My favorite rooster dead along with 4 hens. Who did it?

A.M. Eggs

Songster
Jan 7, 2018
724
1,423
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Wichita Falls, TX
Today is a very sad day for me. My rooster, Zinger (featured in my profile picture), along with 4 of my hens were killed in cold blood. I found Zinger and three hens dead on the floor in my coop and one hen torn apart outside in their enclosure. The chickens in the coop seemed untouched and murdered just because they were there. What I believe happened was either a possum or raccoon broke into my run and was eating chicken food. The door to my coop opened at around 6:45 to let my chickens out for the day. (That night I was outside treating a hen with an eye injury so I know for a fact that the door was closed.) One of the hens, the tore up one, went outside and found the animal. The animal then proceeded to murder her and chase the other chickens that probably exited with her. The chickens then ran into the coop where the animal killed Zinger and 3 other hens, leaving them untouched. The animal left, satisfied, and ate the first dead chicken. My real question is... What kind of an animal did this? The hole it made was small and up high so it had to have climbed up. It is also possible that one of my chickens was already dead and it smelled the rot? Thank you all of your suggestions.
 
So sorry for your loss. Weasels can get into very small openings, such as chicken wire or fencing. Using 1/2 inch hardware cloth wire is usually good enough to keep out small predators like weasels and prevent raccoon hands from reaching inside to grab chickens.
 

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