momma]

For what it’s worth, having read the entire thread, and this is not an attempt to hijack the thread, regarding the baiting of hotwires, I will offer my 2 cents worth:

Some of our beehives are in out yards where electric fencing is the only way to deter our beautiful black bears, and solar is our only means to power the fencing. Solar hotwire isn’t always as reliable or strong as hardwired so we have to use every trick we know. And even when everything is working just right, a four strand fence is of no consequence to a hungry bear if she pushes through it with a furry chest. Baiting is the ONLY way to call the bears’ attention to the electrical current. Our bait of choice is the infamous bacon, though for some reason (because an old timer beekeeper told us, I guess) we put it in a tuna or cat food can that’s been wired to the hotwire instead of just hanging it across the wire. It only takes once...

If the presence of the bacon, or something else - peanut butter was mentioned - attracts some other predator to a chicken run, the effect of biting the bait would be the same to the animal, regardless of what animal that is.