Mystery Attacker, quickly ending flocks!

[Abriana]

But why would a raccoon take a bite out of a chicken or two, then leave? It doesn't even finish them off, just mangle them horribly.
On more news, my mom found a hole torn out from the inside of the coop, not the other way around. Likely, whatever attacked got through the ceiling net, then tore out through the wall fencing.
Does anyone have any good suggestions for a night-recording wireless camera that is affordable? My mom is at her wits end here. It needs to be able to work outdoors during rain/ intense heat. Otherwise...I don't know what to do.

EDIT:
Mom explained a bit more to be, saying that they attack every other night, and the latest attack moved the chicken wire and squeezed through the chain-link fence gate. Not from the inside, from the outside. I don't even know anymore.

Sounds like a weasel based on how they were killed and left. Their drive to kill is driven by movement, not hunger. They will often kill chickens and leave them uneaten. Use hardware cloth, chicken wire is all to easy for predators to rip through. Close up all holes in the coop, even holes that are an inch and a half or less. Many weasels can slip through the smallest of holes. Don't leave feed or other chicken treats lying around to attract them, and put secure locks on the coop doors at night such as carabiners. A collie or aussie is a good dog to invest in to keep away critters as they are wonderful with chickens, though Aussies are high energy and collies are less energetic so a collie might be a better choice. Collies might even be the no.1 breed of dog that is good with chickens. Good luck!

 

[microchick]

Our dog can chew through heavy duty field fencing and has been known to rip apart chain link in order to get out of his pen. He's not a big dog either, just an average sized Australian Cattle Dog.

Fortunately, the chain link does slow him down a bit, but I've seen him work an area until he could stretch it enough to squeeze through. He was about 45 pounds when he did this. Now that he is older, he just wants to sleep in the air conditioning.

So if a determined ACD can overcome welded and woven fencing,, so can a predator.

That's why I preach hot wiring. I've seen our dogs nose a hot wire. Even saw one heist his leg against one once. That was enough for them. They treat those chickens like they are armed with AR-15s.

 

[Stephine]

My dogs can rip through hardware cloth.

Hmm - good to know. I wonder why it is always recommended as the "gold standard" then?

 

[Stephine]

The trouble with hot wires where we are (and possibly where the OP is) is really dry ground...

 

[microchick]

We can have some pretty dry spells also. To get around that, we simply ground the hot wire to the frame work of the kennel panel. Easy peasy. No problem with ground dryness. No messy grounding rods, Trust me. That wire will stay hot unless there is a power outage. We have ours directly wired to plug into an outlet in the coop's entranceway. A solar charger will keep that charge going in the worst of weather.

My original wiring had a grounding rod for the ground. I had to go out daily and dump a gallon of water on the ground around it. Grounding it to the fence is much easier.

 

[centrarchid]

Hardwire cloth is pretty good stuff but not impregnable. It also varies in quality. Finally, we like to speak in terms of black and white, no shades of gray or hints of color reflecting reality. Hurts to think.


The drought of 2012 did not hurt effectiveness of my hotwire.

 

[barred2rock]

With the damage caused to the backs, I'm leaning toward a weasel.

 

[TinyBirds]

I use dog kennels (welded wire thicker 8 or 10 gauge) but the openings are too big so I cover the kennel (including under roof) with hardware cloth 16 gauge 1/2" openings. If the openings are even 1 inch, raccoons will team up together and freak the birds out until they move to the edge and the raccoons reach through and rip the birds through the openings. Sometimes they rip a leg off. Both day and night, raccoons are not just nocturnal. We trapped one year and caught 1 every day for 30 days and then gave up and just built sturdier pens. We have less now since i never leave out feed and just feed the birds twice a day the amount they can eat, which also reduces squirrels and mice and saves from a huge food bill.