Please help!! 11 dead chickens

[strick62]

We looked but no tracks. The ones we found had bites at the base of the neck close to their wings.

 

[strick62]

OMG!! I am so SO sorry...I can only imagine. I have lost 3 to dogs....and something tore into our baby coop and one disappeared ( we thought 2 did, but one girl came back the next day). Look into racoon, or opossum. Get you a live trap (they run around 50 bucks) and you can set it up near the coop, then carry off whatever got in there. Put up your food at night so things aren't attracted by the smell. Those are the only two critters that I could imagine would eat through the wire. But, maybe a large dog could, which would have carried off the birds. The opossums and racoons sometimes leave more behind. Is there anything else you can tell us that you have since noticed? I am so sorry

 

[strick62]

We have racoons, possums and a neighbor has seen coyotes. There were two holes the largest about the size of a volleyball. Also found fine black fur caught in the wire.

 

[strick62]

The hardware cloth is either 1/4 or 1/2 inch.

 

[Bear Foot Farm]

What can chew through hardware cloth?

I'd suspect a few large dogs tore it with their claws. although I've seen dogs actually CHEW through a chain link fence

 

[jenX72]

I had not thought of the radio - that is a good idea. I actually wanted to get a baby monitor- but I think that radio thing is a good trick.

 

[jenX72]

wow- for real?! Then I bet it probably was dogs....especially with leaving nothing but a few feathers. If a dog chewed through it, you'd probably find lots of slobber on the surrounding wire also.

 

[Triple Willow]

We have racoons, possums and a neighbor has seen coyotes. There were two holes the largest about the size of a volleyball. Also found fine black fur caught in the wire.

The first thing I would suspect would be neighbor's dogs. But that is just from my own experience. But from what I have seen, dogs don't usually eat all the birds they kill. A lot of times they will just leave them laying all over the place.

 

[jenX72]

us too..neighborhood dogs. One is a freaking bird hunting dog :/ ugh

 

[Ridgerunner]

I don’t know of anything that would chew through hardware cloth that couldn't rip through it easier. Big as a volleyball and short black fur.

To me that sounds like a canine more than anything else. I don’t think a fox could rip hardware cloth. They are just not big enough plus the wrong color. A dog will kill just for fun; I don’t know about coyotes. But a big dog or maybe a coyote could rip the wire if they could get a grip. Bearfoot, I'd think with teeth more than claws. When they eat, they often leave nothing but a pile of feathers. Four months old is getting to be decent size but a big dog could probably eat five of them.

A big boar raccoon might be able to rip hardware cloth but they would normally leave more than just feathers. As much as I dislike raccoons, that does not sound like one. Mink also might be able to do that, but that doesn’t sound like the evidence a mink would leave behind. I'd expect you to have mink where you are, believe it or not.

I just keep coming back to a big dog.