My poor chickens!

[alexalet]

I purchased 12 chicks in April, and we've already lost 8!!!!! We recently got 7 more, but I was totally distraught when I went out this morning and saw the remains of my silkie bantam hen all over the yard

. There was even a trail of intestines leading out of the coop and a whole wing

. My dad and I built the coop together, and we decided to use horse fence intend of chicken wire. It has holes about 1.5" by 3". But, looking at the "trail" it looks as though she simply went through e fence. We completely enclosed the entire run, from ground to ceiling. Is there any predator that could fit through a hole that small and rip up the hen to fit her out? We've looked, and I can't find any openings in the fencing. Grrr

! I know we have : raccoons, cats, opossums, groundhogs, skunks, snakes, and rats. Thank u so much.

 

[NellaBean]

Animals will pull them through the wire if they can reach them. They need solid walls with hardware cloth over windows......

 

[Tres Amigas]

A raccoon doesn't have to fit inside the fencing. They will reach in and grab a chicken that is close enough to the fence and pull whatever they can through it, eating it as it comes out. Unless you reinforce the fencing you have by running hardware cloth up at least a couple of feet and buried in the ground at least a foot, you will continue to lose chickens. Half inch hardware cloth is what we used thoughout our coop and run. Sorry for your losses.

 

[Chinchilla2]

If a predator can get a snout or a paw through the wire, they can and will pull a chicken through it. Horse fence may work with horses, cows, dogs, pigs, and maybe even rabbits but the holes are big enough for a coyote, coon, skunk, the neighbor's cat, a stray dog, etc. to get hold of a chicken through it and at that point, chicken becomes dinner. The chicken literally becomes sliced and diced on the way through the wire. You need chicken wire on the run, solid walls on the coop and 1/2" x 1/2" hardware cloth over the windows and air vents. I went a bit overboard with mine and used 1/4" x 1/4" hardware cloth on the vents and windows but I must admit that I had a roll of it laying around.

 

[Noymira]

I'm sorry for your losses.

I agree with that the others said, all a coon needs is the space to reach an arm in and grab some chicken. There are mink and weasels that could fit through that as well.

 

[southerndesert]

Hardware cloth as mentioned to protect them at night, yes expensive, but cheaper than the toll the stress of losing chickens puts you through me thinks. Sorry for your losses and beefing up security should help immensely!

 

[brahmakid11]

your right those chickens of yours are poor

 

[mrpekinduck]

Raccoons will rip apart chickens throug a fence and tear through chicken wire so just cover it in half inch hardware cloth and you'll be fine. Good luck and sorry for your loss

 

[ChickieBooBoo]

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